2019
dream without extra time
I asked João if he dreamed. Because a childhood dream is one thing, the dream of getting there; it is another thing to have been there and to have memories of it that the brain can mix up and throw at our eyes, unprotected by sleep.
João says he doesn't dream. That he never dreams about it. But I did. At that time, there was no Benfica TV, and little attention was paid to player development, but I remember reading about the enthusiasm that João Coimbra provoked among the fans of my club. Captain at various levels, captain of the Portuguese youth teams, European champion of the youth teams, João was the discreet star who occupied the midfield, a kind of modern-day Carlos Manuel who at times reminded us of the outcast Paulo Sousa, at others of the maestro Rui Costa.
They might say I'm exaggerating, but what else could one wish for other than the greatest talent Benfica has seen born in so many years of freezing winters? João's misfortune was that he was born ten years earlier than he deserved. At that time, no one was prepared to care for a young man thrown to the wolves in an arena, impatient with his team's successive setbacks. They didn't give João Coimbra time, they didn't take care of him. That's what I think. He didn't. Because João came to explain to me what humility was and he prefers to look at life's stumbles as his own faults rather than finding fault with others.
Times are different now. João may not have had the career we all expected, but he has built “a very, very beautiful family” around him. That’s what he says, halfway through minute seven. I can confirm it, from what I saw. A very, very beautiful family. With soul. It may not be a childhood dream, of full stadiums shouting the name of their idol, but it is an adult dream that few can achieve. João achieved it.
