In a twist that has sent Man United fans into a frenzy and Sporting Clube de Portugal (SCP) supporters shaking their heads, Ruben Amorim's rumored move to Manchester United has become the hottest topic across media.
But while Amorim’s recent 4-1 triumph over Man City in the Champions League stole headlines, there’s one thing we can’t ignore — nearly everyone in the press has got it hilariously wrong. And have been doing it for decades!
You might ask, " Who is the main culprit behind that?" The answer is the historic video game franchise Pro Evolution Soccer.
Sporting Clube de Portugal
Let’s set the record straight: Sporting Clube de Portugal is not ‘Sporting Lisbon’. That’s right. It’s a name that’s about as accurate as calling Man United the Man Red.
So why do we see Sporting Lisbon plastered across every headline? Blame it on Pro Evolution Soccer (PES), not Portugal. Back in the day, PES players will remember that Portuguese clubs were given made-up names due to licensing restrictions.
Our beloved SCP got slapped with ‘Sporting Lisbon.’ It wasn’t their choice, but the name stuck like gum to a trainer, and here we are, decades later, still calling one of Europe’s historic clubs by a name that only exists in the world of pixelated football.
Pro Evolution Soccer has always struggled with licenses, but they found a genius solution: using the color of a club's kit or city in the name. For example, Chelsea was London FC, Manchester City was Man Blue, and Sporting was Sporting Lisbon.
Like their names, the team logos looked completely different from the real ones, which players could find in the EA Sports FIFA franchise at the time. However, they were similar enough for players to identify the clubs.
Although it didn't look as good as FIFA's officially licensed teams, it was an ingenious solution to an incredibly difficult problem. At the time, many Portuguese players, including me, knew Manchester City as Man Blue, while British fans knew Sporting Portugal as Sporting Lisbon.
So the solution worked, so much that 20 years have passed, and most British fans and media outlets continue to say Sporting Lisbon, which is wrong if you were still wondering about it.
While Man Blue is now recognized as Manchester City in Portugal, and North East London is known as the club that hasn't won a trophy in 16 years, as my friends painfully remind me every week, Sporting continues to be referred to as Sporting Lisbon.
The Pro Evolution Soccer Effect Continues to be Felt 20 Years Latter
It's been 20 years since Pro Evolution Soccer invented Sporting Lisbon, but the name remains as strong as ever. News of Rubem Amorim's transfer to Manchester United proved just that.
Even after a historic victory over one of the best clubs in European football, Manchester City, managed by arguably the best coach in football history, Pep Guardiola, media outlets continue to misname Sporting Lisbon. Sky Sports, TNT Sports, The Athletic, and even former football stars like Rio Ferdinand have all fallen into the "Sporting Lisbon" trap.
This is infuriating for Sporting fans, but it's also funny. Watching Rio Ferdinand say Sporting Lisbon when he has a gigantic logo behind him with Sporting Portugal engraved in it and the SCP initials is hilarious.
This is a unique phenomenon because plenty of Sporting players have joined Manchester United over the years, and most have become legends of the club, such as Bruno Fernandes, Nani, and, of course, Cristiano Ronaldo.
With some of United's most legendary players coming from Sporting, you would expect their ex-players and fan base to know the club's correct name. However, that is not the case, as some of the biggest Manchester United fan pages, websites, and former players continue to call the club Sporting Lisbon.
Current United captain Bruno Fernandes has done everything he can to let the media know it's actually called Sporting Clube Portugal, even mentioning that in a press conference.
It's truly astonishing to see how the simple lack of licenses in a football game led to a club name being essentially altered in a specific country, to the point people think that's the actual name of the club two decades later. At the same time, it's disappointing to see that some of the most prominent media outlets in the world can't get a club name right, especially a club with such a rich history as Sporting Clube de Portugal.
British media and fans certainly wouldn't appreciate Portuguese media and fans referring to Manchester City as Man Blue, Chelsea as London FC, and United as Man Red. The most die-hard fans would become extremely upset at this, so it's easy to understand why many Sporting fans are tired of seeing and hearing their club name being butchered.
Hopefully, Ruben Amorim's arrival at Manchester United will bring good football, which has been missing from Old Trafford for a long time. Correct name pronunciation will also arrive on British soil.