Portuguese defender Dalot humbled the Czech team. He already played at the Prague All Stars Cup in 2015

Twenty-three-year-old Portuguese defender Dalot (full name José Diogo Dalot Teixeira) contributed two accurate shots to the demolition of the Czech A team in the elite group of the Nations League. However, this was not his first appearance on Prague’s turf. In 2015, he competed in the Under-16 All Stars Cup.

The semi-finals of the 7th edition of the junior tournament were held, with Slavia Prague and FC Porto, which is renowned for its youth hatchery, playing against each other. The success of the Czech team, later winners, was decided by a single accurate goal by David Novak, the ball was put on his head by Pavel Bucha, now a midfielder of the championship Viktoria Plzen.

The unlucky player who failed to guard his teammate on the run-in is Portuguese youngster Dalot, a native of Braga. Today, the whole world knows him, in the summer of 2018 he transferred from FC Porto to the iconic English big club Manchester United for 22 million euros (about 580 million crowns), from where he is on loan to the Italian AC Milan only in the past season.

He made his mark in Czech football during the All Stars Cup tournament. “It was obvious how skilful he is, the education of youngsters in Portugal and especially at FC Porto is famous,” says Jan Říčka, perhaps the biggest Czech youth expert, a member of the tournament’s organising staff who now works in the talent scouting department at Manchester City in England.

Seven years ago, Dalot did not impress him much. “It’s not that he didn’t guard his opponents, that happens, but I didn’t expect him to have such a career ahead of him,” Říčka says. All the more reason to appreciate how far the Portuguese defender has come.

The All Stars tournament marks the world’s top player in the U16 category. “It features many promising youngsters who have a big future ahead of them,” says Miroslav Beranek, coach of the 2002 Czech U21 European champions.

“That’s why it’s good for the FAČR to support him,” says the experienced coach, who became the new head coach of the Czech Football Association’s youth section in August.

After a three-year hiatus due to a covid, the All Stars Cup will return to the scene next summer. And once again, the tournament will feature stars of the near future, such as Portuguese defender Dalot in 2015.

Source: All Stars Cup