SPORTING LISBON FAN ON AMORIM Huge thanks to Luis Vaz Pato Oom (pictured), a Sporting Season Ticket holder for his lengthy time on this. And to Simon for ar- ranging the interview.
“Before answering the questions let me start with some context: when Sporting hired Amorim, it was a risky move from Sporting’s Board. By that time he had less than 30 matches in the Portuguese First Division. He would be arriving midseason and most believed he did not show enough to be worth the 10 Millions Euros paid to Braga, which from time to time, are rivals for the top 3. Due to that many supporters questioned his quality and the need to pay that amount, which made it a bit of a risky gamble from the Board of Directors. Amorim did great from Day One.” How did you feel when you heard the news? Is it a mix of sadness, anger, pride? Being honest, the first time I heard it I was confident Ruben would not go even though it was a great opportunity, he always showed discipline and loyalty so as not to spoil the club’s season. Nevertheless, I think everyone at Sporting felt a mix of sadness, anger and somewhat ‘betrayal’. However, as Amorim spoke about the decision, he regained the trust and understanding of the fans.
We can’t criticise someone who made us stronger. It was sad news to hear he was leaving but it is now up to us to keep Sporting at a high level. Amorim has been very successful at Sporting how? What did he do to change the fortunes of the club?
Sporting was a long time without being League Champions (19 years); and when he arrived at Sporting we did not have money to buy good players. Our rivals, Porto and Benfica, were spending a lot and building squads that looked better than ours. Our squad was mostly built by youth players from Sporting’s Academia. So to be Champions in Amorim’s first full season was kind of a ‘fairytale season’.
From there, we just had to believe in him and in the work that was being done. Since he has great charisma - and this is one of his top rated traits - it was not hard to believe in him as players united around him and so did the fans. It was definitely his way of talking to supporters, players and staff that changed the club’s fortunes, a belief and way of
