# Sporting CP Youth Academy

The Sporting CP Youth Academy is the youth development division of Sporting CP and part of Academia Cristiano Ronaldo in Alcochete. Sporting CP's youth system, which counted for several decades with Aurélio Pereira among its scouting staff, helped develop footballers such as Paulo Futre, Luís Figo and Cristiano Ronaldo.

## Youth Squads
### Sporting U23 team

    As of 4 October 2023
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | GK | POR | Salvador Gomes |
| — | GK | POR | Francisco Silva |
| — | GK | POR | Guilherme Pires |
| — | GK | POR | Martim Botão |
| — | GK | POR | Diogo Clara |
| — | DF | POR | José Silva |
| — | DF | POR | Gonçalo Braga |
| — | DF | POR | Pedro Silva |
| — | DF | ESP | Lucas Taibo |
| — | DF | POR | Emanuel Fernandes |
| — | DF | POR | Guilherme Silva |
| — | DF | GNB | Malam Malú |
| — | DF | POR | Tiago Parente |
| — | DF | POR | Rodrigo Dias |
| — | MF | POR | Henrique Arreiol |
| — | MF | POR | João Assunção |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | POR | Tiago Octávio |
| — | MF | POR | Rafael Besugo |
| — | MF | POR | Marco Cruz |
| — | MF | POR | Guilherme Santos |
| — | MF | ANG | Manuel Kissanga |
| — | MF | CAN | Lucas Dias |
| — | MF | POR | Diogo Cardoso |
| — | FW | BRA | Ewandro Santos |
| — | FW | POR | Geovany Quenda |
| — | FW | POR | Lucas Anjos |
| — | FW | POR | Luís Gomes |
| — | FW | GNB | Isnaba Mané |
| — | FW | POR | Pedro Sanca |
| — | FW | POR | Mauro Couto |
| — | FW | POR | Francisco Canário |
| — | FW | BRA | Rafael Melo |
Staff
* Head coach: João Pereira
* First assistant coach: Tiago Teixeira
* Assistant coach: António Calça e Pina
* Assistant coach: José Caldeira
* GK Coach: Dário Ezequiel
* Fitness coach: Pedro Cardoso
* Analytics coach: João Ferreira

### Sporting U19 team - Juniores

    As of 5 October 2023
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | GK | POR | Miguel Gouveia |
| — | GK | POR | David Ivanov |
| — | GK | POR | Diogo Clara |
| — | GK | POR | Tiago Leitão |
| — | DF | POR | Konstantin Nikitenko |
| — | DF | POR | Mamadu Queta |
| — | DF | POR | Marlon Júnior |
| — | DF | POR | Rafael Mota |
| — | DF | POR | Francisco Machado |
| — | DF | GNB | Malam Malú |
| — | DF | POR | Rodrigo Dias |
| — | DF | POR | Rayhan Momade |
| — | MF | NED | Ivanildo Mendes |
| — | MF | POR | Eduardo Felicíssimo |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | POR | João Simões |
| — | MF | GNB | Amadu Baldé |
| — | MF | ANG | Manuel Kissanga |
| — | MF | POR | Rodrigo Viola |
| — | FW | GNB | Micael Sanhá |
| — | FW | POR | Pedro Sanca |
| — | FW | POR | Telmo Coimbra |
| — | FW | ANG | Adair Kandala |
| — | FW | STP | Winilson Lopes |
| — | FW | GNB | Sérgio Matos |
| — | FW | BRA | Luís Gustavo |
| — | FW | POR | Diogo Martins |
| — | FW | POR | Gabriel Silva |
| — | FW | POR | João Infante |
Staff
* Head coach: Pedro Coelho
* Assistant coach: Paulo Carvalho
* Assistant coach: Pedro Cruz
* GK Coach: Rodolfo Vieira
* Analytics coach: João Jorge
* Scout: César Fragoso
* Scout: André Figueiró
* Team Manager: Mariana Vaz Pinto

### Sporting U17 team - Juvenis

    As of 5 October 2023
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | GK | POR | Alexandre Tverdohlebov |
| — | GK | POR | Tiago Leitão |
| — | GK | USA | William Lodmell |
| — | GK | POR | Tiago Gaeiras |
| — | DF | POR | Daniel Costa |
| — | DF | POR | Rodrigo Cabrito |
| — | DF | POR | Atanásio Cunha |
| — | DF | POR | Afonso Lee |
| — | DF | POR | Diego Coxi |
| — | DF | POR | Cristiano Palamarchuk |
| — | DF | POR | Denilson Santos |
| — | DF | POR | Joel Moura |
| — | MF | POR | João Rodrigues |
| — | MF | POR | Gonçalo Correia |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | POR | Sandro Nascimento |
| — | MF | POR | Rafael Camacho |
| — | MF | POR | Flávio Gonçalves |
| — | MF | POR | Tomás Mendes |
| — | MF | CYP | Argyris Christodoulou |
| — | FW | STP | Winilson Lopes |
| — | FW | GNB | Frederico Monteiro |
| — | FW | POR | Salvador Blopa |
| — | FW | POR | Afonso Moço |
| — | FW | POR | Martim Peixoto |
| — | FW | POR | Diogo Martins |
| — | FW | POR | Miguel Almeida |
| — | FW | POR | Rafael Melo |
Staff
* Head coach: José João
* Assistant coach: Rafael Pinto
* Assistant coach: Diogo Souto
* GK Coach: Luís Caetano
* Analytics coach: André Gonçalves

### Sporting U15 team - Iniciados

    As of 5 October 2023
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | GK | POR | Valdir Nascimento |
| — | GK | POR | Guilherme Alves |
| — | GK | POR | Afonso Redondo |
| — | GK | POR | Patrick Moreira |
| — | DF | POR | Salvador Fortuna |
| — | DF | POR | Paulo Rodrigues |
| — | DF | POR | David Conceição |
| — | DF | BRA | João Guerra |
| — | DF | POR | Alexandre Rosado |
| — | DF | POR | Mário William |
| — | DF | POR | Gustavo Laginhas |
| — | DF | UKR | Illia Iablonskyi |
| — | DF | GNB | David Sá |
| — | DF | POR | João Rijo |
| — | DF | POR | Francisco Cabeçana |
| — | DF | POR | Luís Balza |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | POR | Rodrigo Nogueira |
| — | MF | POR | Francisco Simões |
| — | MF | POR | Leonardo Varela |
| — | MF | POR | Guilherme Rocha |
| — | MF | POR | Igor Cabral |
| — | MF | POR | Martim Diogo |
| — | MF | POR | Martim Almeida |
| — | MF | POR | Tiago Camargo |
| — | FW | POR | Duarte Tomás |
| — | FW | POR | José Lino |
| — | FW | POR | José Garrafa |
| — | FW | POR | Vítor Conceição |
| — | FW | POR | Henrique Tavares |
| — | FW | POR | Sandro Ferreira |
| — | FW | POR | Rodrigo Correia |
| — | FW | POR | Rafael Fial |
Staff
* Head coach: Bernardo Bruschy
* Assistant coaches: Gonçalo Olim
* Assistant coaches: João Lourenço
* GK Coach: João Santos

## The Academy

Sporting's Academy was the first and only sports academy in Europe to receive the ISO9001:2008 – a quality certification awarded by EIC, a Portuguese anonymous society responsible for this type of certification, which is recognised both locally and internationally.

### Facilities

Budgeted at around 2,000,000,000$00 million (2 million contos), the construction of the academy commenced in August 1999 in the municipality of Alcochete, located on the outskirts of Lisbon on the southern bank of the river Tejo, and the inauguration was on 21 June 21 2002. The main building of the academy has two different areas, the professional football area and the youth area. In both sides there is medical center equipped with treatment rooms, gym, Turkish bath, Jacuzzi and bedrooms. In the youth area, there are also several study rooms. The academy is equipped with a main field, four grass pitches for training, a synthetic field and a grassed area for goalkeepers training.
Sporting's youth academy and the larger Sporting Academy in general was one of the training grounds for the Portugal national football team during Euro 2004. A number of European clubs choose the Sporting's Academia for training in the off-season.

## Youth program

Sporting CP Youth Program helped produce two FIFA World Player of the Year winners (Luís Figo and Cristiano Ronaldo), two Ballon d'Or winners (Luís Figo and Cristiano Ronaldo) and one runner-up (Paulo Futre), and one FIFA Ballon d'Or winner (Cristiano Ronaldo).

### Notable Academy graduates
#### List criteria

* Player has made 25 appearances or more for his country at full international level
* Player who has been at least nominated for a "world's best men's player" award (Ballon d'Or, FIFA World Player of the Year / The Best FIFA Men's Player or FIFA Ballon d'Or).
| Name | Country | National Football Team | National Football Team | Best Result in Major Awards | Best Result in Major Awards | Best Result in Major Awards |
| Name | Country | Apps | Goals | Ballon d'Or | FIFA World Player of the Year / The Best FIFA Men's Player | FIFA Ballon d'Or |
| Adrien Silva | Portugal | 26 | 1 | - | - | - |
| Augusto Inácio | Portugal | 25 | 0 | - | - | - |
| Beto | Portugal | 31 | 2 | - | - | - |
| Cédric Soares | Portugal | 34 | 1 | - | - | - |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | 184 | 115 | 1st (2008,2016,2017) | 1st (2008, 2016, 2017) | 1st (2013, 2014) |
| Eric Dier | England | 45 | 3 | - | - | - |
| Hugo Viana | Portugal | 29 | 1 | - | - | - |
| João Moutinho | Portugal | 135 | 7 | - | - | - |
| João Mário | Portugal | 45 | 2 | - | - | - |
| Jorge Cadete | Portugal | 33 | 5 | - | - | - |
| José Fonte | Portugal | 46 | 0 | - | - | - |
| Luís Boa Morte | Portugal | 28 | 1 | - | - | - |
| Luís Figo | Portugal | 127 | 32 | 1st (2000) | 1st (2001) | - |
| Marco Caneira | Portugal | 25 | 0 | - | - | - |
| Manuel Bento | Portugal | 63 | 0 | - | - | - |
| Mica Pinto | Luxembourg | 27 | 1 | - | - | - |
| Miguel Veloso | Portugal | 56 | 3 | - | - | - |
| Nani | Portugal | 112 | 24 | - | - | 22nd (2011) |
| Nuno Valente | Portugal | 33 | 1 | - | - | - |
| Paulo Futre | Portugal | 41 | 6 | 2nd (1987) | - | - |
| Rui Águas | Portugal | 31 | 10 | - | - | - |
| Rui Patrício | Portugal | 97 | 0 | 12th (2016) | - | - |
| Ricardo Quaresma | Portugal | 80 | 10 | Nominee (2007) | Nominee (2006) | - |
| Silvestre Varela | Portugal | 27 | 5 | - | - | - |
| Simão | Portugal | 85 | 22 | - | - | - |
| Vítor Damas | Portugal | 29 | 0 | - | - | - |
| William Carvalho | Portugal | 68 | 4 | - | - | - |
| Bold denotes players still playing professional football. Caps and goals are correct as of 26 January 2022. |||||||

## Academia Aurélio Pereira and Pólo EUL

The youth development division includes the Pólo EUL, Sporting Clube de Portugal's youth development campus at the Estádio Universitário de Lisboa (6 to 13 years old children), and the Aurélio Pereira Academy located at the football fields next to the Pavilhão João Rocha, within a short walking distance from the Estádio José Alvalade.

## Escolas Academia Sporting

The Escolas Academia Sporting (EAS – Sporting Academy Schools) are football training schools affiliated with Sporting CP. Boys and girls aged 4 to 15 are eligible to get admission in the EAS, which are in operation in several locations across Portugal. Angola, Brazil, Canada, Cape Verde, Costa Rica, Singapore, South Africa and Spain, among other countries, are foreign countries where the EAS have been founded.