Abel Fernando Moreira Ferreira (born 22 December 1978), known simply as Abel as a player, is a Portuguese
football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Brazilian club
Palmeiras
Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes. Palmeiras is one of the most popular clubs in South America, with around ...
.
As a
right-back
In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.
Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...
, he played 234
Primeira Liga matches over 11 seasons (three goals), with
Vitória de Guimarães
Vitoria or Vitória may refer to :
People
* Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian
* Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer
* Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer
* Steven Vitória ...
,
Braga
Braga ( , ; cel-x-proto, Bracara) is a city and a municipality, capital of the northwestern Portuguese district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality has a resident population of 193,333 inhabitants (in ...
and
Sporting CP
Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...
. With Sporting, he won two
Taça de Portugal
The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 sea ...
and as many
Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira
The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese football match played since 1979 between the winners of the Portuguese League (Primeira Liga) and Portuguese ...
, in a 14-year professional career.
Ferreira started working as a manager in 2013, being in charge of
Sporting CP B
Sporting Clube de Portugal B is the reserve team of Portuguese football club Sporting CP, a team based in Lisbon. Reserve teams in Portugal play in the same league system as the senior team, rather than in a reserve team league. However, they cann ...
,
Braga B,
Braga
Braga ( , ; cel-x-proto, Bracara) is a city and a municipality, capital of the northwestern Portuguese district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality has a resident population of 193,333 inhabitants (in ...
,
PAOK and
Palmeiras
Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes. Palmeiras is one of the most popular clubs in South America, with around ...
. With the latter club, he won the
Copa do Brasil
The Copa do Brasil ( en, Brazil Cup) is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de P ...
in
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...
, two successive
Copa Libertadores in
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...
and
2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...
and the
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A in
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...
.
Playing career
Abel was born in
Penafiel
Penafiel ( or () is a municipality and former bishopric (now a Latin Catholic titular see) in the northern Portuguese district of Porto. Capital of the Tâmega Subregion, the population was 72,265 in 2011, in an area of .
History
The region ...
,
Porto District
The District of Porto ( pt, Distrito do Porto ) is located on the north-west coast of Portugal. The district capital is the city of Porto, the second largest city in the country. It is bordered by the Aveiro and Viseu districts to the south, Br ...
. After emerging through his hometown club
Penafiel
Penafiel ( or () is a municipality and former bishopric (now a Latin Catholic titular see) in the northern Portuguese district of Porto. Capital of the Tâmega Subregion, the population was 72,265 in 2011, in an area of .
History
The region ...
's youth ranks, he moved to
Vitória de Guimarães
Vitoria or Vitória may refer to :
People
* Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian
* Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer
* Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer
* Steven Vitória ...
where he made his
Primeira Liga debut. He then signed with
Braga
Braga ( , ; cel-x-proto, Bracara) is a city and a municipality, capital of the northwestern Portuguese district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality has a resident population of 193,333 inhabitants (in ...
for the
2004–05 season.
Abel transferred to
Sporting CP
Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...
in January 2006, in a two-way loan deal involving the Brazilian
Wender. The move was made permanent before the
2006–07 campaign.
On 27 November 2007, Abel scored a goal against
Manchester United in a
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
group stage
A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:
# One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...
2–1 away loss. In
that season he was also called up for the
Portugal national team, but did not earn any
caps
Caps are flat headgear.
Caps or CAPS may also refer to:
Science and technology Computing
* CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters
* Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...
.
In
2008–09, Abel lost his starting position to
Pedro Silva. Both players lost their importance in the squad after the purchase of Braga's
João Pereira in January 2010.
Abel was still regularly used in the following seasons, as Pereira featured regularly as a
midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
. On 24 October 2010, he scored his first league goal for Sporting, in the
90th minute to defeat
Rio Ave at home (1–0).
Abel retired at the end of the
2010–11 season aged 32, due to injury problems.
[
]
Coaching career
Braga
Ferreira started working as a manager immediately after retiring, taking charge of Sporting's juniors as well as their reserves in the Segunda Liga. In February 2015, he was appointed manager at Braga B in the same division.
On 26 April 2017, Ferreira succeeded Jorge Simão
António Jorge Rocha Simão (born 12 August 1976) is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a midfielder, currently a manager.
Having played only as an amateur, he began work as an assistant manager at 26, before his first outright posit ...
at the helm of Braga's first team. In his first full season in charge he led them to fourth place, with subsequent qualification for the UEFA Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...
's third qualifying round
Third or 3rd may refer to:
Numbers
* 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3
* , a fraction of one third
* 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute''
Places
* 3rd Street (disambiguation)
* Third Avenue (disambiguation)
* Hig ...
.
PAOK
PAOK paid a reported €2 million to acquire Ferreira's services on 30 June 2019, after former manager Răzvan Lucescu
Răzvan Lucescu (; born 17 February 1969) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Greek Super League club PAOK.
As a player, he operated as a goalkeeper and spent most years of his career ...
left for Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
. In his first year, the team were knocked out by Ajax
Ajax may refer to:
Greek mythology and tragedy
* Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea
* Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris
* ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...
in the Champions League third qualifying round when the opposition scored through two controversial penalties in the second leg. They were eliminated by Slovan Bratislava in the Europa League playoff round. On the domestic front, he led the side to second place in the Super League Greece, but was also in charge as the club's record of 51 matches unbeaten came to an end. They also reached the semi-finals
A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...
of the Greek Cup
The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation.
The Greek Cup is the second most ...
.
Ferreira left the Toumba Stadium
Toumba Stadium ( el, Στάδιο Τούμπας) is a football stadium in Thessaloniki, Greece. It is property of AC PAOK. The official name of the stadium is simply PAOK Stadium ( el, Στάδιο ΠΑΟΚ), but through the years it has become ...
on 30 October 2020, following a 0–0 draw at Granada in the Europa League group stage.
Palmeiras
Ferreira was announced as head coach of Brazilian club Palmeiras
Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes. Palmeiras is one of the most popular clubs in South America, with around ...
that same day, on a two-year deal. He made his debut on 5 November 2020 in the last-16 second leg of the Copa do Brasil
The Copa do Brasil ( en, Brazil Cup) is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de P ...
in a 1–0 home win against Red Bull Bragantino
Red Bull Bragantino, commonly known as Bragantino, is a Brazilian football club based in Bragança Paulista, São Paulo. It competes in the Série A, the top tier of the Brazilian football league system, as well as in the Campeonato Paulista ...
(4–1 aggregate). Three days later, on his Campeonato Brasileiro Série A debut, his team won away to Vasco da Gama.
On 30 January 2021, Ferreira won his first title as coach with a 1–0 victory over fellow Brazilians Santos in the final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
of the 2020 Copa Libertadores
The 2020 Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores was the 61st edition of the CONMEBOL Libertadores (also referred to as the ''Copa Libertadores''), South America's premier club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL.
On 17 October 2019, CONMEBOL announce ...
; only two other non-South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...
n managers had won the tournament before, one being his compatriot Jorge Jesus
Jorge Fernando Pinheiro de Jesus (; born 24 July 1954) is a Portuguese professional football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe.
He started his career with Sporting CP, going on to play for 1 ...
, a year earlier, also with a Brazilian side, Flamengo
Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; English: ''Flamengo Rowing Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea, best known for their professional football ...
.
On 7 March 2021, Palmeiras won the second leg of the Brazilian Cup final with a 2–0 home defeat of Grêmio, with the aggregate score being 3–0. Owing to this result, Ferreira became the first foreign coach to win the competition. On 27 November that year, his team retained the Libertadores with a 2–1 extra-time win in the final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
against Flamengo at the Estadio Centenario
Estadio Centenario is a stadium in the Parque Batlle of Montevideo, Uruguay, used primarily for football. The stadium was built between 1929 and 1930 to host the inaugural 1930 FIFA World Cup, as well as to commemorate the centenary of Ur ...
in Montevideo.
The team defeated Athletico Paranaense 2–0 at Allianz Parque
Allianz Parque (), also known as Palestra Itália Arena, is a multipurpose stadium in São Paulo, Brazil, built to receive shows, concerts, corporate events, and especially football matches of Palmeiras, the site owner. The stadium has a capac ...
on 2 March 2022, winning the Recopa Sudamericana for the first time. This was the third international championship won by Ferreira with the side, also making him the club's most successful head coach in those type of competitions.
Personal life
Ferreira married Ana Xavier in 1996, with whom he had daughters Inês and Mariana. In March 2021, he was decorated with the Commander of the Order of Infante D. Henrique.
Managerial statistics
Honours
Player
Sporting CP
*Taça de Portugal
The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 sea ...
: 2006–07, 2007–08
*Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira
The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese football match played since 1979 between the winners of the Portuguese League (Primeira Liga) and Portuguese ...
: 2007, 2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
Manager
Palmeiras
* Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: 2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...
*Copa do Brasil
The Copa do Brasil ( en, Brazil Cup) is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de P ...
: 2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...
[
* Copa Libertadores: ]2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...
,[ ]2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...
[
* Recopa Sudamericana: ]2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...
[
* Campeonato Paulista: ]2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...
* FIFA Club World Cup runner-up: 2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...
Individual
*Copa Libertadores Coach of the Year: 2020, 2021
*Troféu Mesa Redonda: 2020
*Best Coach in Brazil by O Globo/Extra: 2020
*South American Coach of the Year
The South American Coach of the Year ( es, Entrenador del año en Sudamérica) is an annual association football award presented to the best coach of a club or national team in South America over the previous calendar year. The award has been prese ...
: 2021
*Best Portuguese Coach Abroad by CNID: 2022
* Bola de Prata Coach of the Year: 2022
* Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Coach of the Year: 2022
Orders
*
Knight Commander
Commander ( it, Commendatore; french: Commandeur; german: Komtur; es, Comendador; pt, Comendador), or Knight Commander, is a title of honor prevalent in chivalric orders and fraternal orders.
The title of Commander occurred in the medieval mili ...
of the Order of Prince Henry[
]
References
External links
*
*
National team data
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferreira, Abel
1978 births
Living people
People from Penafiel
Sportspeople from Porto District
Portuguese footballers
Association football defenders
Primeira Liga players
Liga Portugal 2 players
F.C. Penafiel players
Vitória S.C. players
S.C. Braga players
Sporting CP footballers
Portugal B international footballers
Portuguese football managers
Primeira Liga managers
Liga Portugal 2 managers
Sporting CP B managers
S.C. Braga managers
Super League Greece managers
PAOK FC managers
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A managers
Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras managers
Portuguese expatriate football managers
Expatriate football managers in Greece
Expatriate football managers in Brazil
Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Greece
Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Brazil