Matheus Nunes and Morita in large, but this lion is still at half throttle

Sporting finished pre-season with their “classic result” of this stage, a 1-1 draw against Wolverhampton, at Estádio Algarve, a repeat of what they had already achieved with Casa Pia, Saint-Gilloise, Villarreal and Sevilla. Without being able to count on the injured Adán, Ugarte and Daniel Bragança, the starting eleven presented by Rúben Amorim was the following: Franco Israel; Goncalo Inácio, Coates and Matheus Reis; Porro, Morita, Matheus Nunes and Nuno Santos; Trincao, Paulinho and Pedro Goncalves.

The eyes of Sporting fans were on Franco Israel, a goalkeeper who will basically take the place of the injured Adán for the next two months (at least). The young Uruguayan had little work to do but made a good decision when called to intervene, exiting at the feet of an opponent and intercepting a cross. It will also have been a special match for Matheus Nunes, against the club he has reportedly given “denials” to, and for Trincao, who evolved into the “Wolves” last season. As for St. Juste, it was not yesterday that he made his debut with a lion on his chest and certainly will not be a starter in Braga, in the first round of the I Liga, after not adding a single minute in the preparatory matches.

At Wolverhampton, the Portuguese José Sá, Rúben Neves, Pedro Neto, João Moutinho and Daniel Podence were part of the starting eleven, Ignatius on Pedro Neto.

The game kept the same slow pace – and it wasn’t that hot, 29 degrees and with the whole field in the shade – and even caricatured movements of some confusion on the part of the players of both teams. Although it was an exhibition game, more was demanded of players from teams of this size and it was when the ball reached Matheus Nunes and Morita, in the Lions, and Daniel Podence and Pedro Neto, in Wolverhampton, that they were extra-class.

We had to wait the 38th minute to see a move by Sporting with a start, middle and end, with Trincao firing with some danger and the ball deflecting a defender from the English. Shortly afterwards, Paulinho was knocked down by Nathan Collins, well signaled by referee Bruno Vieira in another penalty. With the usual class, Pedro Gonçalves shot into place, without a chance for José Sá and made it 1-1.

The two teams came back from halftime with no substitutions, but a lot of nervousness on both sides, with five yellow cards in the first five minutes, including three for Sporting players Pedro Porro, Paulinho and Morita. But they also came back with more ideas and football at their feet, especially the formation of Rúben Amorim, who had two dangerous approaches to José Sá’s goal: Pedro Porro forced the Portuguese goalkeeper to make a good intervention and Pedro Gonçalves also provided some ‘fresson’. ” after excellent individual initiative.

It was Sporting’s best phase, with “maestro” Matheus Nunes in charge of operations, well supported by Morita. In addition, one of the positives of the final test before the official debut in Braga was the good duo formed by the Portuguese international and the Japanese in midfield, leaving Rúben Amorim in the end with the doubt between the ex-Santa Clara and Ugarte for the challenge lagged from the first round of the competition, if the Uruguayan recovers in time. Also because Morita was always at a good level when he came into action in this preparation.

At 68″, Paulinho was replaced by Marcus Edwards and at the moment that seems to be another doubt in Sporting’s starting XI for Braga: betting on a classic 9, with the Portuguese, or on a very mobile front trio, with the English joining Pedro Gonçalves and Trincão It should be noted that the latter did not start a convincing performance yesterday and it is clear that he is still adjusting to the new reality. His best move was a shot just over the post at 73″. There is also reference to Fatawu’s good entry into the game, showing that he performs more as a right winger than the left winger position in which he was used for the rest of the prep.

dnot@dn.pt