Moretto #31

Club Team

Marcelo Moretto de Souza, Moretto was born on May 10, 1978 (age 30) in El Dorado, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. His early soccer career consisted of playing for Brazilian sides such as São José Esporte Clube, Associação Portuguesa de Desportos, Londrina Esporte Clube, Sport Recife and Brasiliense Futebol Clube.
In 2003, he came to Portugal to try his luck:
– joined Salgueiros, however they were facing a financial crisis at that time and as a result were relegated and lost all their pro players
– He was forced to look for another club and joined FC Felgueiras where he caught the attention of other clubs.
– Jan. 2005, ended up at Setubal (in the top flight) to replace Ricardo Batista (who had signed for the English Premier League team Fulham F.C.) after signing a two-and-a-half year contract. Performed very well and won the Portuguese Cup after beating – soon to be player of – Benfica.
– Season 2005-06, Moretto ended up being the number one goalkeeper of all European leagues, with the less number of goals conceded per minute played.
– Winter of 2005, Moretto was given offers by both Porto and Benfica. He chose Benfica where he signed a 5 and a half year contract at a transfer cost of 1 million.
– 2005-06 was his best season at Benfica. Moretto played on 18 occasions in the league, once in the cup and 4 times in the Champions League, against reigning european champions Liverpool FC (conceding no goals), and FC Barcelona, where he stopped Ronaldinho’s penalty.
– 2007, joined AEK Athens on loan. Returned to SLB for 08-09 season.

National Team

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Status Update

Moretto is Benfica’s third choice keeper. This season he has played one game as a starter which was last week in the Portuguese Cup agaisnt Leixoes. They lost in penalties 5-4 after regulation time ended 0-0. Moretto rarely appears for Benfica now-a-days but is still a very good keeper.

Did You Know?

Moretto stopped Ronaldinho’s penalty shot when Benfica played Barcelona in the 2005-06 Champions League Quarter Finals. Eventually Barcelona won 2-0 but easily could have been eliminated by Benfica.

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.

Quim #12

Club

Joaquim Manuel Sampaio da Silva, better known as Quim, was born in Vila Nova de Famalicão, Portugal on November 13, 1975 (age 33). He started his career with SC Braga making his debut in the year of 1994. He stayed at that club until 2003/04. At his time there he played in 230 games and grew to be one of the top goalies in Portugal. Due to this, Benfica picked him up at the start of the 2004 season and eventually Benfica won the title that year where Quim split the net with fellow companion Moreira. The next year Quim had injury problems and so did not play much but in the 2006/07 season Quim was the first choice goalkeeper for Benfica. From then on he has kept being Benficas #1 and still has because of his amazing consistent performances. Until now Quim has played in 124 games with Benfica.

National Team

Quim developed in the youth program of the national team winning a UEFA European Under-18 Championship in 1994. In August 1999, Quim made his senior debut agaisnt Andorra which they won 4-0. Throughout his history with the National team he was always the back-up goalie for them at international competitions. Finally, now in 2008 he has cemented the starting role for Portugal but is coming off an embarassing loss to Brazil of 6-2.

Status Update

It seems like Quim is not going to be in the starting lineup for next weeks game against Maritimo due to the great amount of goals being let in his net in the past few games…Recall: 6 from Brazil, 5 from Olympiakos, 2 from Setubal (13 goals allowed in 3 games!! YIKES!!).