Abel Jorge Pereira da Silva, CvIH (born 21 August 1969), sometimes known as just Abel, is a Portuguese former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

. One of the players who scored (both editions combined) goals in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

's two consecutive U-20 World Cup triumphs, the

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 ...

played for a total of ten clubs. He started his career with Benfica, where he later worked as an assistant coach and a scout after amassing Primeira Liga totals of 142 matches and two goals over the course of nine seasons.

Playing career

In 1987, at the age of 18, Lisbon-born Abel was invited to play for

S.L. Benfica Sport Lisboa e Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. Founded on 28 February 1904 as ''Sport Lisboa'', Be ...

's youth sides, where he performed well winning many awards, moving to the first team after just one season. He was on squad for

when it won the

1989 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1989 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in Saudi Arabia between 16 February and 3 March 1989. The 1989 championship was the 7th contested. The tournament took place across four cities: Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, and Ta'if. Qualification ...

, scoring the opener in the final against

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

(2–0). After an unspectacular

first year A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ar ...

, only playing one game (his debut came against

S.C. Braga Sporting Clube de Braga () (), commonly known as Sporting de Braga or just Braga, is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Braga. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese ...

, on 2 April 1989, in a 1–0 win), Silva transferred to Académica de Coimbra from the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

on loan, where he was given his first real chance as a senior. His next stop was at F.C. Penafiel, also on loan, where he started most of the year to help them avoid top level relegation, ultimately netting his penultimate goal as a professional. Abel experienced a final loan spell with

C.S. Marítimo Club Sport Marítimo MH M, commonly known as Marítimo ( locally ), is a Portuguese sports club founded in Funchal, Madeira, in 1910. Marítimo is best known for its football team playing in Portugal's top-flight competition, the Primeira Lig ...

also in the Primeira Liga, in the 1991–92 campaign, then returned to Benfica. In January 1995 he was finally released and joined Vitória FC, where he remained until the end of the season. Subsequently, Silva represented F.C. Felgueiras, S.C. Campomaiorense, G.D. Estoril Praia, F.C. Alverca and Atlético Clube de Portugal – the latter in

division three The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the fo ...

– with an average of about 20 appearances per year, before retiring from the game in June 2001 at nearly 32.

Coaching career

In the 2004–05 season, Abel took up coaching, being part of

Giovanni Trappatoni Giovanni Trapattoni (; born 17 March 1939), sometimes popularly known as "Trap" or "Il Trap", is an Italian football manager and former player, considered the most successful club coach of Italian football. A former defensive midfielder, as a p ...

's staff as Benfica put an end to an 11-year drought and won the national league. After more assistant spells, with

F.C. Famalicão Futebol Clube de Famalicão, commonly known as Famalicão, is a Portuguese association football, football club from Vila Nova de Famalicão. Founded on 21 August 1931, its senior team currently plays in the Primeira Liga, the top tier of Portugu ...

and Al-Nassr FC, he began his head coaching career in 2007, with lowly C.D. Portosantense. On two separate spells, Abel worked with Benfica as scout.

References

External links

*
Benfica career stats
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Silva, Abel 1969 births Living people Footballers from Lisbon Portuguese men's footballers Men's association football defenders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players Atlético Clube de Portugal players S.L. Benfica footballers Académica de Coimbra (football) players F.C. Penafiel players C.S. Marítimo players Vitória F.C. players F.C. Felgueiras players S.C. Campomaiorense players G.D. Estoril Praia players F.C. Alverca players Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portuguese football managers