While Viktor Gyökeres has been terrorizing the defenses of the Portuguese championship for more than a year now, Sporting CP seems to have got their hands on an almost equally interesting prospect. His name is Conrad Harder, he is 19 years old and was recruited by the Greens and Whites this summer, for the tidy sum of 19 million euros. This Friday evening, during the 32nd finals of the Portuguese Cup against Portimonense (D2), coach Rúben Amorim decided to offer him his third start this season, the first without Gyökeres at his side. And the Danish striker did not disappoint.
While his team struggled to find the solution against a very grouped opposing defense, Conrad Harder emerged to open the scoring in the 40th minute of play. Found with his back to goal, he then quickly turned towards the area to initiate a powerful strike at ground level. In the second half, Sporting did not have many more chances in front of the Portimonense cages and even conceded the equalizer three minutes from the end of the match. But as the two teams headed into extra time, Conrad Harder once again appeared in the area, well launched by his Swedish teammate who entered on the hour mark, to score the winning goal.
Lisbon residents can sleep soundly.
Photo by: Rodrigo Antunes/LUSA
