INVESTIGATION BLOG: Understanding Why Sergio Oliveira Is Thanking His Manager For Benching Him For An Entire Season

This is how you turn a benching into the ultimate spin zone. Here's the backstory: 

[Source] - The midfielder has claimed that being benched by the Spaniard turned out to be the "best thing" ever as it allowed him to meet his wife.

But it turns out he's very grateful - and almost gave the boss an important role at his wedding.

In an Instagram Q&A, Oliveira wrote: "I met my wife at Estadio do Dragao.

See! It's not all doom and gloom when you're not playing. You can find a complete smoke somewhere around the stadium and start chatting her up. A quick look at Christina here and research tells me she's a model, TV presenter AND a lawyer. Basically hit for the triple crown with one 'well, hello' like Marv in Home Alone 2. Now I need to know more about how this started. Clearly he's just hanging around on the bench probably scoping the stadium out. Did he give a nod and then met her later? I've done my research - got to page 3 of a google search before it felt weird - and can't find it. 

Think about all the negatives we've seen with guys getting benched. Shit, just look at Scottie Pippen and his refusal to play the end of a playoff game because the shot wasn't for him. Oliveira could have done that - he only played 3 games back here when it happened. But no. He kept his head up, literally. He kept his eyes on the important task of finding one of the more attractive women in the stadium. This is how you react to a benching. This is how you spin zone a benching. 

Congrats to both. Everyone say hi to Cristina. 

You still get paid sitting on the bench. Sergio won this 2015-16 season.