不靠谱中青年成长记录

Early Years

Born in the small town of Constantim, Portugal, Simao began playing football with friends among the open spaces and fields surrounding his humble home. 

From an early period he impressed the townsfolk with elaborate skills that where beyond the talents of many older peers. Always small for his age, a youthful Simao played very similarly in his childhood as he does now as a professional; running at players always looking to beat them with tricks and flicks a-plenty.

Being Portuguese and crazy about football, Simao was fed on a diet of the then recently passed, glorious age of national football, led by the incomparable Eusebio.

With thoughts of the home country’s heroics in previous World Cup campaigns festering in the national psyche, Simao was very aware of Portugal’s footballing identity and dreamt of playing for Selecção das Quinas ('national team of the five'), but as his family kept reminding him, he had to work hard to achieve his aspirations.

The first step on the road to becoming a star was achieved as Simao was scouted by Sporting Club de Portugal. Under the stewardship of renowned veteran, youth development coach Augustino Ferreira, he progressed quickly through the ranks of the club’s youth set-up.

Sporting are widely admired for having world-class facilities and Simao has indicated in the past how impressed he was at the science involved, but it is the club’s use of the ‘Joga Bonita’ technique, an adapted discipline adapted from a banned martial art called Capoeira that really boded Simao’s talents into an efficient footballing skill.

Using this technique Simao was taught to read the movements of his opposing player and react accordingly, making it difficult for a marker to ‘read’ his moves.

Being decidedly small might have hampered Simao’s career in the UK or Northern Europe, but in Portugal, with ball-skills being a paramount signaler to a player’s true talent, the youngster flourished. In-fact his size was an advantage as it meant his low centre of gravity allowed for him to skip past the opposition defenders with natural ease and thus catching the eye of the Sporting first-team staff.

During that 1996-1997 season he made his debut and the manner in which he broke into the first team was spectacular, scoring a minute after being substituted on. The Sporting fans embraced he as his initially short showings developed into a regular spot in the first-team squad.

Often used on the right-hand side of a 4-3-3 system Simao only showed flashes of his promising talent in sporadic fashion, until two years later, when hiss form found a touch of regularity, leading him to finish the 1998-1999 season with 10 goals from 30 games. However, just as soon as Sporting felt they had produced another gem from their renowned youth supply line, the bigger cats in the jungle arrived and started to sniff around.

Rise To Fame

Already making waves across Europe, an 18 yr-old Simao was touted as being the ‘next’ Luis Figo, a label which became even more prophetic as FC Barcelona began to enquire as to his availability. A reported £9m bid was accepted, and the little-boy turned into a man almost overnight.

Having never tasted league success at Sporting, Simao had now joined a trophy ravenous giant. With the heavy burden of a massive price-tag and the even greater pressure of following Luis Figo’s lead, the youngster faced a level of responsibilities and expectations he hadn’t experienced before.   

Louis Van Gaal, the then Barca manager, realised the pressure on Simao and attempted to release some of it by easing his arrival into the team. The astute Van Gaal used him sparingly during his first season at Barcelona in 1999/2000, but the plan backfired as the lack of league success sent the demanding Barca fans into a finger-pointing frenzy. Although not high on their complaint list, Siamo still found himself under fire for failing to justify his price-tag.

A year later he remained but Van Gaal had left. After enjoying a successful run in Barcelona’s European pursuits, scoring 7 goals, he was sold to SL Benfica, as a new regime at Barcelona looked to get rid of its ‘dead wood’. Many argue that Barcelona had an itchy trigger-finger believing he should have been given time to settle, yet the statistics don’t really favor the Portuguese man as his paltry 3 league goals in 45 games and overall in-effectiveness speaks volumes.   

A £8m transfer witnessed Simao arriving in Benfica under a cloud of controversy. Having been a product of their rivals Sporting, Benfica fans grumbled over the usual territorial aspects of the move, as well as proclaiming the fee to be too much.

Nevertheless the player felt the move represented a fresh start to his stalled career, and his immediate performances showed all the signs of a quality player hungry to showcase his true abilities. His first season yielded 11 goals in 26 starts and numerous assists, but it was the player’s renewed confidence to take players on and ability to spark Benfica’s more creative moves that really flipped the fans perception of the player.

Even better performances in the following season, with an incredible 18 goals in 33 games from the wing positions, turned Simao into a firm crowd favorite.  After long-term captain Helder fell out with then coach Jose Camacho, Simao was put forward by the media as the standard bearer for the club and thus the first choice to be the skipper. 

A nation not shy about handing responsibility to its attackers, as evident from former national captains Paolo Sousa, Luis Figo and Manuel Rui Costa, SL Benfica decided to entrust its captaincy to Simao. Although not possessing natural leadership qualities, Simao grew into the captain’s armband and became the lynchpin of the side. His inspirational displays led to Benfica winning the Portuguese Cup over fierce rivals Porto FC, in a final which saw Simao striking the decisive goal.

The following season, 2004-2005, Simao reached the pinnacle of his personal career as he guided Benfica to its first league championship in eleven years. Having scored 15 goals in a season in which he battled through a well-known hernia problem, Simao became the darling of Benfica fans and was seen as the embodiment of the club’s growing European standing. Although his fabulous form over four years in Portugal meant his stock had shot through the national roof, in Europe his still didn’t register that highly among the masses.

That changed as Benfica created shockwaves in the 2005-2006 Champions League campaign. Having been widely expected to fall at the group stages Benfica upset the odds by knocking both Manchester United and Liverpool out of the competition, falling themselves only at the hands of eventual winners Barcelona at the semi-final stage.

Simao was highly influential throughout the Champions League run, rising to the occasion as he repeatedly danced rings around the Man Utd defence and assisted crucial goals that overturned the English giants with a 2-1 scoreline in Lisbon. However, the player’s most memorable moment was the remarkable goal he scored at Anfield which paved the way for another huge upset.

With Liverpool dominating possession and looking likely to score early, Simao picked the ball up outside the Liverpool box, made a half-yard space and unleashed a rocket into the top corner with no backspin. The stunned silence from the Kop was only broken by a handful of admiring claps by the Reds hardcore fans.

Time To Move On, Again…

The 2006/2007 European campaign failed to replicate the previous season’s outstanding run, and as rumors of a summer transfer to another big club gained momentum, the thought of Simao’s imminent departure became more of a reality. Liverpool’s Rafa Benitez, clearly still reeling from Simao’s display on Merseyside, made no effort to hide his desire to for Simao to sharpen the Reds attack.

Ironically Rafa had made repeated attempts to sign the winger months before his 25-yard shot flew past Pepe Reina. The story goes (as told by Red Chief Exec Rick Parry), that Simao was already buckled into his plane bound for Liverpool, when a last-minute call from Benfica, demanding more money, scuppered the transfer.

Although the 12th hour price-hike allowed for Benfica fans to enjoy Simao’s skills for another 18 months, a move away from his adopted club became inevitable this summer. Apparently Liverpool was at the front of the queue, with Bayern Munich and even Real Madrid speculated as potential suitors.

However Athletico Madrid, buoyed by incoming money from the Fernando Torres and Martin Petrov sales, have stumped up the asking price and landed one of Europe’s most skillful, explosive and vastly underrated wingers.

Technical Skills

Simao is a traditional European winger: operating best coming in from left wing with the ball on his deadly right-foot. Working within a continental 4-3-3 system has always allowed for Simao’s most prominent qualities to shine, and perhaps also reveals why he decided to try Spain for a second time rather than a move to England.

Watching Simao on the ball is a joy as he is the type of player who has that rare quality of making fans sit on the edge of their seats, expectant of a bit of magic to occur. In this he is similar to his highly-entertaining hero Luis Figo. Like him, Simao can play with both feet and on both wings, and often can be seen intelligently switching wings when play has become subdued.

Facing a defender Simao has the ability to beat him with deceptive jinks and twists accompanied by a good dose of speed. Instead of possessing electric pace, Simao has a rare dimension of being able to play almost like a playmaker from wide positions if his initial forays are rebuffed by strong, ultra-quick fullbacks. In this scenario Simao will often come in off the wing, link play and create openings from very little space.

Although he is often overshadowed as a winger by his world-class compatriot Cristiano Ronaldo, in this aspect, of coming in off the wing and bringing others into play, he arguably beats his younger college. Additionally Simao also has a wicked cross that more often than not finds the intended target.

Perhaps Simao’s biggest asset, and that which places him above many other excellent operatives of his position, is his lethal goal-scoring ability. A telling statistic reads that since arriving at Benfica he has always ended the season as the club’s top goal-scorer, boasting a superb record of 72 league goals in 172 matches, which for a winger is hugely impressive.

Possessing a rocket of a shot in his right-foot, the diminutive midfielder has the agility to create a half-a-yard of space and the technique to shoot accurately from most angles, making him a dangerous player to face for any side, a notion that Sir Alex Ferguson and Rafa Benitez can certainly testify to.

International Career

For a player of Simao’s quality and experience his international career, at the moment, is somewhat patchy. Although always a squad member he has rarely tasted a significant run in the national first-team, nor produced any illuminating displays when given singular opportunity. It would be hard, however, to attach any blame on Simao for his lack of a-list performances, for he is a victim of the same system that moulded his own talents.

Being a star off the conveyor belt that annually produces fantastic Portuguese attackers, meant that in the past Simao has often come off second-best when competition for places placed him up against the iconic Rui Costa, tricky Sergio Conceicao, mesmerizing Luis Figo and mercurial Joao Pinto .

Unfortunately for Simao, just as these statesmen of Portuguese football began to fade, on to scene came the dazzling Cristiano Ronaldo and Ricardo Quaresma, further limiting Simao’s chances. That being said, Simao has still clocked over 50 caps and has been effective in important moments, notably in the big tournaments. Against England his late pinpoint cross evaded Sol Campbell to land on Helder Postiga’s head for the striker to level scores 2-2. Adding to his role in knocking England out, Simao also converted his spot-kick in the resulting penalty shoot-out. 

Incidentally Simao was also the first to step up in the penalty shoot-out between the two teams in the infamous World Cup 2006 encounter, confidently tucking the ball past the hapless Paul Robinson. In his younger years Simao enjoyed a more fruitful spell in the national set-up. As a youngster Simao was part of the Portuguese team that won the Under-16 Championship in 1996, in a team that was dubbed ‘the second golden generation’, after the original famous Rui Costa and Luis Figo side.

At 28, Simao has had very few serious injuries that would limit his career, and already being a player of fantastic physique, he is expected to be involved with the national set-up for at least another two big tournaments. With Figo’s retirement it seems a permanent spot may be open for Simao to claim, possibly in a role that would see him switching flanks with Ronaldo and Quaresma in Portugal’s traditional 3 behind a lone striker system. If so then the ‘Brazilians of Europe’ will be a formidable opponent for anyone in the upcoming Euro 2008.

http://www.goal.com/en/people/portugal/2203/simao