Who is Geovany Quenda? Ronaldo's 'little brother' taking Portugal by storm

Tom Weber

Updated: 6 Sept 2024 13:33 BST
4 min read

17-year-old Geovany Quenda is already a member of Portugal's senior national team.

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This is despite the fact that the youngster has only played a handful of first-team games for his club Sporting CP. However, there is every reason to get excited about the Bissau-born winger.

Quenda is one of the biggest talents to come out of Portugal in recent times, but who is he and how good is he really?

What position does Quenda play?

Quenda is primarily a right-winger, though he can also play on the left.

How good is Quenda?

Born in the capital of Guinea-Bissau, Quenda came to Portugal at a young age and began playing youth football in the Iberian country. After making the switch from Benfica to Sporting CP at 13, the teenager has gone from strength to strength. After successfully rising through the youth ranks, he became the youngest player to feature for the club's reserves when he made his debut at 16.

Quenda also caught the attention of first-team head coach Ruben Amorim, who began consistently calling him up to train with the seniors. In November 2023, the winger made Sporting CP's bench for the first time but he would have to wait until the 2024/25 season to make his debut. He gave his senior bow in the extra-time loss to Porto in the 2024 Supercup and immediately netted his first goal. This helped him to establish himself as a regular in Amorim's side.

His early-season form also saw the 17-year-old rewarded with a call-up to Roberto Martinez's senior Portugal side in September 2024. Already in January that same year, the coach revealed that he was keeping an eye on the prospect and praised his creativity. Indeed, this creativity is his biggest asset, with Quenda being a dribbling machine. The left-footer loves to cut inside from the right-wing and create chances.

Geovany Quenda no terceiro do Sporting CP 🦁#sporttvportugal #FUTEBOLnaSPORTTV #Supertaça #SportingCP #FCPorto pic.twitter.com/snlJY2YkZi
— sport tv (@sporttvportugal) August 3, 2024

Despite his rapid rise to fame, Quenda is still only a kid and Cristiano Ronaldo has spoken about how shy his 'little brother' was when they first met. "I went to my room and saw the new boy, Quenda. I saw that he was uncomfortable. I'm not saying I'm a father, but an older brother. For some, I could be a father and, as I said, I went through the same thing as them."

Bernardo Silva joked that Quenda would "probably take my place," while coach Martinez waxed lyrical about the Sporting starlet after calling him up. "He showed incredible personality, quality and adaptability. He has technical quality, but it's not normal for a 17-year-old. He played very well in the European Championship with the Under-17s. He's shown that he's ready for the national team. Good news for Portuguese football."

Good news indeed.