Fernando Nélson

This name uses Portuguese naming customs. The first or maternal family name is Vieira and the second or paternal family name is Alves.
Fernando Nélson
Personal information
Full name Fernando Nélson Jesus Vieira Alves
Date of birth (1971-11-05) 5 November 1971
Place of birth Porto, Portugal
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position Right back
Youth career
1983–1986 Porto
1987 Rio Tinto
1987–1990 Salgueiros
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1990–1991 Salgueiros 23 (0)
1991–1996 Sporting CP 115 (2)
1996–1998 Aston Villa 60 (0)
1998–2002 Porto 32 (0)
2002–2004 Vitória Setúbal 32 (1)
2004–2006 Rio Tinto
Total 261 (3)
National team
1991 Portugal U20 4 (0)
1992–1994 Portugal U21 22 (0)
1995–2001 Portugal 11 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

† Appearances (goals)

Fernando Nélson Jesus Vieira Alves (born 5 November 1971), known as Nélson, is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as a right back.

Best known for his spell at Sporting, he also played for Porto in his country, having a two-year stint at Aston Villa in England as well.

Over the course of ten seasons, Nélson amassed Primeira Liga totals of 202 games and three goals.

Football career

Nélson was born in Porto. After starting professionally at local S.C. Salgueiros he moved to first division club Sporting Clube de Portugal, immediately after having helped the national under-20s win the 1991 FIFA World Youth Championship, played in the country.

At the Lisbon-based club, Nélson won the 1995 Portuguese Cup. After producing three final solid seasons, where he amassed nearly 100 league appearances and scored one goal apiece, he joined Premier League team Aston Villa in the 1996 summer, under manager Brian Little.

After two productive campaigns with the Midlands side, he signed with FC Porto in July 1998 – his first youth club – winning his first national championship in his debut season.

During the following three years Nélson would be used irregularly at Porto (playing as much as 20 matches and as little as none), and moved in 2002 to Vitória de Setúbal. After two seasons with amateurs S.C. Rio Tinto he retired from football, becoming president of the latter.

Personal life

Nélson's twin brother, Albertino, was also a footballer and a defender. He too started his career – which spanned more than two decades, with teams in all levels of Portuguese football – with Porto (youth) and Salgueiros, and amassed top division totals of 204 games and one goal, mainly with C.S. Marítimo (seven seasons, 169/1).

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, March 20, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.