Yannick Djalo champing at the bit for new season to start

Striker aims for championship medal and Portugal call-up

Sporting striker Yannick Djalo is full of confidence ahead of the new season. The speedy forward expects 2008/09 to be a memorable campaign both for him personally and for his club.

In an interview given to Portuguese daily, Record, Yannick spoke of his aims for the season, competition for places in the Sporting attack and his ambition of earning a place in the Portuguese national team.

After missing most of last season through injury, Yannick Djalo, now 22, finished the year strongly, scoring 7 goals in 12 matches. The marksman feels his game has been developing year on year and expects the positive evolution to continue.

“I feel a more experienced and more mature player now, especially after what I went through last season. I grew a lot as a player and Yannick is now more adult. My aims for the new season are to help Sporting become champions and to score more goals than I did in previous seasons.

“Getting into the Portugal squad is a big goal of mine for this new season. The competition is strong but I have this ambition and I’ll be fighting to achieve it. I’m going to work to be in the World Cup qualification phase which starts in September. I want to be part of the campaign and I want to be in South Africa in 2010.”

Right reinforcements

Yannick believes that a successful season for Sporting could boost his chances of making the national team, and is confident the Lions have brought in the right players to bring success.

“Without doubt I think we have strengthened very well, with players in the right sectors. We’re reinforcing ourselves well and I’m very happy with our new players. I expect Sporting will be stronger this season. We’re going to have a lot of competition in the squad for every position. The club will benefit from this.”

Nowhere will the fight for a starting berth be fiercer than in attack, with five players vying to show coach Paulo Bento they deserve to be in the first eleven. But the competition does not worry Yannick.

“The competition up front will be strong and healthy. We have players who are very identified with the club, like Derlei and Liedson, then we have Helder (Postiga), who knows all about Portuguese football, and Tiui, who began to adapt well after half a season at Sporting.

“To be champions we need competition and we also need more luck with injuries as last season we had a lot, and we also have to be more consistent in the league. The experience brought by the new players will also be an important factor.

“They are players who have been around a long time and they will certainly help the younger players and the team.”

Veloso uncertainty

As for whether his great friend Miguel Veloso will be part of the squad, Yannick preferred not to commit himself. “I think it’s better to wait until the end of August. I don’t know Miguel’s situation. If he stays I’ll be happy. If he leaves I’ll also be happy because certainly this will only happen if it’s the best solution for him and for Sporting.”