João Coimbra is currently part of the 'Portuguese armada' spreading Portuguese quality and grit abroad.
European U-17 Champion and U-21 international for Portugal, came through the youth ranks at Sport Lisboa e Benfica, where he fulfilled a childhood dream by making his senior debut for the club of his heart. After that dream came true, he continued his career in Portugal with Nacional da Madeira, Gil Vicente, Estoril and Académico de Viseu. In the 2014/2015 season his adventures abroad began: he started in Roménia – FC Rapid București –, then came Índia – Kerala Blasters FC – he returned to Portugal to play for Leiria and Trofense until this 2018/2019 season, when he took on a new project in Luxemburgo – US Mondorf-les-Bains – where he's the team's key player.
Over these years, he's admitted that Championship Manager/Football Manager was one of his companions in his free time. Now that his free time is taken up by the family he's built, it's time to open up and look back on the stories he lived on the other side of the game: as a manager.
POP: What was your first experience with CM/FM like? Which player would you never skip buying in every save you started?
João Coimbra: Honestly I don't remember the first experience that well. I remember starting out with a game similar to CM, but it was just called Manager (I think!) where you could pick from 4 managers on offer and it only had the English league. As for CM, it was instant addiction! Hours and hours of my teenage years spent playing CM/FM! Being a Benfica fan, Benfica was always my choice to manage, and I remember winning several league titles and Champions Leagues!! Good times..! (laughs) As for players… I know on my team I always tried to sign Oscar Ustari, Van den Borre and Kompany for defence (when I couldn't get them, I'd settle for Taribo West when he was a free agent!); Bakircioglu, Daniel Carvalho, Kim Källström or Julius Aghahowa from midfield forward!
POP: What was your reaction when you first saw yourself in CM/FM? Did you tend to use the editor to tweak anything you thought wasn't quite right? Or did you let your 'player' develop within the game and see how far he'd go?
João Coimbra: I remember it was in the youth team and it was like a little 'mini-dream' come true… My name appearing in the game I'd played since I was a kid! Honestly, since I was 'managing' Benfica, I'd try to 'boost my own morale' (laughs) …but I was never really one to use the editor or want my 'player' to be better or take him to another level. I just wanted to be champion with Benfica! (laughs)
But I have to confess… I didn't use the editor, but often in important matches I'd 'save' the game, and if I lost, I'd get terrible heartburn and turn the computer off straight away, so that the next day or a few hours later I could try to win that match again! (laughs)
POP: When you started a save, was your initial intention to grow within the club until you became a Sir Alex Ferguson or did you end up giving in to the Arab millions?
João Coimbra: Since I've always been a Benfica fan, my goal was always to win everything with Benfica. The Arabs would try, but I always resisted! (laughs)
POP: Do you tend to follow your 'player's' career path? Or do you always try to steer him toward the teams you're managing? (laughs)
João Coimbra: When I play, I'm always curious to see which clubs and leagues he moves through. As for 'signing myself', it always depends on the team I'm managing, since I'm well aware of reality (laughs).
POP: Regarding how you're portrayed in FM, would you change anything? The current Head Researcher for Luxembourg used to be a former researcher on our team, we could put in a word for you! (laughs)
João Coimbra I've always preferred others to talk about me! (laughs) But looking closely I think I'm a player with consistent attributes. Maybe some numbers could be a bit higher, others maybe a bit lower… but I'll just settle for changing 'fairly loyal' to 'completely loyal'! (laughs)
POP: Confess: do you tend to restart when 'that' final or 'that' crucial match goes badly for you, or do you face the board and fans after a setback and try to win them back with new results?
João Coimbra: Since I'm 'completely loyal', I already confessed everything earlier! I couldn't resist doing a restart, given the heartburn I'd get whenever I lost the most important matches. (laughs)
POP: Have you ever used CM/FM to look up the attributes of a fellow player being talked about for a move to your team? And has a teammate ever asked how they looked in CM/FM? Can you drop any names?
João Coimbra: There's been plenty of 'dressing-room banter' about who had the better attributes, but nothing more serious than that.
POP: Finally, setting 'virtual reality' aside a little, looking at your fine career history we can see you've played for excellent clubs in Portugal (1st, 2nd division and Campeonato de Portugal), and lately you've been on adventures abroad, such as in Romania (FC Rapid București), India (Kerala Blasters FC) and, very recently, Luxembourg (US Mondorf-les-Bains). What were the main differences you noticed compared to Portugal?
João Coimbra: To put it simply…Índia: the culture and the poverty shocked me, and at the same time made me fall in love with the country! Humble people who love football. Stadiums always packed with over 60,000 for home matches! Roménia: I was in Bucharest, which I consider a beautiful city, with similarities to Lisbon. I'd highlight the Romanians' mentality, which is a bit different from ours, but very passionate, fervent fans. Luxemburgo: I'm only just starting out, but I'd already highlight the fact that most players work on top of playing football, and I believe most of them earn far more from their jobs than from football, which makes them experience the game a bit differently. Still, I'm enjoying it so far, and you can see there's individual quality and good football being played.
Quick questions
First edition you played?
I can't remember anymore… but I was definitely very young! (laughs)
Favourite edition?
CM 01/02
Favourite league to play in?
Portuguese
Favourite team to play as?
Benfica (of course!), Estoril and Real Madrid
Biggest signing that turned out to be a flop?
With Tsigalko, Tó Madeira, Okoronkwo… you didn't need to make big signings, and none of them ever turned out to be a flop! (laughs)
Biggest sale?
Simão Sabrosa for €20M to Real Madrid
Best club you've seen your player transfer to (without any influence from you)?
Without any influence from me at all?! …going back to Benfica after being loaned out to Nacional da Madeira! (laughs) There aren't many clubs better than Benfica (my Benfica bias coming through (laughs)).
João Coimbra's career speaks for itself: good numbers, a key player at several of the clubs he's played for, and always chasing new challenges! There's still more to come from João Coimbra, and we'll be here rooting for him. Wishing him an excellent 2018/2019 season!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXQGC_RXdrg
Some of the best moments from João Coimbra
