João Nuno Silva Cardoso Lucas (25 October 1979 – 26 May 2015) was a Portuguese

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

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He played professionally in his country for Académica and Boavista, amassing

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 129 matches and three goals over five seasons. He moved in 2007 to

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in Bel ...

, being forced to retire shortly after at the age of 28 due to heart problems.

Club career

Born in

Caldas da Rainha Caldas da Rainha () is a medium-sized Portuguese city in the Oeste region, in the historical province of Estremadura, and in the district of Leiria. The city serves as the seat of the larger municipality of the same name and of the Comunidad ...

Leiria District The District of Leiria ( pt, Distrito de Leiria ) is a district located in Centro region of Portugal, divided between the traditional provinces of Beira Litoral and Estremadura. It borders on the north with district of Coimbra, on the east with ...

, Lucas began his career at Académica de Coimbra, making his professional debut during the 1999–2000 season (two matches 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 also being loaned twice to amateur clubs, after which he returned to become an important first-team member. In 2004–05, Lucas signed with

Boavista FC Boavista Futebol Clube, commonly known as Boavista (), is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Porto. Founded on 1 August 1903 by British entrepreneurs and Portuguese textile workers (thus the "FC" being appended – the British way as oppos ...

, where he consistently performed during three

seasons. On 3 February 2006, he scored his only official goal for the northerners, in a 3–0 league home win against

Associação Naval 1º de Maio Associação Naval 1º de Maio or Associação Naval 1893, commonly known as Naval, is a Portuguese football club based in Figueira da Foz, Coimbra District. Founded on 1 May 1893, it plays in the Division of Honour in the Coimbra Football Associ ...

Retirement

In the 2007 summer

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer win ...

, Lucas joined

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

n giants

. However, on 17 March 2008, he announced his decision to stop playing football, as the 28-year-old had heart problems and the doctors told him he would risk his life if he continued playing. "This is the most difficult moment of my life but I have to thank everyone at Red Star who stood by me in the past two months", he told in a news conference.

Death

Lucas died on 26 May 2015 at the age of 35 in his home in

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

. He suffered a

sudden cardiac death Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possib ...

References

External links

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Srbijafudbal profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lucas, Joao 1979 births People from Caldas da Rainha 2015 deaths Portuguese footballers Association football midfielders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Associação Académica de Coimbra – O.A.F. players S.C. Pombal players Anadia F.C. players Boavista F.C. players Serbian SuperLiga players Red Star Belgrade footballers Portuguese expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Serbia Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Serbia Portugal B international footballers Sportspeople from Leiria District