Hélder Miguel do Rosário (born 9 March 1980; ) is a Portuguese former 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 played as a

central defender 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 ...

Club career

Born in Lisbon of Cape Verdean descent, Rosário started playing professionally with

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 ...

farm team In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

, S.C. Lourinhanense, then had a stint with the former's reserves. From 2001 to 2003, he had spells in the Segunda Liga with

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 ...

and S.C. Farense. Rosário made his Primeira Liga debut in the 2003–04 season with C.F. Os Belenenses, also scoring in a 3–1 away loss against

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 ...

in the semi-finals 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 sea ...

. In the following three years he was an important defensive element with Boavista FC, always in the Portuguese top flight. Alongside countrymen

Eliseu Eliseu Pereira dos Santos (born 1 October 1983), known simply as Eliseu (), is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played either as a left back or left winger. After starting out at Belenenses, he went on to spend most of his c ...

and Paulo Jorge, Rosário joined Málaga CF of the Spanish Segunda División for 2007–08, and would only miss three league games – out of 42 – during the campaign, adding goals in home matches against Córdoba CF (4–1 win) and Hércules CF (4–6 defeat, also being

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

) as the

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The t ...

club returned to

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' ...

after two years. Rosário struggled with injuries and weight problems during his third year at the

La Rosaleda Stadium Estadio La Rosaleda (; literally The Rose Garden) is a football stadium in the city of Málaga, in Andalucia, southern Spain. It is the home stadium of Málaga CF in Segunda División and was previously that of the Club Deportivo Málaga, of ...

, and made just two appearances in the

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

in the first part of the season. His league return only took place on 18 April 2010, in the 0–0 home draw with

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid () or Valladolid, is a professional football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish league system. The club c ...

. In early 2011, Rosário and his compatriot Edinho were deemed surplus to requirements, being restricted to training with the first team. On 30 June 2012 his contract expired and he left, signing the following month with

SD Ponferradina Sociedad Deportiva Ponferradina, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Ponferrada, in the El Bierzo region, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 7 June 1922, it plays in Segunda División, holding home matches at the ...

in the second tier. He left at the end of the campaign, having failed to play any games due to several physical ailments.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosario, Helder 1980 births Living people Portuguese sportspeople of Cape Verdean descent Black Portuguese sportspeople Portuguese footballers Footballers from Lisbon Association football defenders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players Sporting CP B players F.C. Maia players S.C. Farense players C.F. Os Belenenses players Boavista F.C. players La Liga players Segunda División players Málaga CF players SD Ponferradina players Portuguese expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain