Oguchi Onyewu's high profile move to Milan might not have worked out as American fans would like, but he gets another opportunity at a storied European club. So what do we need to know about the Sporting that isn't playing in Kansas City but does have a date with Juventus at BMO Field on Saturday (7pm ET - ESPN Deportes).
Why Are We Here?
Oguchi Onyewu spent the second half of the 2010-11 season on loan with FC Twente in Holland's Eredivisie. With Milan accepting offers, he ended up signing with Portuguese Primeira Liga club Sporting. It's a new league and an opportunity for Onyewu, who has been in pursuit of regular playing time since leaving Standard Liege at the end of the 2009-09 season.
Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. It's a major European city with over a quarter of the Portuguese population leaving within the wider Lisbon area. It's also home to two mammoth clubs, Sporting and Benfica. It's Benfica more associated with American players, the one time home of goalkeeper Zach Thornton and currently the club of record for Freddy Adu. From all indications, barring the occasional earthquake every few centuries it's a very nice place to live.
And The Club?
First off, a moment of nomenclature. The name of the club is Sporting Clube de Portugal, which translate into English as "don't call us Sporting Lisbon. We're Sporting at best, Sporting CP if you must, but not Sporting Lisbon. Benfica has Sporting Lisboa in their official name, we loathe them, and we might simply ignore you if you tack 'Lisbon,' 'Lisboa,' or anything else onto the end of ours." Now that we're all clear on that, Sporting err... Sporting is one of the big three clubs along with Porto and the already name-checked Benfica. They've won the Primeira Liga 18 times, the domestic cup 19 times, and the old UEFA Cup Winners' Cup once. They were runners-up in the UEFA Cup in 2005.
How Tough Is The Premeira?
Well, that annex Sporting needs to hold all of those trophies? Turns out they're third among the big three. Let's ruin things by looking up Benfica and their 32 league titles, 27 domestic cups, and two European Cups along with finishing second in that tournament five times. Porto also has the edge on Sporting in trophies, winning the league title 25 times, the domestic cup 20 times, and the European Cup and UEFA Cup twice each. And unlike Benfica, Porto won Europe in the last decade rather than the early 1960's. They're also the defending Europa League champion. All that to say two things: 1) good is relative in Portugal, and 2) the big three dominate the Premeira. The last time one of this bunch didn't win the championship? 2000-01 when Boavista took the title. Sporting won the title the next season and haven't won it since. However, they've only finished out of the top three once in the last 10 years. They were 3rd in 2010-11. So it's tough to win for a team like Sporting, but not to finish in the top three.
The Stadium?
Though it's overshadowed by Benfica's Estadio da Luz, considered one of Europe's classic soccer venues, Sporting's Estadio Jose Alvalade has it's own charms. It's a modern 50,049-seater that opened in 2003 and shades of Gillette Stadium in the US, it has a shopping mall - the Alvalaxia. Much like Gillette, it's located in the same area as the earlier Estadio Jose Alvalade it replaced.
