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What happened with Joga Bonito?

Photo credits: BeSoccer   Used by Nike during the 2000s, the term “Joga Bonito” was never used in Brazil, apart from Nike’s merchandise. Even then, used to represent the talent of the Brazilian player, this magic seems to be very far from the Brazilian fields. In Brazil, people use to say that our biggest talents

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Daniel Dantas
Beto: “Finland? It is an opportunity to do something for football”

Beto Pimparel’s curriculum speaks for himself. During his professional career, the Portuguese international goalkeeper won 14 trophies, including four UEFA Europa Leagues and on UEFA Nations League. Currently playing for Helsingfors IFK (Finland), the former goalkeeper of Sevilla FC, FC Porto, Sporting CP, and Goztepe analyzes his faltering journey in the football world in this

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Daniel Dantas
Facundo Quiroga: “Nowadays, players have many more tools to face their opponents”

Facundo Quiroga is a former center-back that earned 16 caps for the Argentina national team and represented top clubs in the international football scene such as Sporting CP, Napoli, Wolfsburg, and River Plate during his professional career. Currently working as a football coach in Argentina, Quiroga accepted Nuno Milheiro’s invitation for an exclusive interview in

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The past, present and future of Brazilian coaches

Photo credits: Esportelândia   Brazil was always known for exporting football talent around the world. But while Brazil had many players shining in many leagues around the world, the coaches were not so well regarded. Right now, the main coaches in the country are foreigners. Certainly, the reasons are multifactorial, but some are at the

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Daniel Dantas
Jon Cotterill: “Data cannot tell you everything”

Jon Cotterill is a South American football expert, television commentator and the author of the book “Anatomy of a football scout: an in-depth look at player recruitment”. Currently living in São Paulo, Brazil, he has been covering South American football since 2002 and has worked for FIFA, the Brazilian Football Confederation and the South American

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Daniel Dantas
José Chieira: “We have to look at scouting before and after big data”

José Chieira is the former Head of Scouting & Recruitment at Sporting CP and Head Researcher in Portugal at Sports Interactive, the British video game developer of the Football Manager series. During his extensive career in the football world, he worked for clubs such as FC Porto, Panathinaikos FC, Académica de Coimbra and Vitória FC.

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Daniel Dantas
João Carlos Pereira: “A player has to be looked at in a multidimensional way” (Part II)

Photo credits: Swiss Football League   João Carlos Pereira has extensive experience as a head coach in incredibly diverse competitive contexts – Portugal, Switzerland, Cyprus, Qatar, and Kuwait. In the second part of this exclusive interview, he describes the operating dynamics at Aspire Academy, reflects on the significance of his youth football experience to his

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Daniel Dantas
João Carlos Pereira: “Usually, I feel good as a coach if I have minimal resources” (Part I)

Photo credits: Grasshopper   João Carlos Pereira has extensive experience as a head coach in incredibly diverse competitive contexts – Portugal, Switzerland, Cyprus, Qatar, and Kuwait. In this first part of an exclusive interview, he tells us about how life contingencies led him to become a football coach, his initial contact with youth football, and

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Daniel Dantas
Ricardo Pereira: “Once a goalkeeper, a goalkeeper for life”

Photo credits: Legionisci.com   Ricardo Pereira is the goalkeeper coach of Legia Warsaw and has performed the same role at clubs such as Standard Liège, Independiente del Valle, Nottingham Forrest, Al Fateh, and SL Benfica B. In this latest edition of Soccer HUB Talks, the current Polish champions’ coach spoke with Nuno Milheiro about the

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Daniel Dantas
Mariana Jaleca: “We are still light years away from receiving a salary equal to men”

Photo credits: Fenerbahçe   Mariana Jaleca is a Portuguese footballer who currently plays for Fenerbahçe. At 24, she already has ample experience in international environments, such as the United States of America, Italy, and Finland. In this interview, the midfielder speaks about her childhood memories, the process of becoming a professional, evaluates her first months

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Daniel Dantas
Winter transfer window: the decisive role of football agents

Immediately after this exciting 2022 Winter transfer window, Soccer HUB took the opportunity to speak with Fábio Torres (Sports Manager at Team of Future), Marcelo Robalinho (CEO of Think Ball & Sports Consulting), and Raquel Sampaio (CEO of Teammate Football Management) about how the preparation of this transfer market was carried out in their different

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Daniel Dantas
Almami Moreira: “Young players think they know everything“

Photo credits: Transfermarkt   Almami Moreira is a former Partizan, Standard Liège, Hamburger SV, FC Dynamo Moscow, and Boavista FC player and currently is the General Director of the Football Federation of Guinea-Bissau. The former international soccer player by the Portugal and Guinea-Bissau national teams reflects on the importance of role models in young players

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Daniel Dantas
Tiago Ferreira: “In football, you cannot take anything for granted”

Photo credits: MTK Budapest The Portuguese centre back Tiago Ferreira has represented the Portugal national team – from the U15 to U21 – and clubs such as FC Porto, Zulte Waregem, União da Madeira, CS Universitatea Craiova, and MTK Budapest throughout his career. Currently waiting for an opportunity to return to the pitch, the 28-year-old

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Daniel Dantas
The 5 most expensive deals of the January 2022 transfer window

The thrilling, turbulent, and unpredictable January 2022 transfer window has recently reached its end. Although the amounts involved and the number of deals are considerably lower than the summer transfer window, this period proves to be crucial for several clubs to fill some gaps, boost their squads and even sign young talented players. Check out

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Photo credits: Arouca FC
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Daniel Dantas
David Simão: “Portugal performs miracles with its limited resources”

Photo credits: FC Arouca   Currently playing for FC Arouca, the experienced Portuguese midfielder David Simão has represented clubs such as SL Benfica, AEK, Royal Antwerp FC, CSKA Sofia, Hapoel Beer Sheva, and Boavista FC throughout his career. In this first and exclusive interview after his return to the pitch, the 31-year-old player analyzes his

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Daniel Dantas
Daniel Fernandes: “If you do not transmit knowledge, you did not learn anything”

The Portuguese national team goalkeeper Daniel Fernandes is a real globetrotter, having experienced nine different countries during his long career in the elite of world football, and speaks languages such as Greek, German, English, Spanish, and Portuguese fluently. In this second part of an informal conversation led by Nuno Milheiro, the current Birkirkara FC (Malta)

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Daniel Dantas
Daniel Fernandes: “You have to invest in yourself emotionally to be stable”

The Portuguese national team goalkeeper Daniel Fernandes is a real globetrotter, having experienced 9 different countries during his long career in the elite of world football, and speaks languages such as Greek, German, English, Spanish, and Portuguese fluently. In this first part of an informal conversation led by Nuno Milheiro, the current Birkirkara FC (Malta)

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Daniel Dantas
Miguel Moita: “I am feeling more and more prepared [to become a coach]”

Miguel Moita is a Soccer Analyst at Al-Hilal SFC and has recently won the 2021 Asian Football Confederation Champions League. In the second part of this exclusive interview, the instructor of the “Building a philosophy – Team identity and Soccer Analysis“ online course at Soccer HUB analyzes the blossoming of young talents in the teams

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Daniel Dantas
Miguel Moita: “Nowadays, football is getting more dissected”

Miguel Moita is a Soccer Analyst at Al-Hilal SFC and has recently won the 2021 Asian Football Confederation Champions League. In the first part of this exclusive interview, the instructor of the “Building a philosophy – Team identity and Soccer Analysis“ online course at Soccer HUB reflects on the importance of game analysis and reveals

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Daniel Dantas
Idalécio: “A few years ago, 30-year-old players were considered old”

Idalécio Rosa is a former Portuguese centre-back who represented clubs such as SC Braga, Rio Ave FC, CD Nacional, SC Farense, and CD Trofense throughout a career exclusively built in his home country. He was the tallest player in the Primeira Liga by several times, with an impressive 1.96 meters tall, and consolidated his name

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Daniel Dantas
Cristian Zaccardo: “Being a World Champion? Only a few can”

Cristian Zaccardo is an inevitable name in Italian football, having won the 2006 FIFA World Cup and a UEFA European Under-21 Championship for the national team. During his career, he represented several clubs in his native country such as AC Milan, Parma, Bologna, Palermo, Spezia, Carpi and Vicenza Calcio. Additionally, Zaccardo has won the Bundesliga

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The Alves Brothers: “There was a lot of football DNA inside of us already”
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Daniel Dantas
The Alves Brothers: “There was a lot of football DNA inside of us already”

The Alves Brothers: this title would perfectly fit a cinematographic work! Coming from a family with a solid football tradition, with three generations of players, Bruno, Geraldo, and Júlio Alves have participated, combined, in more than a thousand matches throughout their careers. Curiously, each has represented at least one of the three biggest Portuguese clubs:

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The “Neuer” generation of goalkeepers
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The “Neuer” generation of goalkeepers

In German, Neuer means newer. What Manuel Peter Neuer does is not exactly new, put certainly defined the new standard for the position. This new “standard” is mostly defined by playing with feet, the sweeper keeping and his standard stance for savings. The reader more familiar with the history of football can cite several other

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Guardiola the false 9 and the true 9
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Guardiola, the false 9 and the true 9

Yesterday, when asked at his press conference on Friday if a striker could make a difference to his City team, Guardiola says I completely agree with you. Strikers are strikers. We don’t have this weapon that teams like Chelsea, [Manchester] United or Tottenham or others have. We don’t have a player to score 25 league

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Simona Petkova: “If you quit you stop dreaming”
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Daniel Dantas
Simona Petkova: “If you quit, you stop dreaming”

Simona Petkova is a Bulgarian international football player who has played in different countries such as England, Italy, and Switzerland, where she represented FC Lugano last season. The 27-year-old winger tells us about the difficulties she has faced throughout her career until becoming at a professional level and analyzes the current panorama of women’s football

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It is not easy to have good principles in football
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Daniel Dantas
“It is not easy to have good principles in football”

Luís Boa Morte is a former Portuguese international player with a long career in England, where he has represented clubs such as Arsenal, Southampton, Fulham, and West Ham. After coaching Maccabi Haifa and Everton, he recently became the assistant coach of Fulham, the Championship club that strives for a place in the Premier League in

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