Francisco Reis Ferreira (born 26 March 1997), commonly known as Ferro, is a Portuguese professional

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 ...

who plays as a centre-back for

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

club Vitesse, on loan from Benfica. Formed at Benfica, he made over 60 appearances for the club, winning the

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

in 2018–19. He was loaned to

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

Hajduk Split Hrvatski nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split () or simply Hajduk, is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, t ...

and Vitesse, winning the Croatian Football Cup with the second in

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. Ferro earned 51

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for Portugal at youth level, and was called up for the senior team in 2019.

Club career

Born in

Oliveira de Azeméis Oliveira de Azeméis () is a city and a municipality located in Porto Metropolitan Area in Portugal. Administratively, the municipality belongs to the District of Aveiro. The population of the municipality in 2011 was 68,611, in an area of 161.1 ...

, Ferro started his football career at local club Oliveirense in 2005, where he remained until 2008. He then played for CB Estarreja and AD Taboeira before joining Benfica's youth system in 2011. Following his progress to the club's

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

, he made his professional debut in a 2–1 away win over Oliveirense in LigaPro on 30 January 2016. Ferro was promoted to Benfica's first team on 1 February 2019, alongside three other reserve team players, and six days later, he debuted with the

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

side as a 38th-minute substitute, replacing Jardel in a 2–1 home win over

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 the first leg of the

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 seaso ...

semi-finals. In his first appearance as a starter, he scored his first goal for Benfica, the sixth in a 10–0 home thrashing of

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

on 10 February. Four days later, Ferro made his European debut as Benfica beat

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

2–1 in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League round of 32, their first ever victory in Turkey. He scored his first UEFA goal on 14 March, the second in a 3–0 (

a.e.t. Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only ...

) win over

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb ( en, Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club, link=yes, italics=yes), commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo ...

in the round of 16's second leg. On 17 October 2019, Ferro extended his Benfica contract until 2024. On 31 January 2021, Spanish club

announced the signing of Ferro on loan for the remainder of the 2020–21 season. He made three

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

appearances, beginning on 14 February with a 2–0 loss at

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

. Unused by Benfica in the league, Ferro was loaned to

of the

Croatian Football League The Hrvatska nogometna liga () ( en, Croatian football league), also known as HNL or for sponsorship reasons the SuperSport HNL, is the top Croatian professional football league competition, established in 1992. Previously, it was called Prva ...

on 31 January 2022. On his debut for the eventual runners-up five days later, he scored in the third minute of a 4–0 win at Gorica; he equalised in the

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...

n club's 3–1 win over Rijeka in the cup final on 26 May. On 14 July 2022, Ferro joined Vitesse in the Netherlands on a season-long loan, with an option to buy.

International career

Ferro earned 51

for Portugal at youth level, starting with a 2–0 under-17 win over

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on 8 October 2013, in

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for the following May's

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA). The competition is conte ...

. He was called up for the finals in Malta, where the team were eliminated 2–0 in the semi-finals by eventual champions

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. On 3 June 2015, he scored the first of his three international goals at the end of a 2–0 under-18 win over

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. On 10 November 2015, Ferro scored the only goal as the under-19 team defeated

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

Nelas Nelas () is a municipality located in the Centro Region of continental Portugal. The population in 2011 was 14,037, in an area of 125.71 km². History Settlement of the territory of Nelas dates back to the settlement by Neolithic and Stone a ...

in a

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for the European Championship. He played the following July in the finals in Germany, where the side were eliminated by

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in the last four. He also went with the under-20 team to the 2017 FIFA World Cup in South Korea. In early September 2019, Ferro was called up for the first time to the Portugal national team for the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifiers against

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

and

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

, replacing injured

Pepe Pepe is a pet form of the Spanish name José (Josep). It is also a surname. * People Mononyms * Pepe (footballer, born 1935), real name José Macia, Brazilian footballer *Pepe (footballer, born 1983), real name Képler Laveran Lima Ferreira ...

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Benfica *

: 2018–19 *

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 ...

: 2019 Hajduk Split * Croatian Cup: 2021–22 Individual *

UEFA European Under-17 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship or simply UEFA Under-17 Championship, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-17 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain is the most successful team in this ...

Team of the Tournament: 2014

References

External links

Liga Portugal profile
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferro 1997 births Living people People from Oliveira de Azeméis Sportspeople from Aveiro District Portuguese footballers Association football defenders U.D. Oliveirense players Casa Pia A.C. players S.L. Benfica B players S.L. Benfica footballers Valencia CF players HNK Hajduk Split players SBV Vitesse players Liga Portugal 2 players Primeira Liga players La Liga players Croatian Football League players Eredivisie players Portugal youth international footballers Portugal under-21 international footballers Portuguese expatriate footballers Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in Spain Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Expatriate footballers in Croatia Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands