Hélder José Vaz Cabral (born 7 May 1984) 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 le ...

who plays as a

left 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 ...

for

S.C. Olhanense Sporting Clube Olhanense () is a Portuguese sports club from Olhão, Algarve. Its football team was founded on 27 April 1912 and currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, the fourth tier of Portuguese football. It holds home matches at the ...

Club career

Born in Peniche, Cabral played youth football for three clubs, spending six years in local Grupo Desportivo de Peniche's system and entering it at the age of ten. He played his last two years as a junior with

Vitória SC 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 (b ...

, going on to start his senior career in the lower leagues on loan. Returning to

Guimarães Guimarães () is a city and municipality located in northern Portugal, in the district of Braga. Its historic town centre has been listed as a UNESCWorld Heritage Sitesince 2001, in recognition for being an "exceptionally well-preserved and a ...

in the 2005 summer, Cabral played the first part of the 2005–06 season – being subsequently loaned to

Moreirense F.C. Moreirense Futebol Clube is a Portuguese professional football club based in Moreira de Cónegos, Guimarães Municipality, in Minho. Founded on 1 November 1938, it plays in the Liga Portugal 2, holding home games at Parque de Jogos Comendador Joa ...

in the second division – and the entire 2006–07 with the first team, leaving in June 2007 to fellow

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, ...

club

C.F. Estrela da Amadora Club Football Estrela da Amadora (), sometimes just Estrela, is a Portuguese sports club (predominantly football) based in Amadora, northwest of Lisbon. It's the successor of Clube de Futebol Estrela da Amadora, founded in 1932 and extinct in ...

: he scored his only goal of the campaign on 6 January 2008 in a 4–1 home win against his former employer, helping 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 ...

outskirts side narrowly avoid relegation after finishing 13th. In January 2009, after an unassuming spell in Denmark with Vejle Boldklub, Cabral returned to his country and joined Académica de Coimbra. He was irregularly played during his spell, but started as the team won the 2012 edition of the

Portuguese Cup 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 ...

– the first in 73 years – after defeating

Sporting Clube de Portugal 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 fo ...

1–0 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 ...

. On 7 August 2013, Cabral signed a one-year deal with the option of a further season with APOEL FC from Cyprus. He made his debut for his new team on 19 September, coming on as an 86th-minute substitute in a 0–0 away draw against

Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club ( he, מועדון כדורגל מכבי תל אביב; ''Moadon Kaduregel Maccabi Tel Aviv'') is an Israeli football club from Tel Aviv and part of the Maccabi Tel Aviv Sport Club. Founded in 1906 in Jaffa as ...

in the group stage of the UEFA Europa League. On 29 January 2014, APOEL terminated Cabral's contract by mutual consent.

International career

Despite being born in Portugal, Cabral qualified to play for

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

through his parents. In a January 2011 interview he added he would also like to represent the Portugal national team in the future, but preferred to "concentrate on (his) club duties for now".

Honours

;Académica * Taça de Portugal: 2011–12 ;APOEL * Cypriot First Division: 2013–14 * Cypriot Super Cup: 2013

References

External links

APOEL official profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cabral, Helder 1984 births Living people People from Peniche, Portugal Portuguese people of Cape Verdean descent Portuguese footballers Association football defenders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players Vitória S.C. players G.D.R.C. Os Sandinenses players Moreirense F.C. players C.F. Estrela da Amadora players Associação Académica de Coimbra – O.A.F. players Vitória F.C. players S.C. Olhanense players Danish Superliga players Vejle Boldklub players Cypriot First Division players APOEL FC players AC Omonia players Portuguese expatriate footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Sportspeople from Leiria District