João Miguel Coimbra Aurélio (born 17 August 1988) 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 lea ...

who plays as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

or a

right midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

club

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 ...

. He spent the vast majority of his career with

, making 323 competitive appearances over 11 seasons (two spells). He also represented

Vitória de Guimarães 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 * Sofia Vitória (bor ...

and

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

in his country, totalling 297

games.

Club career

Nacional

Born in Beja, Aurélio began his professional career with lower league club

S.C. Penalva do Castelo Sport Clube de Penalva do Castelo is a Portuguese sports club from Penalva do Castelo, Viseu District. The men's football team played on the third tier until being relegated from the 2018–19 Campeonato de Portugal. The team notably reached t ...

. In the 2008–09 season, he moved straight into the

with

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

's C.D. Nacional, managing ten league appearances in his first year and scoring in a 2–1 away win against

C.F. Os Belenenses Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses (), commonly known as Os Belenenses or simply Belenenses, is a Portuguese sports club best known for its football team. Founded in 1919, it is one of the oldest Portuguese sports clubs. It is based in the 19,856 ...

on 26 April 2009. In the following campaign, Aurélio started impressively, netting against

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

in the opener – although he also scored in his own net – and

S.C. Olhanense Sporting Clube Olhanense (), commonly known as Olhanense, is a Portuguese sports club from Olhão, Algarve. Its Association football, football team was founded on 27 April 1912 and currently plays in the Algarve Football Association Portuguese Di ...

, both 1–1 draws. Additionally, he also started and scored in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

4–3 home defeat of

FC Zenit Saint Petersburg Football Club Zenit (, ), also known as Zenit Saint Petersburg or simply Zenit, is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Saint Petersburg. Founded in 1925 (or in 1914, according to some Russian sources), the club p ...

(eventual 5–4 aggregate win). Aurélio continued to be an important first-team element in the following six top-division seasons, appearing in 149 matches and scoring in a 3–0 victory at Rio Ave F.C. on 28 September 2013. He also featured regularly as a

Vitória Guimarães

On 9 June 2016, Aurélio signed a two-year contract 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 * Sofia Vitória (bor ...

, where he had played youth football from ages 17 to 19. He played 62 total games for the team from

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 UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001, in recognition for being an "exceptionally well-preserved ...

, including four in their

run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

to the final of the

Taça de Portugal The Taça de 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 Generali Tranquilidade since the 2024–25 seaso ...

, but was unused in the decisive match that the team lost 2–1 to

S.L. 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'', Benfica is one of the " ...

. Aurélio started in a 3–1 defeat to the same opponent in the

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese association football, football match played since 1979 between the winners of the top-tier league (Primeira L ...

on 5 August 2017.

Moreirense

Having turned down the chance to play in Croatia for

HNK Hajduk Split Hrvatski Nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split (), is a Croatian professional Association football, football Football team, club based in Split, Croatia, Split, that competes in the Croatian First Football League, Cro ...

, Aurélio moved to Vitória's neighbours Moreirense F.C. on a two-year deal on 20 June 2018. In his third appearance, on 27 August, he scored with the last touch of the game to seal a 1–1 home draw with

B-SAD B-SAD was a Portuguese football club currently based in Almada, founded on 30 June 2018 as an independent entity. An offshoot of Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses, they played four seasons in the Primeira Liga, being relegated to the Liga Portugal ...

Pafos

On 25 August 2020, the 32-year-old Aurélio left Portugal for the first time, signed for a two-year contract at

Pafos FC Pafos F.C. () is a Cypriot professional football club based in Paphos. It was established in 2014 following the merger of two local clubs, AEP Paphos and AEK Kouklia, with the aim of creating a stronger and more competitive team to represent ...

of the

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...

on a free transfer.

International career

After good performances for Nacional, Aurélio was called up to the Portugal under-21 side by

Oceano Oceano (Spanish: ''Océano'', meaning "Ocean") is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. The population was 7,183 at the 2020 census, down from 7,286 at the 2010 census. Geography Oceano is locat ...

, for the 2011 UEFA European Championship qualifiers. In the 81st minute of the match against

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, 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, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

, he came on as a substitute for

Fábio Coentrão Fábio Alexandre da Silva Coentrão (; born 11 March 1988) is a Portuguese former professional footballer. Mainly a left-back, he also operated as a winger and occasionally as a defensive midfielder. After starting playing professionally with ...

and headed in the final 4–1 three minutes later.

Personal life

Aurélio's

twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two ...

brother, Luís, was also a footballer and a midfielder. They were teammates at Nacional.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aurelio, Joao 1988 births Living people Portuguese twins Sportspeople from Beja, Portugal 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Beja District Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football midfielders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players C.D. Beja players C.D. Nacional players Vitória S.C. players Moreirense F.C. players Cypriot First Division players Pafos FC players Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus