Players: Abel Freddy Adu H. Almeida Bruno Alves Anderson J. Andrade N. Assis Vitor Baia Boa Morte Bosingwa M. Caneira Cardozo R. Carvalho Ze Castro Jorge Costa Rui Costa Conceicao Costinha F. Couto M. da Costa Dady Deco Di Maria Y. Djalo Duda M. Fernandes P. Ferreira Luis Figo Luis Filipe Nuno Gomes L. Gonzalez Helton Izmailov Karagounis Katsouranis Liedson L. Lopez Luisao David Luiz Makukula Maniche Mantorras F. Meira R. Meireles P. Mendes Miguel Miguelito Moreira J. Moutinho Nani Nelson R. Patricio Pauleta C. Peixoto Pepe Petit Pereirinha Joao Pinto H. Postiga Polga Quaresma Quim J. Ribeiro Ricardo R. Rocha C. Rodriguez Ronaldo Romagnoli P. Sousa Simao Tarik Tiago J. Tomas Tonel Miguel Veloso Hugo Viana Vukcevic Abel Xavier Select player

PortuGOAL Player Profiles

A-Z of the stars of the Portuguese game

For a small nation of around ten million inhabitants, Portugal has produced far more than its fair share of the world’s greatest players over recent years, as exemplified by the healthy quota of Portuguese players scattered across many of Europe’s elite clubs.

In our Player Profile section read detailed career profiles of the major players of the Portuguese game. In addition to Portugal’s top footballers, find out more about the biggest foreign stars playing in the Bwin Liga.

To select a player from the full list use the drop down menu in the left-hand column, or alternatively click on the quick links in the right-hand column.

Keep tabs on this page as more profiles shall be added throughout the coming months.

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While the star of Portugal international Maniche has seen better days, the roller-coaster career of Jorge Ribeiro, his younger brother, is very much on a upwards curve. Ribeiro received recognition for his superb campaign for Boavista in 2007/08 by earning a recall into the Portugal squad for Euro 2008. >>

Goalkeeper Rui Patricio made a spectacular debut for Sporting in November 2006, saving a late peanlty to guarantee all three points for his club away to Maritimo. After unexpectedly becoming first choice at the Lisbon club in 2007/08, the 20-year-old earned the perfect end-of-season reward with a call-up into Portugal’s Euro 2008 squad. >>

The skilful Tarik Sektioui has earned renown amongst a wider audience through his exploits in the Champions League. And his form throughout the 2007/08 season on the domestic front makes it all the more bewildering to think that he was on the verge of being released by FC Porto on the eve of what would become his breakthrough season. >>

It’s difficult to imagine that there were many better free transfer signings last summer than Cristian Rodriguez. Such has been his success since arriving as a replacement for Atletico Madrid-bound icon Simao that Benfica are already over the departure of their star player of previous seasons. >>

Another season, another young gem rolls off Sporting’s Alcochete training academy. Pinning down Bruno Pereirinha’s main assets is no easy task. Yet everything the youngster does he does tidily, with the minimum of fuss, with speed of thought, playing a subtle but vital role in accentuating the cohesion of his team’s movements. >>