In this exclusive interview with Flashscore, Joan Jordan explains why he swapped Spain for Portugal, praises head coach Pepa's work, and compares the realities of football in the two countries. In a squad with an average age of under 24, the arrival of Jordan has brought experience and, above all, a new voice to the Estrela dressing room.
Convinced by the club's ambitious project, recently acquired by a German consortium that includes figures such as Thomas Muller, Mats Hummels and Yann Sommer, the former Sevilla midfielder has been surprised by the quality he has found in Portuguese football, but especially by the young players available to Pepa, who he believes can make history this season.
How have these first few weeks in Portugal been? At 32, you have left Spanish football for the first time. What were you looking for at this stage?
"Very good, I am happy and enjoying myself. I have already adapted quite well to a lot of changes: a different country, a different city, a different football culture, a different club and a different methodology. I am also here alone, without my family. But yes, I have already adapted quite well to many new things. The truth is that, as footballers, we are driven by excitement, challenges and situations that fulfil us, that make us feel alive and valued.
"This opportunity came up when Johannes (Mosmang, the consortium president) presented me with the Estrela project and from there we started moving forward with the talks. It seemed like a very interesting project to me. I think the club is going to grow enormously, and that coincided with a point in my life when I needed a change. On a personal and sporting level, they were offering me what I was looking for."
You are there without your family. Has that been the greatest difficulty so far?
"Yes, without a doubt. I consider myself a very ordinary person who is very close to my family, so being separated from my wife and children is not easy. I have always travelled with them, but I am lucky that my wife supports me in everything. Lisbon is also an excellent city and has great connections to Seville, both by car and by plane, so we see each other relatively often. That gives me peace of mind."
Was that also one of the reasons you accepted Estrela's project? Its proximity to Spain or, more specifically, Seville?
"Yes, without a doubt, it was very important. When I was looking to leave Seville, I had two or three clear requirements that had to be met before I would consider certain options. If I had needed to move to another city or country for reasons that fulfilled me in other ways, I would have considered it. But the truth is that, in terms of excitement and finding something different, Estrela attracted me a lot.
"First of all, because of the sporting side. I feel it is a solid project and that it will go very well. Then, obviously, because of the city and the location: Lisbon is a fantastic city with excellent connections to Seville. Finally, something else that was also very important to me: I wanted to leave Spain. I thought Portuguese football could suit my characteristics very well and that I could have a good season.
"I knew the situation was not easy, because if Johannes had not explained the project to me in the way he did, I probably would not be here. But the truth is that he convinced me quickly and made me see that it could be a very good year for everyone."
Can you expand on that a little? What did the conversation about Estrela's project actually involve that ultimately helped you make this decision?
"He presented me with the club's project, the arrival of the new structure, how it would operate and the ideas they had for the infrastructure in the short, medium and long term. He told me about their ideas regarding infrastructure, players, the project and their objectives. He gave me a great deal of reassurance.
"Then there was something very important: they were looking for a player with my profile, experience and level, who could help the young players on and off the pitch. We have many very young players with little experience, but they have huge room for development and excellent qualities.
"So it was essential to him that I valued this opportunity, and he assured me that I would be comfortable, happy and find everything I was looking for. Given the stage I was at, especially personally, that really caught my attention and convinced me quickly."
Did you speak to head coach Pepa before coming, or did you only discuss later what ideas he had for you in the team?
"It is true that, at the start, I spoke to Pepa mainly through Fabio Cardoso as an intermediary, because it was a stage of the negotiations when we were still a long way apart. I had to reach an agreement with Sevilla, so it was a complex negotiation.
"As a result, I did not speak directly to Pepa at the beginning, but when the positions became much closer, he got in touch and called me to give me that final push, convince me and show me the plans he had for me. It was a very good first conversation, and we continued speaking until I arrived here."
Last season, Estrela fought until the very end to stay up. This year you made a good start, drew with Sporting and only lost your last game before the break. How do you assess the team's progress so far?
"Yes, I looked into the club's history and last season, when they suffered a lot, especially towards the end. What I see this season - and I strongly believe that a footballer's state of mind depends on confidence and mentality - is that when a player is in a good frame of mind, he performs very well.
"Without confidence, he looks very weak. In fact, at those moments, your performance drops dramatically. We have a lot of young players and, in my experience, when things are going smoothly and the momentum is good, everything becomes very easy.
"However, a season lasts 10 months of competition, and there are not always good moments. Difficult periods arise when the results do not come, and you have to draw on experience and the ability to read games, precisely because the team may not be in a good place or may need something.
"I have a very positive assessment of this first third of the season. The team has done many very good things, but I am convinced that less positive moments will come. Hopefully they take weeks or months to arrive, but they will come, because that is football and it happens even to the best teams in the world. So we have to be ready for them."
That is where your experience comes in, right?
"Exactly. I observe and analyse things in an attempt to help. I speak to many of my teammates, and my feeling is that the team has huge room for improvement in terms of its football and discipline. We have players with a lot of potential, and I expect a very complete and strong version of Estrela to emerge in May, at the end of the season. That is my feeling.
"I am not even talking about the league table, although hopefully it will take us to higher positions. I mean the team's identity and growth. Collective growth will make the players grow individually; those things go hand in hand. But we have to work very hard, absorb what Pepa tells us and keep improving little by little.
"As I said, we have many young players with little experience who perform at a high level when the momentum is good, but I want them to continue performing at that level when a difficult spell arrives. That is the help I, Rafa (Soares), Pepa and others have to provide so the team does not spiral downwards."
We have already spoken a little about Pepa, but what has it been like working with him? People have really enjoyed Estrela's football, which is very attack-minded. The team has conceded some goals, but it has also scored plenty.
"Very good; it has been a very pleasant surprise. I mentioned it in a private conversation with Johannes and spoke very highly of Pepa. I did not know him, although I had heard good things, but he has surprised me a lot. It is essential for coaches to give players tools, and there are not that many who do it. There are many coaches in football, but finding someone who gives you key tools to become a better player is not easy. I have seen things I really like, and the day-to-day work is excellent.
"We are indeed a very attractive team to watch, because we have scored a lot of goals so far and also conceded a lot, but I sincerely hope we can find that balance. I come from Spain, where I think there is a little more tactical discipline, and my main experience is with (Julen) Lopetegui's Sevilla, when we spent years winning many games 1-0 or 0-1.
"That helped us win trophies, qualify for the Champions League and make history at the club. I think the team has very good attacking potential, which must continue to be developed because it is one of our great strengths, but we definitely have to improve defensively. And when I talk about the defensive side, I do not mean the defensive line; I mean the team as a whole. The team has to allow the opposition fewer transitions, commit more tactical fouls and press better.
"For me, that is essential. We have to stop conceding so many goals. I talk about it a lot in the dressing room, and we are placing greater emphasis on that aspect. It is important to start keeping clean sheets or, at the very least, not concede so many goals. Given the potential we have and the fact that we create a lot of chances, if we concede very little, it will be an excellent season, and we will win many games."
For now, is tactical discipline the main difference you notice between Spanish and Portuguese football?
"Yes, without a doubt. That is the main thing I notice. There are similarities between Portuguese and Spanish football, but at the same time Spain is very strong tactically, if not one of the strongest leagues in the world in that respect. Here I see very open games, with constant end-to-end action, something that is rarely seen in Spain. There, a great deal of emphasis is placed on tactical details that can make the difference, because making mistakes in that area makes you suffer a lot defensively.
"The team must retain everything good about it - its unpredictability and that pure street football talent that fascinates me and that I do not want to see disappear - but defensively we cannot make things easy for the opposition. The team needs to make better decisions at certain moments, become stronger without the ball, and be organised and disciplined. We cannot concede so many transitions.
"We want transitions in attack, of course, because we have potential up front and cause a lot of damage. But we do not want the opposition to transition against us. When the opponent breaks forward, they get close to our area and, even if the move does not end in a goal, it can lead to a corner or a wide free-kick, and the goal eventually comes from there."
We recently interviewed Joel Robles, who was also in Seville, at Betis, and he told us that Liga Portugal is not properly valued in Spain, despite more and more Spaniards playing here. Do you agree with that view?
"My perception is that Liga Portugal has gained value. I feel that people now attach more importance to the Portuguese league and that people abroad follow it more closely than they did five or 10 years ago. In that respect, I think it has improved. But it is true that, from the outside, it can still be seen as a lesser league. However, as soon as you arrive here, you see a huge amount of talent. To be honest, there are players of enormous quality.
"For the league to continue growing, that individual talent has to serve the collective. Otherwise, the great individual talents emerge and quickly leave Portugal. If that individual output is placed at the team's service and certain tactical aspects are refined, the league will grow tremendously, because the raw material is here. There are players who individually may not be extraordinary, but collectively are world-class: they understand the game and know when to accelerate and when to slow down. That collective intelligence is the hardest thing to achieve in football."
'I am very proud that I kept my head in the right place'
We have already spoken about Estrela and Liga Portugal. You came through at Espanyol at a young age and made almost 250 LaLiga appearances. Looking back and reflecting on your career, what are you most proud of as a footballer?
"What I am most proud of and what gives me the greatest satisfaction is having spent so many years at the highest level. I think that is the most difficult thing in a footballer's career. Elite sport is extremely demanding, and there is enormous mental pressure."
Especially because the competition is fierce and everyone wants to reach the top...
"Of course, that is exactly it. So I am happy to have made very good progress and reached levels I never imagined achieving. Spending so many years in LaLiga, experiencing so many things, playing in the Champions League, winning two Europa Leagues, playing in the UEFA Super Cup and even challenging for the Spanish title one year... They are incredible experiences.
"Maintaining that level for seven or eight years is extremely difficult, because there are injuries, coaching changes, moves between clubs and, if the circumstances are not favourable, a player's career can quickly go off track. I am very proud that I kept my head in the right place and knew how to appreciate where I was, something in which my family's support was fundamental and which allowed me to remain at the top for many years."
After establishing yourself at Eibar, you moved to a club like Sevilla, who at the time were challenging for Champions League places and winning the Europa League. What was that change like, and how did you experience that step up in your career?
"Fortunately, it was a very natural step. At Eibar, especially in my second year, I reached a very high level of performance. The first year had already been good; it was an adaptation period in which I played a lot, posted good numbers and put in good performances, but the second was exceptional. I would not say it was the best year of my career, but in terms of my level of play it was extremely high. When I went to Sevilla, I arrived with huge confidence from my time at Eibar."
![Joan Jordan in action for Estrela da Amadora\](https://livesport-ott-images.ssl.cdn.cra.cz/r1200xfq60/bb458807-c154-4e12-8bcd-74ca73d4e322.avif "Joan Jordan in action for Estrela da Amadora\")
During those seasons when you stood out in Spain, was there ever talk of you being called up by the Spanish national team? Do you feel any regret or sadness that it did not happen?
"No, not at all. Never sadness. I consider the Spanish national team to be the best in the world at the moment. When I was at my best, Spain's midfielders were who they were, with Busquets leading the way and many others."
I think midfield is always the most difficult position in which to earn a place in the Spanish national team.
"Without a doubt, it is the most difficult. My feeling, and what I was hearing, including because I had been involved in provisional squads, is that I came very, very close to being called up. At certain moments, given the level I was showing, I felt I deserved to go. There are several international breaks during the year, and players' form goes through highs and lows. During my best periods, I think I should have been given that opportunity. However, there were incredibly good players, especially in that position.
"I never made it, and it may be a regret, but it does not make me sad. I would only be sad if I had had the ability to get there and had not given everything to do so. But I gave everything. It would have been the icing on the cake, but I feel enormous pride in everything I achieved."
'My dream is to win the Taca de Portugal'
After so many years at a club like Sevilla, what do you bring from that experience to Estrela now that you are 32?
"I can bring many things. I spent seven seasons at Sevilla, the club of my life, and experienced incredible things there, but also difficult moments. Seven years at Sevilla, with the demands that club has, its size and such an incredible yet demanding fan base, are worth 25 years. It is enormous daily pressure in every respect.
"But if I had to highlight one or two things, it would be the mental side. For me, the mind is the most important thing in football. Let me give you an example: when I was on loan at Alaves for a year, we were in the relegation zone and had a meeting with the president and the captains, which I also attended. I told them the same thing I want to convey here: at Sevilla, I played alongside footballers who had just become world champions with Argentina, such as Acuna and Papu Gomez.
"We had a top team, and yet we found ourselves in the relegation zone. We could not escape that negative spiral because the team was not in a good place mentally. That causes the group to lose confidence and start to fall apart, because football drags us into sadness when we cannot beat anyone. And I thought: 'How could we beat the best in the world with these same players, but now we cannot beat anyone?'
"That is why I value state of mind, ambition, high standards and the desire to improve so much. That is the mentality I want to bring here. I speak to the youngsters and ask them: 'Do you want to earn millions? Do you want to have a great career?' They need to have that ambition and reject complacency.
"I am being completely honest: I arrived here this year and, although I know it is extremely difficult, my dream is to win the Taca de Portugal. I want to win it! I know it is difficult, but I want to. That is why I want to put it into my teammates' heads that when we go to play at Fazendense, we have to win. Full stop. And that we have to dream."
When your time at Estrela comes to an end, what would you like people in Portugal and at the club to say about you?
"I came here with a very clear individual objective: to find myself again, be happy, show an excellent version of myself, enjoy football and play, which is what we all want. In addition, I committed to Johannes and Pepa to help the younger players. It comes from deep inside me: I want to help them become better footballers and change their mentality a little.
"I want to pass on values and good habits every day. I want to be a role model for them through my work. I try to be extremely professional and look after myself in every respect. If a 20-year-old sees me doing this with the experience I have, he will think: 'If Jordan does this, perhaps I should too.'
"My only objective in that respect is to help them. So that one day, when we meet again in the football world - which we always do - they can say: 'That guy came to Estrela, wanted to help everyone from the first day and had an incredible mentality. We take our hats off to him.' That is my main objective here."