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| Saturday, 14 November 2009 01:13 |
Sergio Conceicao hangs up his bootsPortuguese to remain at PAOK Former Portugal international winger Sergio Conceicao announced on Friday his immediate retirement, bringing an end to a glittering sixteen-year professional career.
The winger, capped 56 times by Portugal between 1996 and 2003, had most recently been playing for Greek club PAOK, and Conceicao will continue to work for the club in the role of Director of Football. “I want to announce today the end of my football career,” Conceicao said in a statement on the club’s website. “Looking back, I am proud of what I have achieved. I am also proud because I hang up my boots at a truly great club. “I accept with great honour the offer of president Zissis Vryzas to assume the post of Director of Football and continue to be a part of PAOK.” Having started his career with hometown club Academica de Coimbra, Conceicao played for Penafiel, Leca and Felgueiras ahead of signing for FC Porto in 1996, where he helped the Dragons to back-to-back Portuguese league titles and made his first appearance for the national team. After leaving Portugal in 1998 at the age of 23, the pacey wideman embarked on a successful career abroad, taking in spells in Italy with Lazio, Parma and Inter, as well as having a major impact on Belgian football while with Standard Liege. There were also brief stops back home with Porto (2004) and in Kuwait with Al-Qadisiya, before Fernando Santos brought Conceicao to Greece and PAOK, where he became club captain and a fan favourite with the Thessaloniki club.
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