Another football club came into esports today, and while they aren’t a global corporation like Real Madrid or Bayern Munich, they are one of the most welcome for a few reasons. SC Braga, the Portuguese top division outfit, announced their move into CSGO with a wonderful video, and will be hoping to put Portugal on the esports map sooner rather than later.
Captain Nuno ‘BhT-‘ Silva will be joined by his former OFFSET team mate Pedro ‘insider’ Pereira, with Bernardo ‘Shooler’ Martins and Vitor ‘Badzi’ Costa coming in after recent spells on Portuguese org ASP. Rui ‘tcheka’ Pais is the fifth, having recently represented ForTheWin esports in his native land, rounding out a team of what is presumably Portugal’s brightest and best, at least at CSGO.
Braga are famous in the world of football for having one of the most beautiful and creatively designed stadia in Europe, as well as punching about their weight in a nation traditionally dominated by the old giants of Sporting, Benfica and Porto. Their stadium was designed by 2011 Pritzker Prize winner Eduardo Souto de Moura, and also received the Chicago Athenaeum International Architecture Award for best new global design in 2006.
First time in the greatest FPS for Portuguese football
Braga’s move into CSGO represents the first time a Portuguese team has invested in the greatest FPS, although a number of teams, including Sporting, Boavista and Belenenses, already have FIFA players on their books. Whether it represents the start of a larger movement, or the club are just ahead of the curve right now remains to be seen, but it’s a wonderful sign for any aspiring Portuguese player to know there is now a pathway to the top in their own nation.
The new team will be presented on ‘Braga Day’, which falls on the 28th of July. To commemorate their move into the scene, the club is also hosting a tournament of 1v1 games between the new Braga CSGO players and those who turn up, which should make it a great day for the new stars and their prospective fans.
The move follows the recent creation of ENCE, the all-Finnish team built around a former FaZe star, and Movistar Riders move back into high level CSGO as reported on Luckbox recently. It’s great for the scene to see teams from nations that have traditionally not made an impact start to spring up, and the unexpected success of ENCE has also taught a few experts not to underestimate the power of these squads in an era that increasingly favours all-star international line-ups.
The full line-up for SC Braga CSGO is as follows:
Nuno ‘BhT-‘ Silva (cpt)
Rui ‘tcheka’ Pais
Pedro ‘insider’ Pereira
Vitor ‘BaDzi’ Costa
Bernardo ‘Shooler’ Martins
Image credit: SC Braga
