José Moreira
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | José Filipe da Silva Moreira | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Benfica | ||
| Number | 1 | ||
| ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of October 31, 2008 | |||
José Filipe da Silva Moreira, OIH (born in March 20, 1982 in Massarelos, Porto) is a Portuguese football (soccer) goalkeeper who currently plays for Sport Lisboa e Benfica of the Portuguese first division.
Internationally, Moreira has played at U-17, U-18, U-19, U-20 and U-21 levels, also appearing for the B and A squads of Portugal, being part of the latter's roster at Euro 2004.
Football career
Early years, Benfica
Moreira spent his childhood doing what he loved the most: playing football. Even though he preferred to play as an attacking midfielder, his father knew he was a gifted goalkeeper. Young José followed his father's advice and took trials in SC Salgueiros (in the year 1992).
In 1997, with only 15 years of age, Moreira caught the eye of the biggest Portuguese clubs - Sporting Clube de Portugal, Futebol Clube do Porto, Boavista Futebol Clube and Benfica. The reds made the best bid to Salgueiros and won the race to sign the young prodigy. Due to his young age, Benfica decided it was best to keep Moreira in Salgueiros for two more years. When he arrived to the Estádio da Luz, Moreira was called for a mini-tour with the team in Azores, making his unofficial debut for the senior squad.
Moreira joins the senior squad
1999 was also the year that Moreira was called by the Portuguese U-18 coach Agostinho Oliveira for the European Championships in Sweden. The young keeper would become European U-18 champions, playing with Miguel, Pepa, Cândido Costa and Vasco Faísca, amongst others. Right after that adventure, Moreira returned to Benfica, being called by team manager Jupp Heynckes to join the pre-season tour in Austria. At the time, two of the three senior goalkeepers were not available (Carlos Bossio was in Argentina and Nuno Santos was injured, leaving Robert Enke as the only available keeper). Without a competition for the subs bench, Moreira was called to sit in for several matches during August and December of 1999 (he was only 17 years old). He would only play two years later, in 2001, in a home game against Vitória de Guimarães, replacing the injured Enke after 24 minutes played. Moreira delivered a clean sheet on his professional debut as the match ended 0-0.
Moreira had also time to conquer the junior national championship in 2000. He also conquered the Toulon Tournament for Portugal's U-20, after beating Colombia in the final 2-1. Moreira would be the team's first option in March 9 2002, in a 2-0 success at Gil Vicente FC. When German Enke left at the end of the 2001-2002 season to sign for Spain's FC Barcelona, Moreira became the number one choice from then on.
UEFA Cup debut and Euro 2004
During 2003-04, Moreira did his debut on the European competitions, playing in the UEFA Cup against Molde FK (at home, in a 3-0 win). The season ended with Benfica, commanded by José Antonio Camacho, conquering the Portuguese Cup after beating FC Porto (at the time managed by José Mourinho). With the season over, Moreira was called to join the U-21 squad for the Vale do Tejo International Tournament. Portugal won, as Moreira was elected the best goalkeeper in the competition.
He ended up getting picked by Portugal's manager Luiz Felipe Scolari as one of the three goalies (the other two were Ricardo and SC Braga's Quim) for Euro 2004. Portugal came very close to winning the cup, but lost to Greece in a final played in Estádio da Luz, Benfica's home ground. He did not take any part in the tournament, however. In a one-and-half-month period in the summer of 2004, Moreira represented Portugal at the 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship in Germany, deputised for Ricardo at Euro 2004, before a trip to Athens for the 2004 Summer Olympics, where he started.
2005 league title-present
With the arrival of Quim from Braga on August 2004, Moreira began suffering stiff competition for the starting goalkeeper job. He conquered the league title, but failed to win the Cup after losing in the final to Vitória de Setúbal. He underwent surgery to his right knee on October 18, 2005, that caused him to miss most of 2005-06.
Upon his return to the competition, Moreira found himself having to compete for backup goalkeeper duties with recently signed Braziliian Marcelo Moretto, the same happening in 2006-07. Moretto was then loaned to Greece's AEK Athens FC in August 2007.
The 2007-08 season brought a new challenge to Moreira, as the club signed 33-year-old Hans-Jörg Butt, known for taking free kicks and penalties. When it seemed Moreira was set to become Benfica’s first-choice goalkeeper again, he suffered another injury, this time on his left knee. This forced him to again undergo surgery on July 2007, with this translating into at least 4 months off the pitch.
Honours
Club
- Portuguese League: 2004-05
- Portuguese Supercup: 2005
- Portuguese Cup: 2003-04
- Junior league: 2000
Country
- UEFA Under-18 Championship: 1999
- Toulon Tournament U-20: 2000
Personal life
Aside football endeavours, Moreira fathered his first baby, a girl named Beatriz, in May 17, 2005. He married his girlfriend, Maria João in June 15, 2007, at a farm on Ericeira. He also likes to collect wine bottles.
