He has the number 99 on his back, but he never dreamed of being like Vítor Baía. In fact, Vítor Oliveira, alias Vitinha, 21, asserts himself at SC Braga as the terror of goalkeepers.
Against Gil Vicente, he made his debut as a starter and to score in the League, becoming fundamental in winning the three points. It was the sixth official game, the second in the championship, and has already scored four goals. But, after all, who is this boy?
Vitinha was born in the parish of Cavez, in Cabeceiras de Basto, and is proud of the formation of Associação Águias de Alvite, a club linked to Benfica in which he played until he was a second-year youth. He stood out for the many goals he scored but there is an irony in this story. «I was never called to the selection of AF Braga. I don’t think they would even see him, but with the strongest teams he was never the weakest. It was as good or better than the others», recalls Bernardino Dourado, coordinator of the Águias de Alvite school.
Vitinha even tested at Seixal, but didn’t catch Benfica’s attention. On a rare occasion when SC Braga made fundraising, it exploded. “It was on the 1st of May. Scored three goals in the first game! There were a lot of kids, two were left, he was one of the selected ones. It must be remembered that expectations were low: he arrived late, at the age of 17, moved from a small club to an Academy, he was shy and introverted. But with a sense of mission and work, he went up to the pulse. In juniors we played for the title until the end with Benfica, with Vítor always in the spotlight», rewinds José Carvalho Araújo, coach in the Braga team.
Read more at digital edition or in the print edition of A BOLA.
– .
