[ad_1]
Pedro Neto debuted in his first internationalization and Telmo Sousa, one of his first coaches, highlights the “natural talent” of the Wolves winger.
Pedro Neto, the first player born in the 2000s to play for the Portuguese national team, “was born with a gift” that sometimes reminded him of Lionel Messi, says Telmo Sousa, one of his first coaches.
Left-handed and short like the Argentine international from Barcelona, Pedro Neto stood out from the rest from a very young age, always playing on the top step, reveals the now regional technical director of the Viana do Castelo Football Association.
Proud to see the Wolverhampton player reach the main Portuguese team, Telmo Sousa stressed, however, that “no coach has done any miracle: he is a natural talent, he was born with that gift, like the great pianists, for example”.
“Pedro stood out very early for his individual technique, he always played with me above his level, despite being short. He is a very intelligent boy and still has something of a street player, he is very rebellious, with the ability to dribble. Fantastic “, lists Telmo Sousa, speaking with Lusa.
The then coach remembers that Lusa had recorded “many videos of the matches and it was an incredible thing, he was like Messi, he took the ball, he faked everyone, he passed the ball over the goalkeeper and scored,” he recalls.
However, for the technical director of the Viennese association, “quality alone is not enough and it has a characteristic that also makes it different, which is to be very competitive, I didn’t like to lose even beans”.
Coming from a family of athletes – his father and an uncle were hockey players, he is also the nephew of Sérgio Lomba, former central defender of Gil Vicente y Moreirense – Pedro Neto, in his childhood / adolescence, simultaneously practiced roller hockey and soccer and it was only when the hockey team of his age called him that he definitely chose soccer, the association official recalls.
Telmo Sousa coached Pedro Neto at Perspetiva em Jogo, a club that represents Sporting at the youngest levels in that district and in which the now international A played for three seasons, after starting at Vianense and before moving to Braga in 2013 / 14.
Telmo Sousa says that Pedro Neto went to train with the Alcochete Academy with other teammates, but it would be Sporting de Braga to hire the promising left-back.
Born on March 9, 2000 in Viana do Castelo, the winger made his debut in the A team on Wednesday and soon started as a starter in Portugal’s 7-0 defeat over Andorra at Estádio da Luz, which served as preparation. for the decisive clashes with France (Saturday, also in Luz) and Croatia (Tuesday, in Split) counting for the League of Nations. Pedro Neto played only the first half and opened the game after eight minutes, showing a drop to score in his debut, as he did in Braga three and a half years ago.
Shortly after his 17th birthday, on May 14, 2017, and a few minutes after replacing Pedro Santos, Pedro Neto scored a goal in Arsenal’s 4-0 defeat against Nacional, on the penultimate round of the 2016 I League / 17. Pedro Neto would address the Italians from Lazio the following season and, in 2019/20, the English from Wolverhampton, where Portuguese coach Nuno Espírito Santo is a constant bet.
[ad_2]
