Sometimes in football you make a move where you think: this is going to be it. New club. Different country. Great challenge. And then things turn out completely different to how you had imagined... I only played at Sporting Lisbon for half a year. Even so, I would do it all over again.

The move to Portugal

In 1986 I left PSV for Sporting Lisbon. That departure was a very deliberate choice for me. I had achieved what I wanted to achieve: the pinnacle of Dutch football. I had played at the highest level with PSV and, to my mind, I was ready for the next step. Foreign parts beckoned...!

When it also became clear that Wim Kieft would be coming to PSV and would be playing in my position, that gave me an extra push in the direction that I had actually already chosen myself. I wanted to go abroad and I was able to leave for Sporting Lisbon on a loan basis. Moreover, that loan arrangement gave PSV the opportunity to recall me if it should be necessary.

I received a phone call from Quim Salvador. He had good contacts at Sporting and told me that João Rocha, the president of Sporting Lisbon, wanted to bring me to Portugal.

That sounded interesting.

Together with Henny Weering, whom I still knew from my time at Cambuur and whom I trusted, I went to Portugal.

We spoke at João Rocha's home. I immediately took to him.

Everything was also properly arranged financially.

So, off to Lisbon...!

I got an apartment in Oeiras, Manuel José was manager and I was ready for a new chapter.

Three foreigners, two places

There was only a problem in the rules.

At that time, only two foreign players were allowed to be fielded in the Portuguese league.

Besides me, Sporting also had the Mexican midfielder Manuel Negrete. He had just played an excellent World Cup.

And leading the line was Raphael Meade, former Arsenal striker.

My direct competitor.

Well, that pretty much tells you all you need to know.

Negrete was crucial in midfield. And Raphael just played really well. He also scored regularly.

So I started on the sofa.

There was only one thing for it: train hard, stay sharp and make sure I was ready when my chance came.

That sounds very simple in hindsight.

But as a footballer, of course you just want to play.

Then came Iceland

At the time, different rules applied in Europe and more foreign players could be fielded.

There came my chance…

On 17 September 1986, we played away against Akranes in Iceland.

We won 0–9.

I played a good match and scored three goals.

A hat-trick in Europe. That's nothing to sneeze at.

We won the return match in Lisbon 6–0 and I scored in that one too.

At a moment like that, you naturally think: now I've shown what I can do.

But football is rarely that simple.

After that, I was just often on the bench again in the league.

A hat-trick in Europe. That's nothing to sneeze at.

Barcelona

In the next European round we faced Barcelona.

Out we lost 1–0.

At home we won 2–1. I came on as a substitute in that match.

We were knocked out of the tournament in the end after all.

Of course you're gutted about that. But playing against a side like that, among players of that standard, is something that stays with you.

Those are also precisely the matches in which you notice where you stand yourself.

But ultimately, in football you perhaps learn even more from the periods when things do not go the way you want.

My biggest competitor became a good friend

At one point I had a conversation with Manuel José.

He had no complaints about my attitude. Whenever I played, I did well.

But to be fair: Raphael Meade was simply a very, very good striker.

You can get angry about that.

You can blame the manager.

You cannot wish your competitor any success.

Or you can just acknowledge: that man is playing well and I'll have to get even better myself.

Raphael and I were just becoming good friends.

We were competitors, because we both wanted to play. But we didn't need to undermine each other to do that.

On the contrary.

We kept each other on our toes. We encouraged each other.

And years later Raphael gave me perhaps one of the finest compliments I have ever received from a fellow player.

He said that my presence had made him better.

Because he knew that I was behind him and could take his place.

That has always stayed with me.

You don't need to belittle a competitor to become bigger yourself.

Good competition can make both of you better.

Years later, Raphael gave me perhaps one of the finest compliments I have ever received from a fellow player.

He said that my presence had made him better.

The people in a team

At Sporting I also became good friends with Mário Jorge and Oceano.

Top players, but above all lovely people.

Mário was incredibly warm and exuberant.

He kissed truly everyone.

At first I used to be quite surprised by that. At a certain point I thought: what on earth is going on here?

But that was just Mário.

Warm, open and sincere.

He and Oceano were also the sort of players who kept a group together.

I am still in touch with a number of those lads so many years later.

That pretty much says it all.

Not everyone who is important is on the pitch

In Lisbon, a special friendship also developed with Vítor Cândido, a journalist at A Bola.

As a player, you usually learn pretty quickly that you have to be a bit careful with journalists.

Sometimes rightly so, too.

But Vítor truly became a friend.

In 2025 we saw each other again in Portugal.

Almost forty years later.

Then you reminisce about old stories and only then do you realise how much such a period meant.

When you are young, you mostly think about the next match.

Much later, you remember the people above all.

Knowing when it's time to move on

Ultimately, I had to make a choice again too.

I had to play. I wanted to and my contract situation made that important too.

Peter Houtman came to Sporting and I left again for the Netherlands, to FC Groningen.

At that time, it was mainly a practical football decision. I needed matches.

But looking back, Sporting had given me much more than just football.

I learnt that your worth is not solely determined by the number of matches you play.

I learned that a competitor does not have to be an enemy.

I learned how important friendship is in an environment where everyone wants to perform.

And I learned that sometimes you just have to be able to admit that someone else is better at that moment.

Without becoming bitter.

That came in very handy later on in football, in my work and in my life.

How do you assess a period?

We often judge a period in our lives by the most obvious things.

Have I won?

Did I play?

Did I get that job?

Did it turn out as I had hoped?

But it's not as simple as that.

If you look solely at playing time, my spell at Sporting was perhaps not the most successful of my career.

But nearly forty years later, there are still friendships from that time.

I remember the people.

I still use the lessons learned.

And frankly, that hat-trick in Iceland is also well worth remembering.

So was Sporting a good move?

Certainly.

Only for reasons other than I had previously thought.

That is perhaps one of the most important lessons.

Sometimes your next goal turns out not to be the goal you are chasing after at all at that moment.

Sometimes it is mainly about who you become along the way.

Nearly forty years later, friendships from that time still remain. I remember the people. I still use the lessons I learned.

Rob McDonald

The Next Goal

Stories from football about choices, friendship, adversity, and the lessons that remain long after the match is over.

Be sure to read the previous blog posts as well

Do you want to know what process preceded my transfer to Sporting Lisbon? Then read on the previous blogs eand discover more about the lessons learned.

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