A SPORTING youngster saw himself go from "heaven to hell" after enduring a nightmare debut for the Lisbon side.
Leonardo Barroso, 18, is a product of the Sporting academy and made his debut in the 81st minute in a pre-season friendly against Real Sociedad.
The defender then received a straight-red card for a reckless tackle just four minutes later in the 85th minute.
The crestfallen youngster had to be consoled by his more senior team-mates after receiving the red and looked visibly emotional.
Despite the horror nature of the tackle, which looked as though it could have broken Barroso's opponents leg, his team-mates pleaded with the ref not to send off the youngster.
Centre-back Luis Neto, 35, stood up for Barroso after the game, saying: "We've all been Barroso in our career.
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"This is an excess of will, it's not an evil at all.
"He's a kid that sometimes trains with us, who ends up making his debut and in the first move is sent off.
"I, from the outside, would say that VAR wouldn't be upset if he wasn't sent off."
Meanwhile, new boy Viktor Gyokeres got off to a scoring start for Sporting after signing from Coventry.
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The Swede scored in the 19th minute after making his £20million move from the Midlands to Sporting this month.
Gyokeres attracted Premier League interest from the likes of West Ham, Fulham, Wolves and Brentford after scoring 21 goals in the Championship last season and finishing second top scorer.
Sporting will play Everton at Goodison Park in a friendly on August 5.
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