Dário Essugo

Dário Cassia Luís Essugo (born 14 March 2005) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Primeira Liga club Sporting CP.

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Luís and the second or paternal family name is Essugo.
Dário Essugo
Personal information
Full name Dário Cassia Luís Essugo[1]
Date of birth (2005-03-14) 14 March 2005[1]
Place of birth Odivelas, Portugal
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Sporting CP
Number 14
Youth career
2013–2014 Santa Maria
2014–2022 Sporting CP
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2021– Sporting CP 6 (0)
2021– Sporting CP B 27 (0)
International career‡
2019 Portugal U15 5 (0)
2019 Portugal U16 9 (0)
2022 Portugal U17 5 (1)
2021 Portugal U18 2 (0)
2021– Portugal U19 12 (0)
2022– Portugal U20 2 (0)
2023– Portugal U21 3 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:40, 26 May 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:24, 15 October 2023 (UTC)

Club career

Essugo was born in Odivelas, Lisbon metropolitan area of Angolan descent, and joined Sporting CP's youth academy at the age of 9.[2][3] On 16 March 2021 he signed his first professional contract[4] and, four days later, before he had even appeared in a match for the junior, under-23 or reserve side,[3] he made his debut in the Primeira Liga with the first team, coming on as a late substitute for João Mário in a 1–0 win against Vitória de Guimarães; at 16 years and 6 days, he became the youngest-ever debutant in the club's history.[5][2]

On 7 December 2021, Essugo became Portugal's youngest player to debut in the UEFA Champions League, when he took the field in the second half of the 4–2 away loss to AFC Ajax in the group stage aged 16 years and 268 days.[6][7] He broke another club record the following 5 March, when he surpassed Luís Figo as the youngest starter at 16 years, 11 months and 17 days in a 2–0 home victory over F.C. Arouca.[8]

International career

Essugo represented Portugal at youth level.[9][2] He was selected for the 2022 UEFA European Under-17 Championship in Israel,[10] scoring in the quarter-finals against France (2–2 after 120 minutes, 6–5 penalty shootout loss).[11]

Essugo won his first cap for the under-21 team at just 18, in a 3–0 friendly win over Andorra on 8 September 2023.[12][13]

Career statistics
As of match played 22 October 2023[14]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Sporting CP 2020–21 Primeira Liga 1000000010
2021–22 Primeira Liga 1000001[lower-alpha 1]020
2022–23 Primeira Liga 4000303[lower-alpha 2]0100
2023–24 Primeira Liga 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Total 60103040140
Sporting CP B 2021–22 Liga 3 15 0 — — — 15 0
2022–23 Liga 3 120———120
Total 27 0 — — — 27 0
Career total 330103040410
  1. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  2. One appearance in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League

Honours

Sporting CP

References
  1. "Dário Essugo" (in Portuguese). Sporting CP. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  2. "Dário Essugo é o mais jovem de sempre a jogar pelo Sporting e chora no final da partida" [Dário Essugo is the youngest ever to play for Sporting and cries at the end of the match]. Record (in Portuguese). 20 March 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  3. "A nova estrela do futebol português nasceu para o futebol em Odivelas" [The latest star of Portuguese football was born to football in Odivelas] (in Portuguese). Odivelas Hoje. 22 March 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  4. "Dário Essugo assinou contrato profissional com o Sporting" [Dário Essugo signed a professional contract with Sporting]. Record (in Portuguese). 16 March 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  5. Andrade, David (20 March 2021). "Sporting subiu mais um degrau" [Sporting further up the ladder]. Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  6. "Liga Campeões: Ajax-Sporting, 4–2 (crónica)" [Champions League: Ajax-Sporting, 4–2 (match report)] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 7 December 2021. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  7. Pinto, Pedro Filipe (8 December 2021). "Essugo faz história na equipa mais nova de sempre do Sporting na Champions" [Essugo makes history in Sporting's youngest-ever team in the Champions]. Record (in Portuguese). Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  8. Bártolo, Frederico (5 March 2022). "Dário Essugo bate Luís Figo e faz história com a camisola do Sporting" [Dário Essugo beats Luís Figo and makes history with Sporting's jersey]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  9. "Dário Essugo treina com a equipa principal e assina contrato profissional" [Dário Essugo trains with the first team and signs professional contract]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 16 March 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  10. "Já se conhece a convocatória final de Portugal para o Europeu sub-17" [Final Portugal squad for under-17 Euro is known]. Jornal de Notícias (in Portuguese). 10 May 2022. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  11. Pombo, Diogo (29 May 2022). "A diferença foi um penálti falhado, mas que entrou na baliza: Portugal eliminado nas meias-finais do Europeu sub-17" [The difference was a missed penalty, but one that went in goal: Portugal eliminated in under-17 Euro semi-finals]. Expresso (in Portuguese). Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  12. "Dário Essugo e a estreia nos sub-21: "Tenho muito orgulho de cá estar"" [Dário Essugo and his under-21 debut: "I'm very proud to be here"]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 5 September 2023. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  13. Maia, Vítor (8 September 2023). "Sub-21: Portugal-Andorra, 3–0 (crónica)" [Under-21: Portugal-Andorra, 3–0 (report)] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  14. Dário Essugo at Soccerway
  15. Kundert, Tom (11 May 2021). "10 reasons why Sporting are Champions of Portugal". PortuGOAL. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
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