Player Profile: Moreira

By: Carlos | December 10th, 2008

Moreira #1

Club

José Filipe da Silva Moreira was born in Massarelos, Porto, Portugal on March 20, 1982 (age 26). Moreira played football throughout his young life and used to play as an attacking midfielder but his dad saw otherwise and put him playing in net. He took trials with SC Salgueiros in 1992 and by 1997 at the age of 15 he had been highly scouted by the “top 3″ in Portugal. Benfica made the highest bid and was granted this young talented goalkeeper.
He made his home debut in 2001 agaisnt V. Guimaraes after Robert Enke, Benficas first choice goalie at that time, got injured in the 24th minute. This game ended 0-0 with Moreira getting his first ever clean sheet.
In the season of 2002/2003 Moreira was chosen as first choice after Enke had left to Barcelona. In the next season Moreira debuted in the Uefa Cup with a 3-0 win over Molde FK and it was that year that Benfica won the Portuguese Cup over rivals Porto. By the end of 2004 when Quim was acquired Moreira lost his starting role and injuries came into play. From 2005 – 2007 he struggled with two knee injuries and eventually two knee surgeries making him miss many games.

National Team

Moreira played in the ‘98 U18 European Championships and won it. He got chosen as the third goalkeeper for Euro 2004 in which Portugal made it to the final only losing to Greece. He then took a trip to Athens for the 2004 Summer Olympic Games….how ironic!!! From then on injuries limited him from being a call-up for Portugal.

Status Update

After years of injuries Moreira has finally got back to his regular self and was in the starting eleven in last weeks game against Maritimo in which he got a clean sheet in a 6-0 drubbing. He took the place of Quim who lately has been having poor performances. For now it looks like Moreira will stay as #1 for a bit longer.