The 2023 edition of the Next Generation Trophy took place last August, a friendly competition organized by FC Liefering that brings together some of the best academies in world football. Atlético de Madrid, Juventus, New York Red Bull, FC Copenhagen, and Yeelen Olympique all took part in the competition that crowned RB Bragantino as winners after they beat Sporting CP on penalties in the final.
After facing New York RB and Independiente del Valle in the group stage, Sporting CP went on to the knockout phase and left behind teams like Yeelen Olympique, champions of Mali, and RB Salzburg to reach the final meeting with RB Bragantino. The “Lions” always played in a 4x2x3x1 formation, emphasizing the central corridor in the first phase, and exploiting the speed of the wingers further forward. They tried to play with the ball under control until they found space to break deep.
In this article, I will tell you about the three Sporting CP players who impressed me the most.
Youth Ratings
1 – Ready for the first team
2 – Good, potential to be first team
3 – Decent, could make first team squad
4 – Decent potential, unlikely to make it to first team
5 – Unlikely to make first team
Diego Coxi
- Nationality: Portuguese
- Age: 15
- Date of Birth: 31/07/2008
- Club: Sporting CP (Y)
- Career: Sporting CP (Y)
- Position: Centre-back
- Preferred Foot: Left
Diego Alexandre Coxi has so far spent his entire formative years at the service of the “Lions”. He currently moves between Sporting CP’s Under-17 and Under-16 teams, and, at The Next Generation Cup 2023, he played on both sides of the centre of defence in the 4x2x3x1 formation presented by the Portuguese team’s coach.
From a technical point of view, Diego Coxi is a very mature player. He has tremendous composure and is easy to manoeuvre in possession. Whether advancing or passing, the young Portuguese can create imbalances and good attacking situations from the back. He does not shy away from the long pass, because he is strong in that area, but he does try to help the team build collective attacking moves through the short pass.
Due to his intelligence, Diego is a player with a good ability to read the game and respond to it according to what it needs. Because of this, Coxi has a good command of releasing the ball – he rarely loses the ball. In defence, he can respect the defensive line and provide security for the whole block. He also knows how to control the space behind him. In the games seen throughout the tournament, the Sporting CP team was not massacred too much defensively.
Physically, Coxi is a morphologically ectomorphic player of medium to tall stature. He has good acceleration and outstanding speed. His running speed is also noteworthy. His competitive attitude is second to none: he always keeps his concentration and focus on the game.
Rating – 2
Diego Coxi’s potential depends on the level of opposition he faces during the rest of his formative years. Now, given what he showed in the Austrian tournament, he is already a player with a good record, and it makes sense for him to be playing at the top level, as he theoretically faces more difficult scenarios. As such, it could better prepare him for professional football, including Sporting CP’s first team, where I believe he will end up, given the characteristics I described earlier.
Sandro Gamboa
- Nationality: Portuguese
- Age: 15
- Date of Birth: 01/11/2008
- Club: Sporting CP (Y)
- Career: EFC Alcanena (Y), ADCR Vasco da Gama (Y), SL Benfica (Y), AA Santarém (Y) and Sporting CP (Y)
- Position: Defensive-midfielder
- Preferred Foot: Right
Born in Santarém, Sandro Gamboa took his first steps on the ball with EFC Alcanena. He stayed there between 2014 and 2018, before heading to ADCR Vasco da Gama, the club from which he moved to SL Benfica in 2019. He returned to ADCR Vasco da Gama a season after joining the “Reds” and, before heading to Sporting CP, he spent a season at Académica de Santarém.
Playing for the “Lions” in The Next Generation Cup 2023, Sandro played as a defensive midfielder in the green and white midfield. Together with the “Leoninos” centre-backs, Sandro tried to form a triangle that would allow Sporting CP’s Under-16s to play out from the back. In those moments, he showed his ability to organize the game from the back through his passing and vision. He was able to break down lines, both through vertical passes and diagonal passes, which further demonstrated his organizational skills and technical quality.
In terms of intelligence, Sandro Gamboa showed his ability to always be well-positioned in defence. The Portuguese player was able to anticipate scenarios and not only cut off lines of passing but also get ahead of the receiver and intercept him. In attack, as I have already mentioned, the player was able to make good decisions and benefit the team through them.
Physically, Sandro is a morphologically mesomorphic player of medium to tall stature. He has good running speed, which benefits from his strong acceleration. He also showed good running speed. His competitive attitude is an area for improvement, as he could be quicker and more aggressive in defensive transitions.
Rating – 3
Sandro Gamboa’s potential is defined by what has been his ever-growing formative path. He was at the top of Portugal’s youth football scene and has come back after a step-down. He is an interesting player from a technical point of view and an intelligence point of view on the pitch, and he can continue to polish the edges that may allow him to make the step up to the Sporting CP first team in the future. For the time being, I believe he will make it to professional football.
Chris Grombahi
- Nationality: Ivorian Coast
- Age: 15
- Date of Birth: 20/08/2008
- Club: Sporting CP (Y)
- Career: UD Alta de Lisboa (Y) and Sporting CP (Y)
- Position: Winger
- Preferred Foot: Left
Hailing from Côte d’Ivoire, Chris Grombahi entered football through the doors of UD Alta de Lisboa. In 2017, the young winger moved to Sporting CP, where he remains today.
In The Next Generation Cup 2023, Grombahi played as a right winger in the “Lions'” 4x2x3x1 and was one of the best players in the competition – of the games I saw, only Justin Lerma, from Independiente del Valle, excited me more.
On the offensive side, there are many aspects to Chris Grombahi’s game. Whenever he receives the ball, he does so in a forward-orientated way. This allows him, on the one hand, to face his opponent and, on the other, to be directed in the direction he is attacking. When facing the opponent, his technical quality stands out: looking to dribble from the outside in, he shows speed of execution and agility. In addition, constant changes of direction and speed, as well as a very high acceleration capacity, allow him to outpace his opponents and move towards the finish, a moment where he shows intelligence, as he combines the fact that he knows how to time his finish with the ease with which he can do it, both in terms of power and placement.
In terms of intelligence, he is a player who reads spaces well and therefore makes constant use of the infamous Argentinian move “toco y me voy”, something that gives him a lot of advantages due to his ability to accelerate into empty spaces. On the other hand, the way he uses his body well to protect the ball and win duels is another indicator of his intelligence, as he can capitalize on those moments offensively.
Defensively, he is a player who can recover well in defensive transition, both reacting to a loss and recovering meters toward his team’s goal. Strong in duels, as I have already mentioned, he manages to impose himself on the defence through his physique and ability to anticipate the time to tackle. His competitive attitude is something that benefits him at this point in the game.
Rating – 2
Chris Grombahi was the player who gave me the most marks in The Next Generation Cup. His performance is not superb yet, but his potential is – his arrival in Sporting CP’s first team is quite possible if nothing goes amiss. And by potential we mean the fact that the player demonstrates that he can do things but does not often execute them with a high success rate. Grombahi can still grow in terms of decision-making in the final third and has the ingredients to do so in the coming years, given that the 2008 generation in Portugal is a generation full of talented players, something that increases competitiveness.
Target Scouting 