Lucas Dias (soccer, born 2003)

Lucas Filipe da Silva Dias (born January 18, 2003) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Portuguese club Sporting CP B.

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is da Silva and the second or paternal family name is Dias.
Lucas Dias
Personal information
Full name Lucas Filipe da Silva Dias
Date of birth (2003-01-18) January 18, 2003
Place of birth Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Sporting CP B
Number 89
Youth career
2011–2014 Sporting Academy Toronto
2014– Sporting CP
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2021– Sporting CP B 16 (1)
International career‡
2018 Portugal U16 1 (0)
2021– Canada U23 4 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of April 30, 2022
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of March 29, 2021

Early life

Born in Toronto, Dias is of Portuguese descent through both sets of grandparents.[1] He began playing house league soccer at age four in Woodbridge.[2] In 2011, he joined the new Sporting Academy Toronto, which was affiliated with Portuguese club Sporting CP, playing two years up.[1] He attracted the attention of the Portuguese club, being invited for brief training stint's with the club's academy when he was nine,[1] later joining the academy permanently at age 11,[3] becoming the first player to move from the Toronto academy to the Portuguese academy.[4][5] He signed a professional contract with the club at age 16.[6]

Club career

After signing his initial pro contract at age 16, he made his senior debut with Sporting B in a league match against Oriental Dragon in the third tier on May 29, 2021.[7] In June 2021, he extended his contract with Sporting for an additional five years.[8][9] He split the 2021–22 season between Sporting B in Liga 3 and Sporting U19, where he played in the UEFA Youth League. He scored his first goal for Sporting B on August 22, 2021, in a 1–0 victory against Caldas, earning man of the match honours.[10][11]

He made his debut for the first team on October 8, 2021, in a friendly against Torreense.[12] He spent the 2022–23 season with the Sporting U23 in the national U23 league and was called up for a training session with the first team in April 2023.[13]

International career

Dias is eligible to represent both Canada and Portugal.

He made his debut for the Portugal U16 team on November 29, 2018, against Denmark U16.[14][15]

In 2021, Dias was named to the Canada U23 team for the 2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship at age 18.[16] On March 19, 2021, he made his U23 debut against El Salvador U23.[17] He made four appearances, as Canada failed to qualify after being defeated by Mexico U23 in the semi-finals.[18] In May 2022, Dias was named to the 60-man preliminary squad for the Canada U20 for the 2022 CONCACAF U-20 Championship.[19]

Career statistics
As of April 30, 2022[20]
Club Season League Domestic Cup League Cup Continental Total
Division AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Sporting CP B 2020–21 Campeonato de Portugal 10–––10
2021–22 Liga 3 151–––151
Career total 161000000161

References
  1. "Lucas Dias enjoying first taste of Canadian men's soccer program". Sportsnet. March 28, 2021.
  2. Lucas Dias at the Canadian Soccer Association
  3. "Lucas Dias". Sporting FC Toronto.
  4. Vignoli, Leandro (September 11, 2014). "Acclaimed Sporting CP academy in Toronto fosters dreams". Toronto Observer.
  5. Jacques, John (March 6, 2021). "Nogueira And Dias Make Canada U-23 Squad For Olympic Qualifiers". Northern Tribune.
  6. Davidson, Neil (March 28, 2021). "Youngest member of Olympic team enjoying first taste of Canada program". TSN.
  7. "Lucas Dias renova contrato com o Sporting e revela-se fã de Pote: "É um exemplo"" [Lucas Dias renews his contract with Sporting and reveals himself as a fan of Pote: «It's an example»]. Record (in Portuguese). June 8, 2021.
  8. "Lucas Dias Renova Ligação ao Sporting CP" [Lucas Dias Renews Connection to Sporting CP]. Sporting CP (in Portuguese). June 8, 2021.
  9. "Lucas Dias, Mais Cinco Anos" [Lucas Dias, Five More Years]. Record (in Portuguese). June 9, 2021.
  10. "Lucas Dias Premiado" [Lucas Dias Awarded]. Portuguese Football Federation (in Portuguese). August 22, 2021.
  11. Gomes, Rui (August 23, 2021). "Lucas Dias em destaque" [Lucas Dias highlighted]. Camarto Leonino.
  12. "Sporting bateu Torreense no regresso de Pedro Gonçalves" [Sporting beat Torreense on Pedro Gonçalves' return]. Mais Futbol. October 8, 2021.
  13. "Três jogadores dos sub-23 chamados ao treino do Sporting" [Three under-23 players called up to Sporting training]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). April 28, 2023.
  14. da Cunha, Pedro Jorge; Alvarenga, Victor Hugo (October 8, 2021). "Aposta de Ruben Amorim: Lucas Dias, o menino que não vê os pais na bancada" [Ruben Amorim's bet: Lucas Dias, the boy who doesn't see his parents on the bench]. Mais Futbol (in Portuguese).
  15. Marinaro, Tony [@tonymarinaro] (November 29, 2018). "Congrats to 15 yr old Lucas Dias from Toronto, Ontario" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  16. Tierney, Mitchell (March 10, 2021). "A dive into Canada's Olympic Qualifying roster". Waking the Red.
  17. Molinaro, John (March 19, 2021). "Canadian men's team off to a winning start at Concacaf Olympic qualifiers". Canadian Premier League.
  18. "Juventus atenta a Lucas Dias" [Juventus attentive to Lucas Dias]. Record (in Portuguese). March 31, 2021.
  19. "Canada Soccer's provisional list for the CONCACAF Men's Under-20 Championship". Canadian Soccer Association. May 19, 2022. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  20. Lucas Dias at Soccerway
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