João Pedro da Silva Pereira (born 25 February 1984) 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 mainly as a

right-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 ...

. An attacking wingback, he was also known for his fiery temperament that led to altercations with adversary players and

referees A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...

numerous times. In his country, he represented both Benfica and

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 ...

, 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 232 matches and nine goals and winning the 2005 national championship with the former. He also spent two and a half seasons in Spain with

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

and four in Turkey with

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Trabzon. Formed in 1967 through a merger of several local clubs, the men's football team has won seven Süper Lig championships. Trabzonspor also have a women's football team, ...

, winning the 2019–20 Turkish Cup before returning to Sporting in February 2021, where he again won the domestic league. Internationally, Pereira represented

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

and the 2014 World Cup.

Club career

Benfica

Pereira was born 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 ...

. A product of local

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 ...

's youth system, he first appeared with its first team on 17 August 2003 in a 0–0 away draw against

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 ...

, and finished his debut season with 25

appearances, mostly as a

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 ...

. Pereira was part of the Benfica squad that won the 2005 championship, starting often, until a fallout with coach

Ronald Koeman Ronald Koeman (; born 21 March 1963) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player. He is the younger brother of his former international teammate Erwin Koeman and the son of former Dutch international Martin Koeman. Koeman was cap ...

relegated him to the bench and later to the

B side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

. He was sold to

Gil Vicente F.C. Gil Vicente Futebol Clube (), commonly known as Gil Vicente, founded in 1924, is a Portuguese football club that plays in Barcelos. It competes in the Primeira Liga, the top division of football in the country, and it is named after the Portugues ...

– also in the top flight – in the summer of 2006, after a previous loan to the same club.

Braga

In 2007–08, fully reconverted into a right back, Pereira joined

S.C. Braga Sporting Clube de Braga () (), commonly known as Sporting de Braga or just Braga, is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Braga. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese ...

, as another player in the position, Luís Filipe, went the other way. An undisputed starter from the beginning, he scored his first goal for the Minho side on 22 February 2009, a 2–1 last-minute winner at

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 ...

. He also collected a total of 17

yellow cards Yellow card may refer to: * Yellow card (sport), shown in many sports after a rules infraction or, by analogy, a serious warning in other areas * Yellowcard, an American alternative rock band * Yellow Card Scheme, a United Kingdom initiative conce ...

and two

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

in his first two seasons.

Sporting CP

On 22 December 2009, Pereira moved to

for a fee of €3 million; at the time, Braga led the league alongside Benfica with 12 points in advance to his new club, with the ''Lions'' eventually finishing fourth. Pereira again featured regularly for Sporting in the 2010–11 campaign, both as a defender and a midfielder, as his team ranked in third position. On 30 April 2011, he scored in a 2–1 home victory over Portimonense S.C. but was also sent off midway through the second half (after teammate

André Santos André Clarindo dos Santos (born 8 March 1983) is a Brazilian footballer who most recently played for Figueirense. Santos is a left-back, who can also be deployed as a left winger. On 15 June 2009, he made his first international appearance ...

) for repeatedly and severely insulting

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...

Duarte Gomes Duarte Nuno Pereira Gomes (born 16 January 1973) is a Portuguese retired football referee and media personality. He started his career as a referee in 1991 at the district levels, ascending gradually to the first national category in 1997. He be ...

Valencia

On 24 May 2012, Pereira signed with

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol (, ca-valencia, València Club de Futbol ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the Spa ...

in Spain for €3.6 million, penning a 3+1 contract. He made his official debut on 19 August, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–1 away draw against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

. Pereira was a starter in his first two years with the ''Che'' but, after the arrival of manager

Nuno Espírito Santo Nuno Herlander Simões Espírito Santo (born 25 January 1974), often referred to as simply Nuno, is a Portuguese football manager and former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is currently the manager of Saudi Professional League club Al- ...

for 2014–15, was relegated to third-choice right-back.

Hannover

In the January 2015 transfer window, Pereira signed for

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

club Hannover 96 until the end of the season. He made his league debut on 7 February, playing the second half of a 1–2 away loss to

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...

Return to Sporting

On 13 July 2015, Pereira returned to Sporting on a two-year deal with a €45 million buyout clause, as a replacement for

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

-bound

Cédric Soares Cédric Ricardo Alves Soares (born 31 August 1991), known simply as Cédric (), is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a right back for club Fulham, on loan from Arsenal, and the Portugal national team. Cédric's career starte ...

. He made his debut on 9 August, featuring the full 90 minutes as they beat Benfica 1–0 to lift 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 football match played since 1979 between the winners of the Portuguese League (Primeira Liga) and Portuguese ...

at the

Estádio Algarve The Estádio Algarve (Algarve Stadium), also known as ''Estádio Faro/Loulé'' (Faro/Loule Stadium), is an association football stadium located between Faro and Loulé municipalities, in the Algarve region of Portugal. The stadium has a capacit ...

. Thirteen days later he received his third red card for the club – all direct – for conceding a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) A p ...

in a 1–1 home draw against

F.C. Paços de Ferreira Futebol Clube Paços de Ferreira () is a Portuguese football club based in Paços de Ferreira, Porto district. Founded in 1950, the club competes in the Primeira Liga, holding home games at the 9,077-seater Estádio da Mata Real, a municipal s ...

Trabzonspor

In December 2016, Pereira was coveted by

, who were told to pay at least €1.5 million for his signature. Early in the new year, he cancelled his contract that was due to expire in the summer and joined the

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

club. Pereira played four matches in the 2019–20 Turkish Cup, including the entire 2–0 final win over

Alanyaspor Alanyaspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Alanya in Antalya Province. Formed in 1948, the club colours are orange and green. Home matches are played at Kırbıyık Holding Stadium. The most recent club ma ...

. On 25 January 2021, he left the Şenol Güneş Stadium as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

Third Sporting stint

On 1 February 2021, shortly before his 37th birthday, Pereira returned to Sporting on a short-term deal; it was agreed that at its conclusion he would remain at the club as a coach.

International career

Pereira was first called to the Portugal senior team in October 2010, following the appointment of new coach

Paulo Bento Paulo Jorge Gomes Bento (; born 20 June 1969) is a Portuguese football manager and former player. A defensive midfielder with tackling ability and workrate as his main assets, he played for two of the major three teams in his country, amassin ...

. He made his debut in a

UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

qualifier In linguistics, a modifier is an optional element in phrase structure or clause structure which ''modifies'' the meaning of another element in the structure. For instance, the adjective "red" acts as a modifier in the noun phrase "red ball", provi ...

against

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

, and also started in the following match – in the same competition – in

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

, with the national side winning both games 3–1. On 19 May 2014, Pereira was named in the final 23-man squad for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

. In the first game, against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, he committed a

Mario Götze Mario Götze (born 3 June 1992) is a German professional footballer who plays for Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt and the Germany national team. Although his favoured position is that of a playmaker, Götze has also played as a false ni ...

that resulted in the first goal scored by

Thomas Müller Thomas Müller (; born 13 September 1989) is a German professional footballer who plays for club Bayern Munich and the Germany national team. A versatile player, Müller has been deployed in a variety of attacking roles – as an attacking mi ...

, in an eventual 0–4 loss.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Benfica *

: 2004–05 *

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 seaso ...

: 2003–04 *

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

Braga * UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2008 Sporting CP *Primeira Liga:

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

*Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira:

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

Trabzonspor *

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup ( Turkish: ''Türkiye Kupası'') is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası ...

: 2019–20

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pereira, Joao 1984 births Living people Footballers from Lisbon Portuguese footballers Association football defenders Association football midfielders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players S.L. Benfica B players S.L. Benfica footballers Gil Vicente F.C. players S.C. Braga players Sporting CP footballers La Liga players Valencia CF players Bundesliga players Hannover 96 players Süper Lig players Trabzonspor footballers Portugal youth international footballers Portugal under-21 international footballers Portugal B international footballers Portugal international footballers UEFA Euro 2012 players 2014 FIFA World Cup players Portuguese expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Turkey Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Germany Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Turkey