Sporting recently opened the doors of its academy to Flashscore, and during the visit, Morais told us about the impact that Luis Figo and Cristiano Ronaldo still have on it today, why current star Geovany Quenda represents one of its key philosophies, and more.
The Sporting Academy, now the Cristiano Ronaldo Academy, opened on 21 July 2002 and recently celebrated its 23rd anniversary. Despite some improvements, such as the addition of another pitch, the structure remains largely the same. There are, however, plans for expansion. What is currently on the table for the future of the academy?
"The Academy retains its original essence, which is very important because it has an identity that is recognised worldwide. Set in a rural environment, it offers a unique context: the players like it here, they feel good, and they work in a calm and healthy space. More than the term academy, we're talking about a training legacy.
"Despite preserving this initial face, the academy has undergone major internal transformations. The offices for the various areas - coaching, scouting and multidisciplinary support - have been renovated, and new changing rooms have almost been completed, including one for each team, as well as a cloakroom and a changing room for the coaches... Currently, both the professional football pitches and the pitch at the Aurelio Pereira Stadium are state-of-the-art, hybrid pitches. It's a pitch that, as they say, is grade 10.
"Basically, it's an academy with history, but completely modernised on the inside and prepared for both training and high performance."
For several years, the Aurelio Pereira Stadium hosted the official matches of almost all the youth teams.
"Yes, and it's still one of our challenges. Today we have many teams working at the academy, from the under-14s to the B team and the women's A team, which also plays at the Aurelio Pereira Stadium. There are weekends with three or four games on the same pitch, which naturally wears it out.
"That's why we've invested heavily in a new pitch, which is more resistant and durable, able to withstand greater loads. Ultimately, the pitch is the most important thing for the game, and if it's not good enough, nothing else works."
Hence the need to expand, to create more pitches, more infrastructure...
"As we know, sports training and football are highly dynamic, and Sporting has grown a lot in this area. We want to continue growing and expanding with more pitches.
"However, as we've been doing, we're looking geographically at other areas where we could have some Sporting academies, especially near urban centres where we already have Sporting Norte (Santo Tirso), Coimbra, Aveiro and the Algarve working very well. Talent is everywhere and we'll always have to be on the lookout for it.
"In Lisbon, at the University Stadium, we're making a considerable investment in infrastructure, training and playing facilities for players up to under-13. We are currently undergoing remodelling work and we intend to extend these changes to the buildings and stands that support the pitches in 2026. We want to provide our players, of any age, with the best conditions for preparation and competition."
The impact of Figo and Ronaldo
It was precisely at Sporting that two Ballon d'Or winners were trained: Luis Figo, in 2000 (there was no academy yet), and Cristiano Ronaldo, who did the final - and very short - part of the rest of his development here; he won the Ballon d'Or five times. To what extent do these two symbols of Sporting contribute to attracting talent?
"They contribute a lot, not only to attracting talent, but also to the responsibility of all the professionals who are currently serving youth football.
"There are 217 of them who have to have that responsibility and existence in their day-to-day work. Because the fact that Sporting has produced two Ballon d'Or winners in the past, with the influence that Luis Figo and Cristiano Ronaldo still have today, ends up giving us an even greater obligation: every day we try to leave our mark on all the players who pass through the Academy."
It's an added responsibility.
"It's an added responsibility, I have no doubt about that. And everyone who enters the Sporting Academy enters with that vision and that mission. All the more so because we make sure that people feel that, as well as them (Figo and Ronaldo), many others have passed through here and are people and players of excellence, even today, playing for clubs that are currently performing extremely well.
"This is the case with Nuno Mendes, from Paris Saint-Germain, among others - I'm not going to mention any more names - but that's what we want to get across: excellent work is done here to produce excellent players, firstly for our team and then for world football."
And it's no coincidence that of the 23 Portuguese champions at EURO 2016, ten were trained here at Sporting.
"It's another significant milestone in our development, and it's based on the man who is and continues to be most responsible: Mr Aurelio Pereira.
Mr Aurelio left a huge training legacy here, not only in organisational terms, but also in terms of content and the way we have to relate to the players, the parents and all the stakeholders. The way he passed on this mystique and passed it on to all of us was extraordinary, and we try to do our best every day based on the legacy he inherited."
"That's what we want to preserve: the magic of the player"
Mr Aurelio Pereira was an outspoken supporter of so-called street football, a reality that has been disappearing. How are Sporting trying to recapture this formative spirit?
"We try to instil the spirit of street football from the youngest age groups, with children as young as six or seven years old, valuing fun, creative play and a passion for football. Nowadays, young people play less outside the club, there's not so much the neighbourhood or the street anymore, and this limits creativity and spontaneity.
"To counteract this trend, in 2019/2020 we created the Individual Development Department, which works on technical detail and encourages the pillars of street football that are fundamental to the formation of the creative player.
"Today's football is very tactical and mechanised, but what really makes the difference is still creativity, dribbling and the ability to decide in one-on-one situations. That's what we want to preserve: the magic of the player."
Was Geovany Quenda one of those who absorbed this knowledge?
"Yes, Quenda brought a lot of that football with him, and (Salvador) Blopa, who is now also appearing in the first team. They're easy players to characterise, really, because the joy with which they take to the pitch, the way they play, catches the eye. And I think that football nowadays has to give pleasure to those who play and those who watch.
"We can't play football just for ourselves; we can't play football just for the result. We have to play, above all, for the result, but in such a way that the spectators enjoy seeing how we achieve that result. And playing beautifully, playing well, playing with that joyful way of being on the pitch, with that magic we were talking about, with that creative ability, I think it's more enchanting."
Basically, playing with a smile on your face, which is what Cristiano Ronaldo still does.
"That's what we want to see in any player: someone who plays naturally, without fear. Quenda is a good example, because of the way he approaches shots, looks at the goal and gives himself to the team.
Our work today already reflects current football and what's to come: more intensity, more games, more rotation. The coach has to be a true human resources manager, capable of getting the best out of each player.
"In this respect, the Individual Development Department has been key, supporting a player-centred model that continues to drive Sporting's development."