Rodrigo Mora could break Porto’s 100-year record against Nice or Estoril | OneFootball

Whether it’s already on Thursday, against Nice, the following Sunday against Estoril, or even in the League Cup against V. Guimarães, Rodrigo Mora is preparing to inscribe his name in the centenary history of FC Porto. The young prodigy who fascinates the Dragão crowd with his dribbles and, above all, with signature goals – like the one recently scored against Sintrense – is just one match away from becoming the youngest player in the club’s history to reach 50 appearances, breaking the record held by Rúben Neves, currently at Al Hilal and rumored to possibly return to FC Porto next season. Mora will be 18 years, six months, and 22 days old when the team hosts the former club of Francesco Farioli in the Europa League, making him two months younger than Rúben Neves was when he reached the half-century mark in blue and white. Serafim and Fernando Gomes, both forwards, complete the podium of the youngest players.

Curiously, this milestone is only possible because, in the summer, Mora did not end up becoming a direct competitor to Rúben Neves. Al Ittihad even made an offer of 50 million euros, but Villas-Boas demanded €70M and the Arabs eventually abandoned the negotiations. We’re talking about an athlete who at that time had just come of age. A year ago, around this time, Mora had only seven appearances for FC Porto’s first team – 125 minutes on the pitch – and one goal against Aves. His breakthrough would begin shortly after, in December 2024, still under the command of Vítor Bruno. However, it was with Martín Anselmi that he took on a greater role in a team that, at the time, was falling short of expectations. Mora stood out and scored high-quality goals, which raised his status. Afterwards, Francesco Farioli sought to temper expectations, favoring a measured development without rushing the creative’s progress. The youngster would again become a frequent option on the bench, but he continues to be a regular choice for the Italian coach: 14 games, five of them as a starter, and several high-level performances.

Last Saturday he came on with thirty minutes to go and once again set the Dragão alight with a curling shot into the far top corner, as has become his trademark, almost as if he ignores easy goals. “I’ve been working on both feet, at the end of training I practice finishing with both feet and in this game it paid off,” said Mora, explaining that those moments of magic are not just due to the talent he was born with.

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