"Always give my all and give the highest quality to the team"

FULL INTERVIEW

In the match against Boavista on Friday, January 19, on matchday 18 of the Liga Betclic, João Neves has made 50 appearances for Sport Lisboa e Benfica's first team. The midfielder says there's more to come.

A Benfica player since 2012, the Tavira native arrived at the Benfica Campus in 2016/17, from the Benfica Training Center in Faro (Algarve). With a career at all the club's youth levels, he made his first-team debut in a friendly against Sevilla on December 11, 2022, brought on in the 77th minute by Roger Schmidt.

Officially, João Neves played his first minutes for the first team in Braga, on matchday 14 of the 2022/23 National Championship, on the 30th of the same month, coming on at the 89th minute. That season he played in 19 more games - 16 in the league and three in the Champions League - and scored his first goal on the penultimate matchday, in the derby with Sporting (2-2), away from home.

This season, João Neves has played in 30 matches, scored one goal - against Sporting (2-1) in Luz - made one assist and celebrated winning the Super Cup.

50 MATCHES

"It seems like only yesterday that I started in the first team, the first training session, the first week, and now I've played 50 games. It's great, it's always been a dream to play for the A team, and to have 50 games is just adding up to an achievement I've been striving for since I was young, so I hope to keep going. Whether it's one more, 200 or whatever: I'm always going to give it my all. But that's the thing, when you love and enjoy every moment, time flies by, and that's what happened in this case."

DEBUT IN BRAGA ON DECEMBER 30, 2022

"I remember very well the manager telling our assistant to come and call me and when he did, I left as quickly as possible to go onto the pitch. Despite the defeat, I'll never forget the moment I stepped onto the pitch for a competition in a Benfica jersey."

MEMORIES OF DI MARÍA AT BENFICA

"I probably didn't even watch football the way I do now. I remember videos and highlights of Ángel in the Benfica jersey, his goals and lots of creative moves, just like he does nowadays. Even though he's older, the quality is still there, and it's a privilege to play with Ángel today."

MATCH 50

"I don't think I realized it was game 50 until after the match. I think it was António who told me, and I asked him if it was really true, because it also goes by very quickly. Playing at Estádio da Luz, whether it's a win, a draw or a loss, is always very special, because of our fans, the affection they give us, the support, and Estádio da Luz is beautiful to play in."

PERFORMANCE

"No, no, I don't feel like a giant, nor do I feel small. I feel that I give my all and that I can help the team in the game. And that's my goal as a professional footballer, to always give my all and give the team the highest quality so that we can win."

ANALYSIS OF THE JOURNEY: IN THE HEARTS OF BENFICA FANS

"Yes, it's going very well. I also feel that, despite coming from a youth background, it helps to be even warmer in their [the fans'] hearts, and all they deserve is for those on the pitch to spread magic, spread quality, spread the Benfica mystique, and I think that's what I've been demonstrating."

ESTORIL: LEAGUE CUP SEMI-FINAL

"Expectations... we never promise to win, but we always promise to do everything we can to win. I think it's based on that, which is: putting the quality we have into practice and trying to get the better of it so that we can go on to the final."