Ricardo Manuel da Silva Sá Pinto Médio Ala Direito Data de Nascimento: 10-10-1972 He hasn't played in 9 months. Nice to see him back on the pitch.
Sa Pinto is an icon for SCP fans. It was one thing to let J. Pinto and Rui Bento walk, but they won't do that to players like Pedro Barbosa or Sa Pinto. The club has way too much respect to let these players go out that way. If anything, Sa Pinto can work in a PR role like Eusebio or become a scout like Joao Pinto is for FC Porto.
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Re: Sa Pinto return to Sporting, His first appearance in 9 Months as a sub for Hugo Viana. Welcome Back, Forca Sa Pinto!
Sorry, Frank, but I will have to disagree with your comments. Yes, Sa Pinto came from Salgueiros but his heart is green and white. There are lots of guys that play for different teams yet whose heart is with another team (Nuno Valente and Costinha play for FCP, but are SCP fans). And it is not about the goals that he has scored, it is about the determination and heart that he exhibits everytime he steps onto the field. If it was all about goals, then Cadete and Jardel would never be able to leave Sporting. Those two guys scored more goals in a half season that what Sa Pinto has scored in his career, yet they didn't have a 10th of the heart that Sa Pinto has, and this is why the fans all adore him and will continue to do so.
Forca, you are right on the money here. You can go back as far as you want and there are few SCP players who have played with more heart and actually had pride wearing the green and white. Some of the most recent that come to mind are.... Iordanov, Oceano and Carlos Xavier. I wish SCP had more players of this type. The current player who comes close to this is Sa Pinto and maybe Pedro Barbosa. Sa Pinto has so much passion, he even punched out Artur Jorge while on the National Team. This ending his National Team career for ever.
Yeah, sometimes passion causes "brain freeze" which leads to stupidity. He was passionate about wanting to play and believed he deserved a place on the team. The problem was he reacted the wrong way to certain things that Jorge stated publicly.
You sportinguistas are funny weird people! Just look at your idols! a) a crippled man (Sa Pinto) that never seemed to play 5 consecutive games. b) an apathic sloth (Pedro Barbosa) that had the talent to be a genius and yet was better known for completely disapearing from games.
Yep, we are a strange breed. We are the most loyal and dedicated fans in Portugal. Just look at the Home attendance. We played the last place team and still drew 22,000 fans.
and I taught Morais ex Sporting, the player the score a goal to win the Cup of Cups from a direct corner kick, and broke Pele leg in 66 was passion my cousin Oliveira Duarte was one of the best wingers the ever played for Sporting and Academica in the 60's
Sa Pinto never impressed me much. So-so talent but a big heart indeed. The best thing he ever did was punch out Artur Jorge. I remember my dad & I (both hardcore Benfiquistas) cheering him on just because he knocked out the man responsible for ruining a great team when he coached Benfica. Amaral, Tavares, Hassan!
Sa Pinto has been my favourite player for years. He never was an offensive superstar but has intangibles that you cannot teach - heart, determination, passion. He came on the SportTV flash interview and made more mention about hoping fans come out in droves on Wednesday against Sochaux and bristled at the commentator when he wanted to talk about his comeback from a 9 month layoff, focusing more on the teams' effort against Moreirense and the upcoming important match in the UEFA Cup. Now, if you care to focus more on the misfortuate fact that he has been injured for the better part of 3 seasons and less on his importance on him being a player that the rest of the squad looks up to and that the fans absolutely adore, then suit yourself.