"It was very difficult, but it's good for the club, and it's good for me"

INTERVIEW

At the time of his departure João Neves assumed that it was the result of a "very difficult" decision. The emotions he experienced with President Rui Costa and his eternal gratitude to coach Roger Schmidt are expressed in the interview with the club's media (watch here).

"If I really wanted to leave, and if Benfica really wanted me to leave, we would have sorted it out a long time ago. We tried our best and reached a consensus. We found the best thing for both parties, in financial terms it's good for the club, and it's good for me," said João Neves.

With an open heart, the made in Benfica midfielder talks about how he made his name with the eagle and the moments that marked his meteoric rise. He sees himself celebrating Glorioso goals with the "same enthusiasm" wherever he is, and leaves a message for the Reds fans: "The main thing is to support Benfica to the full, every game."

DEPARTURE, A "VERY DIFFICULT" DECISION

"It was very difficult, because if I really wanted to leave, and if Benfica really wanted me to leave, we would have sorted it out a long time ago. We tried our best and reached a consensus. We found the best thing for both parties, in financial terms it's good for the club and it's good for me."

CHALLENGE

"Of course it's scary, I'm out of my comfort zone. I have in the back of my mind that I'm very much appreciated here, from the first day I made my debut in the first team, and even in my first training session, by my teammates and the staff, by everyone. I'm going to a different country, a different reality, a different language, I'm still not sure what I can do there, but I'm going to give it my all. That's my nature, to give my all wherever I am, because I know that if I give my all, I'll always be closer to achieving my goals. Just as I've done here from the start, I'll do there from the start too."

HOW THE PROCESS WENT

"Neither I nor my family ever called anyone to force my departure, or any other kind of matter related to João Neves wanting to leave. Not even Benfica wanted me to leave. It's very clear and very present in my mind. I spoke to the President a few times and we always had the same opinion. It wasn't easy for the President. In the meetings I had with him, the President was very emotional, because it was about me. When we agreed it was time for me to leave, the President kind of teared up, and I did too, we both cried a bit. But as I said, it was good for the club. There's nothing above the Club, nor am I above the Club."

WHAT WILL YOU MISS MOST?

"My childhood friends, without a doubt. For me, friendship is a very strong thing that I carry with me for life. They were friends that Benfica gave me, like António, for example, who, as you know, is one of my best friends. André, Gouveia, the guys from the youth academy, Araújo, Samuel, and even those who aren't from the youth academy. I felt a great deal of empathy, and I know I'll really miss that. And the other thing, which is no less important because I say it second, is wearing the Benfica jersey, going into the Estádio da Luz, celebrating a Benfica goal. I'm still going to celebrate them, not in the same way, but I'm still going to celebrate them. Now off the pitch, but I'll miss that a lot."

GRATEFUL TO ROGER SCHMIDT: "HE BELIEVED IN ME"

"Firstly, when I talk about Roger Schmidt, I just have to thank him. It was he who gave me the opportunity, it was he who believed in me, maybe when I didn't believe I was ready to play my first game as a starter against Estoril. I owe him a huge debt, because it was he who got me into this situation. I'll never forget the gaffer Roger Schmidt."

"A FANTASTIC PERSON", AS WELL AS A COACH

"NI don't just evaluate the sporting side, because I spend every day with him, but also the personal side. As well as being a coach, the gaffer is a fantastic person, a fantastic human being, who doesn't just relate to the player because he's a footballer, but also because he's a human being. I really enjoyed working with the gaffer. I think he has good ideas, which led us to Championship number 38. Even though we didn't win 39, we followed the gaffer's ideas, perhaps worse than the previous year. But the ideas were the right ones, and we know that. For me, the human part is more important, and it was a pleasure to meet Roger Schmidt."

THE COACH'S TEACHINGS

"Roger Schmidt tried to get me to play less in the short game, because I like to play the short game, a very childish game, and he warned me about that. Trying to see further ahead, lines further ahead. Not only him, but also the coaching staff always worked with me on the pitch, in training, to improve aspects that - not that they were bad - were less strong."

DEBUT IN BRAGA IN DECEMBER 2022

"Of course I wasn't expecting it. I don't think anyone expected it. It's true, some bad things come with good things. The World Cup in the middle of a season isn't usual. The manager, I remember, spoke to me, liked me and kept asking manager Luís Castro, then of the B team, if I could continue to train there.  I stayed, I stayed... From the first game I was called up to the last, I never left the squad. Of course I wasn't expecting it, it was a very, very steep progression, but it was also the result of what I did, which I'm proud of, which my family is proud of and which the Benfica family is proud of."

THE DAY YOU KNOW YOU'RE GOING TO TRAIN FOR THE FIRST TEAM

"I never went when I was younger, even if there were players missing. That was my first. I felt a bit anxious about what was waiting for me on the pitch. I was already looking at the first-team players with different eyes.Players who had status at the club, like André Almeida. I felt anxious. Not that I doubted my abilities, but because those were the kind of players I trained with. It's about not doing badly, it's about trying to maintain the level of training, and all this makes me anxious... and not relaxed about the game. But André, in particular, calmed me down. I remember him telling me to just play, do my thing, and that he had also followed the training and knew what a player I was. He tried to reassure me to stay calm and do my training properly."

THE EMOTIONS OF GETTING PROMOTED TO THE FIRST TEAM

"It still took me a while to get into the first-team dressing room, but every day... it wasn't an affliction, but it was an inner nervousness. Even at the end, in every Benfica game, I still feel a little nervous. It's not because of the game itself. With all due respect, it's not because it's against Arouca, or FC Porto, or Sporting, whoever. It's that nervousness of playing for Benfica and not wanting it to go wrong, because I really worry. And I think all footballers know what that nervousness I'm talking about is, and even now I have that nervousness. Then, a few months later, I remember - I think it was Javi [García] - being called into my office. I was a bit scared, because I don't really like talking to coaches and all that, because I always think it's something bad, but when I walked into the office, he looked at me, smiled and told me that from that day on I was part of the squad, I was part of the First Team. I remember getting up, hugging him, saying hello and going to the changing room to tell António that I was going to stay in the squad."

GOALS IN DERBIES: 2022/23

"First I kicked and fell, then I started celebrating, and only then did I realize that the Benfica fans were on the other side, so I ran over there, but António took care of it, he celebrated for me, so everything is fine. But it's something I can try to explain, but it will never come out the way I feel in reality. Even today, I can watch the goal more than 10 times and I get the same shivers."

GOALS IN DERBIES: 2023/24

"That was more exciting. It was an equalizer, but it was also more exciting because it was my first goal at Luz. And it was again in the 90th minute. That goal was... the most special of my early career, because it was the first goal I scored in Luz. It was the equalizer, and the icing on the cake was Casper's goal in the 90'+7'."

THE 2024/25 SQUAD

"I've trained with the team for a few days and I think we're strong, focused and motivated for what's to come. The signings have been very good, I like them all, and I think that in training you can see the group unity, even though we've only been together for a short time as a team, but the group unity is something special."

DIFFERENT THIS SEASON

"We're more motivated, we're different. It's not that last year we didn't want to win at all. We wanted to win."

JERSEY TUCKED INTO THE SHORTS

"The shirt tucked into the shorts was a rule imposed in the grassroots when I played at the CFT in the Algarve. There were always two rules for playing, which were the jersey tucked into the shorts and the socks below the knee. Since then, I've strictly followed the rule, and it's something I've got used to. I don't know if it's more comfortable to wear my jersey tucked in or not, at the moment I always play with my jersey tucked in. So I'm comfortable, and it's become my trademark."

BEST MOMENT AT BENFICA

"[Home derby, in the 2023/24 season] In emotional terms and on the pitch, the game played, yes... but lifting the trophy of the 38th league title gave me much more pleasure."

BEST PLAYER YOU'VE PLAYED WITH AT THE CLUB

"Ángel Di María is a player who impresses me a lot on the positive side, his left foot is magical, everyone knows that. Training with him, and seeing how calm and precise he is with that foot, is out of the ordinary."

WHO SURPRISED YOU THE MOST

"Chiquinho. Because of the way he is, the way he works and his quality."

THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON ON YOUR JOURNEY

"My father. He was always the main pillar of my professional life. Although my mother took care of other things, like school and that sort of thing, but it was my father who took care of the professional, footballing side of things."

PROOF OF MATURITY

"I lost my mother, it was obviously the saddest moment of my life, there's no doubt it will be. Football was always the thing that freed me from my problems and the heaviest thoughts I had. Going to training and being with my friends, feeling the grass, the ball, doesn't erase the problems I was having, far from it, but it solves others, and tries to make me happy. Staying at home, thinking, would have been much worse. As I really like football and playing, and helping Benfica, I decided to go to training and play the next game."

SUPPORT FROM FRIENDS, TEAMMATES AND BENFICA

"The day they found out, everyone wasted a bit of time - and I really respect them for taking the time to comfort me. On the day of the funeral, the President, the Vice-President... my closest friends, who came from the youth system with me, being there, that's friendship. There's not much you can explain, it's friendship. And anyone who has friendships with their own people knows what that's like."

LEADERSHIP AND DEFENDING VALUES

"The truth is that I don't really like to praise myself or talk about myself, but I think it comes from the way I was brought up. The sentimental part, the kinder part, that's more my mother's; the more military and stricter part, my father's. And my father has always said that I'm a good person. And my father always told me: 'Smart is the one who learns from his mistakes, intelligent is the one who learns from the mistakes of others. And I've always preferred to be intelligent than smart. I always try to do my best, and I always do what I think is right. I think that's what sets me apart."

WHAT BENFICA REPRESENTS

"I think I've said it a few times in interviews: Benfica, for me, is a way of life. It's feeling Benfica, it's living Benfica, it's... I've been playing since I was three, and before I joined Benfica I played for Casa do Benfica in Tavira. So it's a way of life, you can't get away from Benfica."

THE FANS AND THE DEPARTURE

"I don't know if they'll understand or not, but I hope they'll continue to support me as they have been doing because, not being on the pitch, now I'm with them, I'm on the same side of the coin, I'm watching Benfica from the sidelines and celebrating the goals with the same enthusiasm."

MESSAGE TO THE BENFICA FANS

"I wanted to send a message of thanks for the way you've treated me from day one. I am Benfica and I will always be Benfica! Right now the main thing is to support Benfica to the full, every game, match after match, defeat, victory, draw, whatever it takes, and we'll fight to the end to be champions!"