Hilário Paulino Neves Freitas Leal (born 15 May 1974), simply known as Hilário, is a Portuguese retired
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 played 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 ...
.
Football career
Hilário was born to
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
parents in
Ajaccio,
Corsica,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
, returning to his motherland still as an infant.
[Hilário: “Mazzone mi parlava di Samb-Ascoli” (Hilario: “Mazzone told me about Samb-Ascoli”)](_blank)
Riviera Oggi, 28 April 2004 He made his professional debuts with local
S.C. Freamunde, playing
third division football with the club. In 1996, he moved straight into the
top level with
G.D. Chaves, appearing regularly in two of his three seasons and being
relegated in his last, although he had already signed in January 1999 for
A.C. Perugia
Associazione Calcistica Perugia Calcio, or simply Perugia, is a professional football club based in Perugia, Umbria, Italy, that competes in the .
Founded in 1905 as Associazione Calcistica Perugia, the club folded in 2005 and were re-founded t ...
in
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
.
With the
Umbria
it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman)
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ns Hilário played in the
1999 UEFA Intertoto Cup
The 1999 UEFA Intertoto Cup finals were won by Montpellier, Juventus, and West Ham United. All three teams advanced to the UEFA Cup.
Qualified teams
First round
First leg
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...
, with his team being eliminated by
Trabzonspor
Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Trabzon. Formed in 1967 through a merger of several local clubs, the men's football team has won seven Süper Lig championships. Trabzonspor also have a women's football team, ...
in the third round. He only appeared regularly in
his first full season in
Serie A
The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...
(20 games), helping the side to a final midtable position and sharing teams with the likes of
Hidetoshi Nakata
is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest Asian players of all time.
Nakata began his professional career in 1995 and won the Asian Football Confederation Player ...
,
Alessandro Calori,
Giovanni Tedesco,
Massimiliano Esposito and
Milan Rapaić
Milan Rapaić (born 16 August 1973) is a Croatian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He primary played as an attacking midfielder or winger.
International career
He made his debut for Croatia in an April 1994 friendly ma ...
; he never scored a goal for the club, but netted one in
his own net against
Inter Milan
Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is ...
on 6 January 2000.
In 2002 Hilário moved back to Portugal, playing for
F.C. Maia
Futebol Clube da Maia is a Portuguese football club based in Maia, Greater Metropolitan Area of Porto. Founded on 4 April 1954, it currently plays in the Porto Regional League, holding home matches at the Estádio Professor Doutor Vieira de Carv ...
in
division two before returning to Italy a year later, representing
S.S. Sambenedettese Calcio in two
Serie C
The Serie C () is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing body that runs the Serie C.
The unification of the Lega Pro ...
seasons.
Again in his country at the age of 31, he signed for
F.C. Famalicão, switching in 2007 to
Santa Maria F.C.
Santa Maria Futebol Clube ''(abbreviated as Santa Maria FC)'' is a Portuguese football club based in Galegos (Santa Maria), Barcelos in the district of Braga.
Background
Santa Maria FC currently plays in the Campeonato Nacional de Seniores ...
in amateur football (
fourth division).
In 2012 Hilário returned to Freamunde, being appointed its
director of football
A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...
.
Hilário Leal: «Há clubes que não cumprem e é como se nada fosse» (Hilário Leal: «Some clubs do not comply and it is as if nothing had happened»)
; Record, 24 November 2012
See also
* List of foreign Serie A players
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hilario Leal
1974 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Ajaccio
Portuguese footballers
Association football defenders
Primeira Liga players
Liga Portugal 2 players
Segunda Divisão players
S.C. Freamunde players
G.D. Chaves players
F.C. Maia players
F.C. Famalicão players
Santa Maria F.C. players
Serie A players
A.C. Perugia Calcio players
A.S. Sambenedettese players
Portuguese expatriate footballers
Expatriate footballers in Italy
Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Italy
Footballers from Corsica