The Azorean athlete Inês Simas has left Sport Lisboa e Benfica and signed a contract with the Mississippi State.

Speaking to the newspaper Açoriano Oriental, Inês Simas explains that she made this decision for two reasons: it is a “unique opportunity” in one of the countries with the greatest impact on women’s soccer in recent years and an opportunity to continue her studies.

“The academic part also played a big part in my decision because, knowing what I know today about women’s soccer worldwide, there are few players who, after finishing their careers, manage to have a stable life without having to work in any other field,” she said, adding that it is important to “have both paths open in the future.”

“Being able to be a professional soccer player and combine your studies is a unique opportunity that we can have here in the United States of America. This way, I can guarantee a plan ‘b’ in case my professional career doesn’t continue for any reason,” says the player born on the island of São Miguel.

When asked about playing for Benfica, a club where she made the first team and scored a goal, the Azorean footballer says that the four years were “of a lot of personal and sporting growth” and “with a lot of joy.”

Nevertheless, she reveals that years of hard work and difficult challenges made her “grow a lot as a person and a player.”

“In that time I’ve realized how difficult it is to be a professional in sport, but I’ve also confirmed how much I enjoy it and how much I want this to be part of my professional career,” she says.

Although she doesn’t consider titles to be the most “important part of the experience”, she highlights winning the II National Division for Benfica’s B team, which she says was “a special title” for the team, but “also on a personal level, as it took a lot of hard work and sacrifice from everyone to achieve it.”

As for her future prospects, whether she’s still playing for the national youth team or for this club, the athlete says that her big dream is still to “represent the A team.”

“That will always be in the back of my mind, but I know that to get there you have to work hard and never stop believing. For now, I’m going to do whatever I can to help my team/university achieve its goals,” she says.

The athlete also stresses that she wants to “continue her career at the various training levels of the Portuguese national team” and hopes to make it to the Under-23s so that she can “achieve her dream of representing Portugal at the highest level.”

When asked if returning to Portugal is in her future plans, the athlete says that only “the future will tell.”

Throughout four seasons, Inês Simas has played nearly 60 games for Benfica’s B team, scoring more than three dozen goals.

Rafael Dutra, a journalist for the Açoriano Oriental, Paula Gouveia, director

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno, PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.