Jorge Manuel Guerreiro Soares (born 22 October 1971) 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 le ...

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 ...

. He amassed

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, ...

totals of 273 games and 11 goals over the course of 13 seasons, representing mainly in the competition

Farense Sporting Clube Farense, simply known as Farense, is a Portuguese professional association football, football club based in Faro, Portugal, Faro in the Faro District, district of the same name and the region of Algarve. Founded in 1910, the club wi ...

and Marítimo.

Club career

Born in the village of Messejana in

Aljustrel Aljustrel () is a town and a municipality in the Portuguese district of Beja. The population in 2011 was 9,257, in an area of 458.47 km2. The present mayor is Nelson Domingos Brito, elected by the Socialist Party. The municipal holiday is Jun ...

, Beja, Soares joined

S.C. Farense Sporting Clube Farense, simply known as Farense, is a Portuguese professional football club based in Faro in the district of the same name and the region of Algarve. Founded in 1910, the club will play the 2021–22 season in the Liga Portugal ...

at the age of 15, being first-choice with the first team in his last four years, all spent in the

. In the 1994–95 season he scored a career-best three goals in 26 games to help the club qualify to the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

for the first time in its history; late into the following campaign he notably found the net in a 1–0 away win against

S.L. Benfica Sport Lisboa e Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional association football, football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football league system, Portuguese footba ...

, who subsequently signed him. During his two-year spell with them, Soares partnered

Jorge Bermúdez Jorge Hernán Bermúdez Morales (born 18 June 1971) is a retired Colombian football defender. He played 56 times for the Colombia national team between 1995 and 2001. Playing career Bermúdez played at the club level for several teams in ...

Hélder Cristóvão Hélder is a given name in Portuguese. The unrelated German-Jewish surname "Helder" is also given the accent in Portuguese, such as the Portuguese poet Herberto Hélder (1930-). The name is sometimes confused with Heitor. People named Hélder incl ...

Tahar El Khalej Tahar El Khalej (pronounced Taher Lakhlej ar, الطاهر الخلج) (born 16 June 1968) is a retired Moroccan Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football), defender. Club career Born in Marrakech, El Khale ...

in the heart of the defense, becoming first-choice after the second moved to

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña (), Deportivo or simply Dépor, is a professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. They currently p ...

in the winter transfer season of 1996. In a match against

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, MHIH, OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portu ...

on 11 January 1997, however, he was unsuccessful at blocking a cross directed towards

Mário Jardel Mário Jardel de Almeida Ribeiro (; born 18 September 1973) is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He was most noted for his positioning on the field and his heading ability. He was a legend for Grêmio, playi ...

, who stopped it with his chest and scored his team's first in an eventual 2–1 success in

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 ...

. After being released he represented

C.S. Marítimo Club Sport Marítimo MH M, commonly known as Marítimo ( locally ), is a Portuguese sports club founded in Funchal, Madeira, in 1910. Marítimo is best known for its football team playing in Portugal's top-flight competition, the Primeira Lig ...

in the top flight,

C.F. União Clube de Futebol União, commonly known as União or União da Madeira, was a Portuguese association football, football club based in Funchal, Madeira, notable for its six appearances in the Portuguese top-flight Primeira Liga, between the 1989� ...

in the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

and Louletano D.C. in the lower leagues, retiring in 2008 at 36.

International career

Soares amassed 7 caps for the under–21, playing in the 1992 Toulon Tournament, helping his nation win the competition.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Soares, Jorge Manuel Guerreiro 1971 births Living people People from Aljustrel Portuguese footballers Association football defenders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players S.C. Farense players S.L. Benfica footballers C.S. Marítimo players C.F. União players Louletano D.C. players Portugal under-21 international footballers Sportspeople from Beja District