As Portugal prepares to take on France in the UEFA Euro 2016 Final on Sunday in Saint-Denis (2 p.m. CT kickoff), Swope Park Rangers midfielder Kevin Oliveira will keep a close eye on the matchup – and Portuguese midfielder Renato Sanches in particular.
Oliveira and Sanches came through the system together at Benfica, with Sanches enjoying a breakout campaign in the 2015-16 season, earning himself a move to Bayern Munich and appearing in five of Portugal’s six games at this summer’s European Championships.
“Renato Sanches is a good guy, I’ve known him a long time, he’s my best friend from Benfica,” Oliveira said this week from the sidelines of training after suffering a season-ending ACL tear late last month. "All the time he said 'Kevin I’ll go to the first team, Kevin you’ll see,' and he’s one guy who always has a strong mind and good personality. We played UEFA Youth League together, we played in the league, always together.”
- At 2:07 in the video below, watch Oliveira curl home a game-winning free kick for Benfica against Barcelona at the U-17 AEGON Future Cup in 2013. Oliveira (8) and Sanches (17) both started in the midfield.
Oliveira notes that at 17 years of age, Sanches was on the younger side when he joined the Benfica B team in 2014. It wasn’t until a UEFA Youth League game against Russia’s Zenit St. Petersburg on Sept. 16, 2014 that Sanches crashed onto the scene. Oliveira would replace Sanches in the 82nd minute.
“He went so early to the B team, at 17 years old and the first year he didn’t play too much and was only in the game in the second half,” Oliveira said. “The next year he played all the time. When he had the opportunity to play and start, he played in the first game in the Youth League against Zenit and everyone saw the quality and how strong he is.”
A positive 2014-15 campaign ensued where he played almost every game in the midfield for Benfica B, before seizing his opportunity with the first team in 2015-16 - making 35 appearances and breaking into the Portuguese National Team ahead of the Euros.
“I am so proud, I talk to him often,” Oliveira stated. “Before the Euros started, I told him good luck and I told him he doesn’t need to show anyone what he is capable of, the people will see his quality by him enjoying and playing. Everyone has now seen his quality.”
After appearing sporadically in the group stage as Portugal advanced as one of the best third-place teams in the tournament, Sanches came off the bench in the Round of 16 clash with Croatia before earning his first start of the tournament against Poland in the Quarterfinal – becoming the youngest Portuguese player to start in a major tournament.
The 18-year-old scored his first international goal – a vital strike in the 33rd minute of the contest to tie the score at 1-1, with Portugal advancing on penalties.
“I was so excited when he scored because people always say 'he needs to play, he needs to play,' but the coach is the only one that can decide that,” Oliveira said. “He is so young and we have a lot of older players with more experience on the national team. He waited for the opportunity and when he got to play, he changed the game. You can see the personality he has in the game, and it’s the same personality he has in training and with everything.”
Portugal take on France in the UEFA Euro 2016 Final on Sunday in Saint-Denis, with kickoff set for 2 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.
