The Sweden striker’s goals had inspired Sporting for two years but in Colombian Luis Suárez they have found an equally prolific target man
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n Portugal, two of the most familiar sayings claim that “green is the colour of hope” and that “hope is the last thing to die”. For Sporting, a club draped in green, those proverbs are not merely poetic – they are operational.
After a humiliating 3–0 defeat in Norway by Bodø/Glimt in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie, logic suggested it was all over. Sporting disagreed. Backed by about 50,000 supporters, the team surged with belief and delivered a 5–0 victory that carried the club to their first quarter-final in the tournament in 43 years. Arsenal come next, as does an old question: is hope a cultural relic or Sporting’s most powerful ally?
“The fact that Sporting beat Arsenal not too long ago helps the players believe it’s possible,” says Ricardo Sá Pinto, the former Sporting coach, player and club legend, of their Europa League last-16 win on penalties in 2023. “Anything can happen in football, even when teams are theoretically uneven.”
