Portugal
The Legend
When it comes to footballing roots, surprisingly Dani Silva never played for a club in Portugal. He trained briefly with Boavista as a youngster but focused more on tennis, playing up until high school. Dani played football casually with friends and in school tournaments, preferring futsal over joining a team.
In 2006, Dani spent Erasmus in Denmark, joining the university team Vitus Vikings. This was his first real taste of men’s 11-a-side football, competing at a level similar to the Dragoons.
After moving from Porto to Kraków in 2016, Dani joined the local football group and quickly became a key member of the weekly kickabouts. The casual games soon transformed into the competitive side now known as the Dragoons, ultimately gaining acceptance into the Polish league system.
Dani’s favourite Dragoon moment is just as legendary as he is: the first Puchar Polski match against Fairant. On a beautiful summer’s day with a buzzing crowd, Dani scored the first ever Dragoons goal and completed a hat-trick in a stunning 6-0 win.
One of the few members present from day one, Dani is the only player to have scored in every season for the club as of 2023/24. While still active on the pitch, much of his best work is off it, as the creative mind behind the club website and the incredible content fans enjoy – a truly unsung role.
#FunFact
According to family legend, as a kid Dani would get so overexcited when drinking Coca-Cola that once it is said he almost set a restaurant table on fire during a family dinner… Away from the destructive force of Coke, Dani learned to read with an FC Porto book and learned English watching WWF Wrestling on the TV, despite on many occasions the satellite channel signal being encrypted with no picture but lines of static and only the sound. If that isn’t enough, Dani showed his musical talent playing drums in a band in front of 4000 people, opening two shows for the Dutch band Within Temptation. Impressive!
