Fernando Jorge Lima de Moraes (born 21 January 1980), commonly referred to as Fernando, is a retired
soccer player who last played for
South Melbourne in the
Victorian Premier League. Born in Brazil, he played for the
Australia national futsal team.
Career
Fernando de Moraes initially specialised in
futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and indoor football.
Futsal is played between two teams of five players each, one of whom is t ...
while playing in Brazil, and played his first match in the outdoor version of the game at the age of 21. He first played for
PSB Palestra São Bernado in Brazil before moving to Australia (where his sister lives) to play for
South Melbourne FC, having seen them play at the
2000 FIFA Club World Championship. He joined the team for the 2005
Victorian Premier League season. In 2006, he left the club to undertake an unsuccessful 4-week trial at
Greek Super League
The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...
club
Egaleo FC, after which he returned to Australia and played a vital role in securing the championship for South Melbourne as their highest scoring player (with a total of 12). He was signed by
A-League club
New Zealand Knights FC shortly after the championship victory on a short-term contract, for a fee of £90,000 (€100,000), that was extended several times, but did not feature in the Knights' line-up and was soon relegated to the bench. He returned to South Melbourne at the conclusion of the Knights' season and joined the squad for pre-season matches, eventually signing a new 2-year contract.
One of his most important goals for South Melbourne came during the
2010 Singapore Cup when his goal put South Melbourne 2-1 up against
Thai Premier League champions
Bangkok Glass, however it would not be enough, as Bangkok would ultimately tie 3-3 allowing them to go through on aggregate, knocking out South Melbourne in the process.
In January 2014, de Moraes officially retired from playing football.
Honours
With
South Melbourne:
*
Victorian Premier League Championship: 2006
*
Hellenic Cup: 2007, 2009
* Theo Marmaras Medal: 2006, 2010
* Club Golden Boot: 2006, 2008, 2010
*
Individual
* Victorian Premier League player of the year: 2010
* Hummel F-League Golden Boot: 2013
* Jimmy Rooney Medal: 2006
* Theo Marmaras Medal: 2006, 2010
With
North Melbourne Futsal Club:
*
Futsal Oz V-League Premiership: 2011
With
Vic Vipers Futsal Club
Vic Vipers Futsal Club is an Australian futsal club based in Victoria. They play in the F-League which is the top tier of Australian Futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hardcourt, hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainl ...
:
*
Hummel F-League Champions
Hummel may refer to:
People
* Hummel (surname), origin and list of people with the surname Hummel
Companies
* Hummel International, a Denmark-based sporting goods and apparel company
* Hummel figurines
* Hummel Aviation, American aircraft man ...
: 2013
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moraes, Fernando de
1980 births
Living people
Footballers from São Paulo
Australian soccer players
Australian men's futsal players
Brazilian footballers
Brazilian emigrants to Australia
Brazilian men's futsal players
Brazilian expatriate footballers
New Zealand Knights FC players
South Melbourne FC players
A-League Men players
Expatriate association footballers in New Zealand
Naturalised citizens of Australia
Australian people of Brazilian descent
Naturalised soccer players of Australia
Association football midfielders