Sporting Clube de Portugal 2017/18 Home Shirt

First team shirts tell seasons; academy shirts tell futures. This one was worn in matches by Sporting's under 19s in 2017/18, in the same Macron design as the seniors but with Agriloja on the chest, the brand that accompanied the Academy sides while NOS dressed the first team. It was a big season for the Alcochete kids: with the senior team in the Champions League, the under 19s played the UEFA Youth League in the mirrored group, alongside Barcelona, Juventus and Olympiacos, and reached the knockout stage after finishing above the Italians and the Greeks, behind only the Catalans. Names like Jovane Cabral and Thierry Correia were knocking on the first team's door. The season would end in the worst possible way for the whole club, with the attack on the Academy in May 2018, the very home where these juniors were growing up. A working shirt, no name on the back and the number 3 still unattributed, that matters for what it represents: the factory side of the club the spotlight rarely reaches.

Here at Hoopster academy shirts tell futures: this one played the Youth League against Barcelona and Juventus with Agriloja on the chest and kids who would become somebodies. It is the lion before it roars for the cameras.