‘A proud father’: Gil Gomes on his son Angel and a remarkable family story
An Under-20 World Cup winner with Portugal, Angel Gomes’s father recalls his unique journey in football
Where do you begin with the extraordinary football heritage of Angel Gomes? Perhaps in Lille, where he is thriving in the Champions League, having left Manchester United in 2020. Alternatively you could go back to Lisbon, where his father, Gil, arrived as a 15-year-old to make his way in the world with Benfica, trained with Eusébio and won an Under-20 World Cup with Portugal.
Or, you could return to Luanda, Angola, where Gil was born and raised and learned the game playing barefoot on dirt pitches. However you tell the tale, the rich cast of characters that feature along the way, from Eusébio to Ron Atkinson, Sven-Göran Eriksson to Luís Figo, is astonishing.
