Luis 'Duk' Lopes: Aberdeen's quiet underdog who 'always' scores
- Published
Aberdeen's Luis 'Duk' Lopes opens the scoring at Tannadice in audacious fashion
Most of his life Luis Henrique Barros Lopes - or Duk for short - has been underestimated.
Written off by Sporting Lisbon because of his size, and then allowed to leave Benfica, the 23-year-old from Cape Verde is understated in every way.
Those who know him say he says very little, and his relatively short stature means he does not have obvious presence on or off the field.
And yet, he scored goals wherever he went in Portugal as a youth, and now has 15 this season for Aberdeen after his brace against Hearts on Saturday, quickly becoming a cult figure at Pittodrie with his own signature chant.
From the streets of Lisbon, to being released by Sporting and banging goals in for Benfica at youth level, this is Duk's story.
Top scorer at centre-back
Born in Cape Verde, Duk - who adopted his father's nickname - moved to Portugal with his parents while at primary school. He was picked up by Sporting at the age of 12 but was released, mainly because of his size having played centre-back.
He ended up joining a small club in Lisbon, Montelavarenses. It was there he was spotted by Roberto Rocha, a coach who now helps look after the player.
Rocha was starting up a new under-15s team in Lisbon and looking for players.
"I talked with my friends of Sporting and Benfica, who have the best players and asked them to recommend who would be good for my team," Rocha told BBC Scotland.
"One of them said there is this kid in Montelavarenses, the smallest club you can imagine. He was good but he was dismissed by Sporting so I sent someone to scout him.
"When he got there he was the best player on the pitch and top scorer - he had 49 goals that season which is not normal even for a small club. So we invited him to come and train with us."
Duk did not make an instant impact. Again, his size held him back. But in his final training session before Rocha and his staff made a decision about whether to keep him, he stepped up.
"He had this moment when there was a free kick, and I said: 'Duk, if you want, take the free kick' to see what he could do," Rocha recalls.
"He takes the free kick and puts the ball in the corner. Very strong, impactful coming from a very small kid was not normal. It was not his strength, but his technique that put the ball there."
He was signed, and never looked back. After breaking into the team with a hat-trick in a 3-0 win against Porto, he went on to be top scorer at under-15 level that season, unusual for a player outside the big three - Benfica, Sporting, and Porto.
Duk has become a fan favourite at Pittodrie
Rocha encouraged Sporting to sign him at the end of that campaign, but again they dismissed him for being too small. He signed for Belenenses and scored another 20 goals in 13 games.
Now Sporting were interested, along with Benfica, after Duk scored twice against them in a 2-2 draw. The Lisbon giants both offered £50,000 even though he was available for nothing at the end of the season.
"He had two years at Sporting as a centre-back but scored more than the striker. So he didn't want to go to Sporting, and Benfica was a good, and new opportunity," Rocha explains.
"He was at Benfica for five-and-a-half years, and was top scorer of the U19s. We have two phases in Portugal, and he was the top scorer in the south, while [PSV Eindhoven loanee] Fabio Silva was top scorer in the north.
"And then the top scorer at U23 too. So three times in his youth he was the top scorer in Portugal. But he didn't have the opportunity to go to the first team at Benfica, so a lot of offers like Aberdeen came."
The 'underdog'
Duk was not a regular starter for Benfica B - the club which produced the likes of Joao Felix and Goncalo Ramos provides tough competition - but still scored eight times for them last season despite only six starts.
Size played its part again, with Benfica often preferring a number nine with more presence. Another mark against him - despite his excellent finishing - is his passing and all round game is still raw.
He's lost the ball more per 90 minutes than all but one player in the Premiership this season, of those to have played at least 15 games.
Partly that's because he dribbles a lot and tries things. But he is also not a constant presence in games. He can drop in and out.
At Aberdeen he was not initially picked to start despite scoring three times from the bench. After the chastening 4-0 loss to Dundee United in October, he was given a start against Hearts and scored one and set up the other in a 2-0 win.
Duk has started every game since, adding another 12 goals, all different types. Among the 13 were headers against Hibernian and Motherwell, an overhead effort against Ross County, a free kick in the defeat by Rangers. And the backheel finish, on the run, against United.
It means clubs are now sniffing around the Aberdeen forward, who prefers to keep a low profile.
"He doesn't speak much," Rocha says. "In the locker room he would be the last to speak and from time-to-time he would say a joke or something and everyone would laugh because you never hear him.
"I told him he's an underdog. Because no one expects him to be the top scorer, but slowly he always does it. All the time I've known him."
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