by Julie Kissick & Jordan Jones
JOSE Mourinho’s new assistant Joao Sacramento’s career could have taken a very different turn if his parents’ concerns over him studying football hadn’t been allayed.
The 29 year-old from Barcelos in Portugal has been appointed number two to the Special One at Tottenham Hotspur.
Sacramento has already worked with some big names like current Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa, Claudio Ranieri at Monaco and most recently under Christophe Galtier at Lille.
But Football Association of Wales Trust technical director Dr David Adams, who taught Sacramento at the then University of Glamorgan, has revealed that his career could have been very different.
Concerns
His parents had concerns about him studying in a niche area and made the journey from their home to south Wales to see what the university had to offer.
“We had a Portuguese student who came over beforehand. He was our first Portuguese student and then Joao’s parents came,” said Adams.
“Joao was a bright, intelligent student. His parents were concerned he was coming to study a football coaching degree in the UK. They saw his career in something more mainstream.”
But even as a teenager Sacramento showed a level of determination which would stand him in good stead to progress his career at break-neck speed.
“He’d been to a British school in Portugal, he was a bright forward-thinking individual,” revealed Adams.
“He was very motivated to study in a bespoke area. He was highly motivated and determined to become a successful football coach.”
Adams, himself a scholar of the game who recently left the University of South Wales to take up a role at the FAW Trust, had a huge impact on his student.
When he was appointed to his new FAW Trust role, Sacramento referred to him as ‘a tremendous football genius’ and his ‘football father’.
Adams said it was clear from the onset that the young Portuguese student was not going to let language barriers or anything else hold him back.
“Joao can be a genuine role model for students. He’s got a high level of enthusiasm and commitment that you can’t always capture as a student but he had that in abundance.
“He had the motivation that he wanted to reach, he’s had the opportunity to do that. I hope any student coming on the football programme at USW would see that as a genuine opportunity these days. When Joao was 18-years-old it would be an extremely difficult thing to envisage in reality, given most jobs go to the ex-players.”
Adams, who hails from Haverfordwest, began his coaching career at just 17 and by 23 had achieved his UEFA A Licence.
He previously worked full time at the University of Glamorgan/South Wales and developed many of the current football courses. He also coached in the Premier League and Championship with Swansea City and Middlesbrough respectively.
Adams worked with hundreds of young coaches but he admits the teenager he encountered in south Wales eleven years ago was, like his self-proclaimed new boss, something special.
Another special one
“Joao was a first-class student, he had a first-class degree and a distinction at masters level. He was a well-educated and hard-working individual. He didn’t cut any corners, he was a model student. All those things have helped him in his career.
“He was someone who comes to the university at 18-years-old, they’ve got a ten year plan to get into elite football and it’s a genuine pathway. A combination of knowledge and the vocational skills on the programme undoubtedly gives you a great start on that career path.”
