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PORTO, PORTUGAL (AP) – When João Félix was found for the first time in the same locker room as Cristiano Ronaldo, he had the impression of being in a video game.
"It was weird, I had never seen it live, so close to me like that," said the Portuguese teenage sensation. "I told my friends later that it seemed to me that I was in career mode on PlayStation. He looked like a video game character."
Always dressed in suspenders and wearing a childish look, Felix does not even remember what Ronaldo told him when he arrived.
"I only thought I was standing with him," said Felix, 19, Benfica TV. "It was strange, but it was a dream come true to be with him in the same locker room."
Shortly after this first meeting, Felix made his international debut with the national team of Portugal, alongside Ronaldo. A few days later, they celebrated together an international title in the first UEFA League of Nations.
Felix was 3 years old when Ronaldo debuted with Portugal 's main team at the age of 18. This young talent is now presented as the successor of Ronaldo to the forefront of football stars in the country.
"Cristiano Ronaldo is an example for everyone," said Felix. "We must always watch it."
Felix makes comparisons with Ronaldo, 34, since his rapid rise in youth teams in Benfica. He made his debut with the first team in August and quickly established himself as a regular starter for the champions of Portugal.
Extremely skillful and a talented scorer, Felix is the youngest player to feature in the Benfica "B" team at 16. He is also the youngest to score at the team's Stadium of Light, at age 18, and the youngest to score a hat trick in the Europa League, at age 19, after the competition was renamed in 2009.
The Portuguese media said his eight-goal and three-badists in his first 1,000 minutes with the main group were better than Ronaldo, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe at the same stage of their career.
Félix finished his first season with Benfica with 20 goals, including one in the match in which the club won the Portuguese title last month.
His impressive ascent enthused fans and quickly turned him into one of the most prominent prospects of the next transfer.
While several big European clubs were showing interest in recruiting the young player, Benfica quickly extended his contract until 2023 and doubled the announced buyout clause from 60 million euros ($ 68 million). ) to 120 million euros (136 million dollars) a Portuguese club.
It has been reported that clubs such as Manchester United and Manchester City, as well as Juventus, Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid, were planning to give a boost to the young Portuguese striker this summer. Benfica hinted that he would not consider selling Felix at a price lower than the value of the buy-back clause.
Felix made his international debut as a starter in Portugal's 3-1 victory over Switzerland in the League of Nations semi-finals last week. He had a mediocre performance in a match in which Ronaldo flourished, scoring a hat trick including decisive goals and rebaduring him as the country's biggest star.
"My first reaction was to put my hands in the head," said Felix after Ronaldo's performance. "I had never seen a Ronaldo hat trick in concert."
Felix's debut took place in the same stadium – the Estádio do Dragão – where Ronaldo scored his first goal with the national team in 2004. It's also in this same place as Lionel Messi made his first appearance in a friendly against Porto in 2003.
As a child, Félix began playing in Porto before competing in Benfica at the age of 15. The Portuguese media announced its decision because in Porto some considered it too small and too fragile.
Felix's height is listed at 1.8 meters (5 feet 11 inches), but he still looks thin and not as strong as someone like Ronaldo. He has excellent field vision and is able to perform clever moves with the ball at his feet, but does not have the same brute force to defeat opponents as Ronaldo.
In Portugal, some fear that instead of becoming the next Ronaldo, Felix becomes another Renato Sanches, the midfielder who was highly congratulated a few years ago, but disappointed after leaving his teens to play Bayern Munich.
Most Portuguese fans, however, hope that Felix will live up to his expectations and will one day fill Ronaldo's shoes.
"It's always hard to compare anyone to Ronaldo, and it's hard to imagine the national team without him," said Marta Fernandes, a 26-year-old Portuguese supporter. "But one day he will stop playing and we hope that Felix will be a worthy successor in the future."
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