Middle of Rio Ave never hid sympathy for dragons
The center of the field was always Guga’s favourite, and that’s where he settled, still in 7-a-side football, at the Benfica Training and Training Center in the district of Faro, where he arrived at just eight years old. Five years later, Benfica moved to Seixal for good. “He was part of the golden generation of 1997, from which Rúben Dias, João Carvalho, Renato Sanchez or Diogo Gonçalves emerged”, recalls Armando Jorge Carneiro, then general director of training at Benfica.
“He was a very irreverent kid, but very dynamic”, describes the former incarnate manager, in statements to record, acknowledging that some injuries that affected him along the way prevented him from having “a definitive statement at Benfica”. He even reached senior level with an eagle on his chest, but, due to a complicated injury, he was unable to take the step towards the main team. He stayed with the B team and left for Greek football (Panetolikos), to recover from the injury and play regularly at a more demanding level. Deep down, to regain confidence in his abilities.
The good sports performance was not always accompanied by a good performance at school level, which led to the father being called on several times to intervene. “We always had to call his father because of that”, recalls Armando Jorge Carneiro, showing himself “happy with the perseverance” demonstrated by Guga Rodrigues, who, despite the mishaps, never gave up on reaching the top, which could happen next season, if the move to Estádio do Dragão is confirmed.
After leaving Benfica, Guga tried his luck in Greek football and returned to Portugal, to represent Famalicão. He stayed two seasons in Minho and moved closer to his dream (FC Porto). He has been at Rio Ave for three seasons. He has almost a hundred games for Vila-Condense, having scored five goals and provided 10 assists.
By João Lopes
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