Trincão’s sensational solo slalom seals Sporting triumph

Abraham Smith

Twelve rounds of the season remain after Liga Bwin’s final games, with the title race taking a significant step forward with Benfica extending their lead at the top to eight points and beating Vizela, while Porto suffered a surprise 2-1 home loss to Gil Vicente slipped.

Braga also lost ground to the Eagles, losing to local rivals Vitória Guimarães in a typically hard-fought Minho derby.

It’s a former Braga player who’s in focus as our PortuGOAL character of the week as Francisco Trincão finally showed what he’s capable of after a previously stuttering season at Sporting. His stunning solo goal saw the Lions 2-0 over a battered Estoril.

23-year-old Francisco Trincão is a wonderfully talented winger who developed in Braga’s youth team before moving to the senior side and blossoming in the Primeira Liga As Arsenalistas Looking to join Barcelona in the summer of 2020 in a bid to make the big bucks, the Catalans are reportedly spending €31,000,000 on his services.

The only worry associated with such a move was that perhaps it was too big for the Portuguese too soon and to some extent this proved to be a fringe figure at the Camp Nou, which at the time faced stiff competition in the attacking areas was exposed to established stars such as Lionel Messi, Ousmane Dembélé and Antoine Griezmann.

A loan move seemed inevitable and so it happened the following season. On paper, his temporary deal to join the Portuguese project at Wolves in the Premier League felt like it couldn’t fail, but TrincAo again failed to gain a foothold in the starting XI and was only able to show his immense talent to a limited extent.

And so to that season where another loan took him back to Portugal just a little further south as he joined forces with Rubén Amorim at Sporting, a manager who supported his development at Braga. Trinc may still be feeling the hangover of two seasons of change in different leagues, but Trinc has a familiar themeAo’s campaign in the sense that we don’t get to see what he’s really capable of on a regular enough basis.

Especially of late, the winger has been struggling and has even been dropped a few times by Amorim, who has been largely ubiquitous before. Some fitness issues haven’t helped either, but his return to the team for Monday night’s home game against Estoril could prove a catalyst for a turnaround in the fortunes of the player as TrincAo came to life in a striking second-half performance.

Stationed on the left flank, probably TrincAo’s weaker side, it was a quiet first period as his lack of confidence was a factor in his failure to affect the game. He was outshone by his teammate on the opposite wing, Marcus Edwards, who came closest to scoring in a one-sided half in the hosts’ favour.

New signing Héctor Bellerín was the least likely source to break Estoril’s resistance before the final whistle, but Trinc shortly after the breakAo stepped in not only to seal the win, but to finally really show the crowd at the Estádio José Alvalade what he can bring to the party.

Trinc wasn’t held in high esteemAo After receiving a pass from Nuno Santos down the left, the former Braga man launched a solo slalom run in the field to dodge challenges from three or four Estoril defenders before forcefully passing goalkeeper Dani Figueira to 2-0 to score .

A stunning individual performance that will feed into the thoughts on the goal of the season and gave Trinc an immediate and obvious boostAo’s morale on the pitch. He threatened to double his tally about ten minutes later when he received another pass from Santos before putting his left foot on goal, Figeuira scoring the shot this time.

More magic feet from TrincAo Sporting almost extended their lead in the 68th minute. The winger stroked his marker before another one-on-one run that feared the Estorilers backtracked but Figueira parried the eventual close.

In the last minute of the game TrincAo almost added an assist to round off his evening when he came over from the left to find substitute Youssef Chermiti but the young forward could only turn and fire straight at Figueira. Nonetheless, when the final whistle blew, it felt like a turning point for TrincAo’s season, with everyone involved with the Portuguese wideman hoping this was the turning point to fulfill his potential.

Rumors suggest that TrincAo’s time as a Barcelona player will officially end this summer with reports he could convert his temporary Lisbon contract to a permanent one. After a slow start, this could prove to be the ideal setting for this amazing talent to remind audiences just how good he can be.

By Jamie Farr

@FRfutebolJamie

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