Meet the English goalkeeper who struggled to hit the heights in his own country, but who's now starring in Portugal's top flight

Meet the English goalkeeper who struggled to hit the heights in his own country, but who's now starring in Portugal's top flight

In sunny Portugal, 1,000 miles away from Wembley, there is a goalkeeper plugging away at his trade and watching with interest what is happening with England's No 1 Joe Hart.
Many might think that at age 27 it would be time to give up your dream of playing for the country which failed to give you an opportunity to play professionally. But then most haven't taken the extraordinary root to being the first-choice 'keeper at a club in one of the top five leagues in Europe.
Matt Jones, playing for Portuguese Liga side Belenenses, has taken an unusual pathway into professional football. At 14 Port Vale, his boyhood club, told the now 6ft 3ins goalkeeper he was not going to grow big enough. Four years later he was cut adrift by West Brom, with a long queue of goalkeepers, including Tomasz Kuszczak, ahead of him for the first team.

Packing a punch: Jones thwarts a Porto attack in a 1-1 draw last weekend

MATT JONES FACTFILE

D.O.B. 11/5/86 (age 27)
Clubs: Western Mass Pioneers (2009)
Santa Clara (2009-11)
Uniao Madeira (2011-12)
Belenenses (2012-)

He almost gave up on his sporting dream until he earned a scholarship to an American university to continue playing while studying, and it reopened the door to being paid, albeit minimally to begin with, to do what he loved.
There was interest from the MLS, but through a college contact he moved
to Portugal, learned the language and eventually signed for second-tier club Belenenses, where he quickly won promotion.
They lost their opening four games of this season, but have climbed into the top 10 after going unbeaten in their next five. Jones has kept three clean sheets and conceded only twice in that run.
Relatively off the radar in Portugal, Jones's stock is rising and he has been tipped to succeed 35-year-old Brazilian Helton at Porto. In his last match, against the league leaders, it was his lightning save from close-range to scoop an effort over the bar that earned his side a draw.

England's No 1: But Joe Hart has been dropped by Manchester City after a string of errors

Competition: Fraser Forster (left) and John Ruddy (right) are challenging Hart for his England place

Hart has been dropped by his club and the pressure is on, ahead of the World Cup next summer, for him to prove he should still be England's first choice. There must be at least a small part of Jones which believes, given his journey through football, anything can happen.
'You just have to keep putting in the performances,' he told the Daily Telegraph. 'I look at someone like Rickie Lambert. It’s a bit of a fairy story for him to have come up all the divisions and be doing what he’s doing now. That gives a lot of hope to players.'

Inspiration: Southampton and England striker Rickie Lambert

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