The Portuguese Primeira Liga, birthplace of some of football's greatest clubs and players.
It is where Jose Mourinho showed he could become the Special One. It was the training ground of Ballon d'Or winners, Luis Figo and Cristiano Ronaldo, and where more recently young talents like João Felix and Bruno Fernandes became the most desirable targets in Europe. But unfortunately for its fans, the narrative in Portugal has been set for these sort of names. One which classifies their presence as fleeting and impermanent.
There are however instances where a homegrown son bucks the trend. When a player with skill, guile and world-class talent is not packaged and shipped to the highest bidder, but left to make an indelible mark in Portugal, and Portugal alone. In the 1990's and early 2000's that man was João Pinto.
Like most prodigious talents, Pinto didn't take long to make his mark. Having debuted in Primeira Liga for Boavista at the age of 17, the talented forward would win the FIFA U20 World Cup twice with Portugal and was quickly signed by Benfica in 1992. In his first season with the Águias, Pinto would help the club win the Taça de Portugal. And things got even better in his second campaign as Benfica wrestled back the Primeira title from Porto thanks largely to 15 goals from their new star striker.
João Pinto goes past England and Manchester United fullback Gary Neville
After seven years at the Estadio da Luz, Pinto moved to fierce rivals Sporting CP and would win his second league title in his debut season. By 2008, after 19 years in the Primeira, Pinto would walk away from the game with 152 goals in 476 league appearances, as well as winning 81 caps for his country.
Recently Tribal Football sat down with one of Pinto's former teammates, Scott Minto, to understand more about the Portugal great.
Minto had known great players before arriving in Portugal, having lined up alongside Gianfranco Zola and Ruud Gullit at Chelsea before moving to Benfica in 1997.
And when asked about Pinto, the Englishman was glowing in his praise, comparing the prolific striker to Manchester United legend Eric Cantona.
"When I arrived at Benfica I was told I was the first Englishman to play for the club," Minto told Tribalfootball.com. "I'd just arrived after winning the FA Cup with Chelsea. And I didn't know anyone. So I remember walking through the door at preseason and just thinking go for it.
"Joao didn't know English but there were a little of the players who could. He was the captain, and I didn't realise it at the time, but I liken him to Cantona.
"I'm joining a club that is the biggest in its country, like Manchester United, and he's the captain like Cantona was. And all the pressure was on him. I could only imagine what it was like off the field, but on the field he was always looking for the ball. Things didn't go swimmingly all the time but he was always someone who really, really always looked for the ball.
"I always admired him completely. First and foremost, not for his ability or his pace, but his mental strength. I think these top players, like a (Gianfranco) Zola or (Ex-West Ham forward Paolo) Di Canio or (Ruud) Gullit, they've got all the ability but they've also got this mental strength that says when the chips are down I'm going to be the one to step and that's what he did and he was absolutely brilliant."
Joao Pinto scores a hat-trick in the Derby de Lisboa in 1994 - Video Courtesy of Football Seventies