Pany Varela joins Benfica

INTERVIEW

Pany Varela, the 36-year-old Portuguese international winger, has signed a contract with Sport Lisboa e Benfica until 2027, strengthening the national futsal champions.

Pany Varela returns to a club he knows well and where, as he assures us, he was very happy. He arrived at Benfica in 2006/07 to join the U-19 team and played for the senior team between 2008/09 and 2011/12, a season in which he was loaned to Belenenses midway through. In the following two seasons, he was loaned to SL Olivais and AD Fundão.

Once again wearing the eagle on his chest, the futsal player comes, as he says, to add something extra. In a mixture of “joy and a little nostalgia,” he shared his first reactions with the club's media.

"I was very happy in this pavilion. I was very happy. I left here some time ago, I returned as an opponent, but that's a little different. Now I'm back in a place I know well, where I was very happy, and I hope that from now on I can add reasons to be proud and happy," said the Portuguese international.

In the Under-19s, Pany Varela won one Regional Championship and one National Cup. It was a season he remembers vividly, and one that propelled him into professional futsal.

"It's easy to remember. I won't say it was the beginning, because all the clubs I played for were important, but it was where I started to take this more seriously, being a professional. It was when the boy who played football in the neighborhood started representing a club with a global reach. So, those were happy times, meeting new people, who are still friends today. Some became family. Those were wonderful times, and I hope that, repeating myself once again, I will once again have reasons to speak with the same joy with which I am speaking about the past, and that the future will also be bright. We cannot cling to the past, because the past lives in the museum we visited a little while ago [Benfica Museum – Cosme Damião], which is very well put together. I hope that in a short time we will be able to add even more brilliance to the Museum," he said.

More than a decade later, the winger will once again don the Sacred Mantle and vibrate with the energy of the Benfica fans. “Without a doubt, it will be special,” he predicted.

"I have fond memories of wearing this jersey, but my most recent memories are with the opposition. What I hope is that, at the very least, the home crowd will be as well organized and supportive as I felt as an opponent, because, without a doubt, at crucial moments, our strength will come from these stands. From what I've seen from the outside, I don't think the team has ever lacked support. I hope it stays that way, or gets even better, if possible," he said.

Pany Varela was part of Benfica's historic victory in the 2009/10 UEFA Futsal Cup, the first Portuguese club to lift the trophy. In addition, he celebrated two National Championships, one Portuguese Cup, and two Super Cups as a senior player.

"I was sidelined in 2010, I was injured at the time, and I could feel the energy that the stands were sending onto the pitch. Those are beautiful memories. I think that was when there was a turning point here, mentally speaking. We came close, we competed, but it seemed like there was always a mental barrier there, and Benfica ended up breaking that barrier at that time and becoming European champions, which seemed very far away but became a reality in 2010. The idea is that it can be repeated, because everything that is good is worth trying to repeat. I think the whole group will work to be close to the decisions. Being close, we know that the finals are always 50/50, but we have to be there to be part of that 50," he recalled, with the ambition to repeat the feat.

While playing for Al Nassr in 2024/25, he won 1 SAFF Futsal Cup and 1 Saudi Super Cup. While playing for Sporting, he won 5 National Championships, 5 Portuguese Cups, 5 Super Cups, 4 League Cups, and 2 Champions Leagues. An impressive resume, to which he added the distinction of Best Player in the World in 2022.

"These are all numbers, statistics. Achievements, obviously, of which I am very proud, but they are part of the past. I have a habit of saying that I start each season as if it were my first, because, truth be told, to this day, I haven't won any trophies, so the idea is to start the season as if it were my first. To give everything I have in me and absorb as much as I can from the people around me, regardless of age or position, because I believe that for a team to work, it has to be as a whole.  Not only the athletes, but also the staff, the medical team, the people who take care of our court so that we can work... All of this is what will enable us, the athletes, to be at our best on Saturday, Sunday, or game day. What else can I add? There it is: the experience of all these years, which I carry in my legs. But essentially, it's about adding 1% to the group, so that in the end, the 100% is Benfica's victory. That's what we're going to work for every day. Pany won't win, Lúcio [Rocha] won't win, Afonso [Jesus] won't win, and Cassiano [Klein] won't win. Benfica will win. So, we're going to work from Monday to Monday so that, in the end, Benfica wins," he explained.

Still on the trophies page, the winger won 1 World Cup, 2 European Championships, and 1 Intercontinental Cup with the national team.

With his hunger for titles clearly evident, Pany Varela left a message for Benfica fans.

"Whoever carries the shield that I will carry on my chest this year cannot settle for anything less than titles. To win titles, we will have to work to our limits, and that is what I promise. Myself, my teammates, and the surrounding structure will certainly do so. We work hard so that we are ready when the time comes to make decisions, and when the time comes to make decisions, we fight to win titles. What we already carry in our chests [national champions], we want to retain it, obviously. Those who didn't achieve it last year, we want to achieve it now that I'm part of the team. It's about going after them. Anyone who carries a badge with this history, with this meaning, can't add anything less than titles," he said.