After leaving Sporting, manager takes swipe: conscience too clear | OneFootball

Sporting’s academy - with the aim of continuing to be a benchmark - has been undergoing a restructuring process and Pedro Pontes will be one of the coaches leaving the green-and-whites’ youth ranks. To mark his departure, the former coach said goodbye to the Sporting world.

Through an emotional post on his personal Instagram account, the Lions’ under-17 coach, who has represented the Club since 2010, highlighted the severing of ties that will come into effect from 2026/27, describing his spell as “long”.

“Imagine... Imagine a kid just over 20 years old joining a club. And now imagine that kid, now a man, ending his journey at the same club 16 years (!!) later (almost half his life). It was long. It was difficult. Earned the hard way. If there is one thing I learned over the last 16 years, it is that My Values (not what is said, but what is done) are what I am. And I will always be my story. And in a story, what matters is the legacy you leave. I coached (almost) every age group at Sporting Clube Portugal! Yes, really, (almost) all of them. In all of them, I contributed to the growth of people who today are players. Many already outside Sporting, many still at the club, and dozens in the best leagues in the world,” he began.

“I would like to name them, but there are so many that no one would end up reading it. I prefer to keep in my memory and in my heart all the players I coached. Because they know who I am and that one day my players, my players forever! To thank them (so much!!). Them and the coaching staffs who walked alongside me. They were my family for 16 years! To the hundreds of people I crossed paths with, some from whom I learned (a lot) what to do and others in whom I saw the example of what should never be done. Because football passes, but life is forever!”, he explained, saying that he is leaving with a “clear conscience”.

“With a very (too) clear conscience that everything I did, I did for something greater than myself. There were 60!! first-place medals for Sporting. First-place medals on 4 continents. Yes, 4!! (1 was missing for it to be across the whole world). There were almost 20 players I saw reach the first team. Dozens of coaches whom I had the pleasure of helping grow (and who helped me grow). And I know, I am sure, that more will get there. The legacy I leave is not just talent or what they learned, but above all the personality of someone who challenges himself and a character that does not bend! One of the many competitions life gave me has ended. It was beautiful. It was Important (very). But above all, it was a clear victory (the kind that ends in a rout) for a kid who became a man,” he said, highlighting his journey wearing the lion on his chest.

“Thank you for the words (from many) that gave meaning to 16 years of stories to tell. You are the best thing I take from these years. It was not a venting session, it was lines filled with 16 years of stories,” concluded the 39-year-old coach.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.