We are very pleased with the feedback on our sporting apparatus. In fact, the coaching staff was the question that received the best evaluation in all of our surveys throughout the year, Moura said.

We’re not just results-oriented. The desire is to make sure that the players are integrated into a group that gives them challenges at the same sporting level as themselves. That’s often the key to good performance.

In 2023, our teams have won tournaments such as Future cup and MIC Barcelona, while several others have finished top 4 in international tournaments,” said head coach Ricardo Silva, who was quick to talk about the development of individual players.

NF Academy has many talented players and an attractive way to play football. Sporting CP and other big clubs have scouts following us around Europe. This summer, four of the players were selected for a training stint in Lisbon.

A number of others had opportunities to prove themselves to clubs, scouts and agents, Ricardo Silva said.

We have added an extra day to the tournament schedules, with the exception of the Riga Cup. This is played outside of the school holidays and is a cup where the withdrawal of squad takes place after a long autumn and winter where the players have trained together, we have gotten to know them and they know our way of playing.

The Riga Cup 2024 is for the best players in our local programmes. The goal of that one extra day is to add one or two extra training sessions to strengthen the relational on the pitch and the bond between the players outside, Moura said.

This makes us more vulnerable to injuries, but at the same time gives more playing time to those who have been taken out. It’s important for both the experience and player development. For the strongest tournaments, the selection will probably also be more stringent in 2024, concludes NF Academy Sports Director Gonçalo Moura.