Marco Paulo da Silva Soares (born 16 June 1984) is a 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 plays for Portuguese club Florgrade FC 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 boundari ...

. He spent most of his career in Portugal and Cyprus, making 60 Primeira Liga appearances for

União de Leiria União Desportiva de Leiria, commonly known as União de Leiria (), is a Portuguese football club based in Leiria, central Portugal. Founded on 6 June 1966, it currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, holding home matches at Estádio Dr. ...

, Feirense and Arouca in the former and representing Omonia and

AEL Limassol Athlitiki Enosi Lemesou ( el, Αθλητική Ένωση Λεμεσού, translation=Athletic Union of Limassol) commonly known as AEL, is a Cypriot sports club based in the city of Limassol, most famous for its football team. AEL also maintai ...

in the latter's First Division. Soares earned 52

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for Cape Verde from 2006, playing at the

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

and

2021 Africa Cup of Nations The 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (also referred to as AFCON 2021 or CAN 2021), known as the TotalEnergies 2021 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's foo ...

Club career

Born in

Setúbal Setúbal (, , ; cel-x-proto, Caetobrix) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population in 2014 was 118,166, occupying an area of . The city itself had 89,303 inhabitants in 2001. It lies within the Lisbon metropolitan area. In the ti ...

, Portugal, Soares started playing professionally with F.C. Barreirense, competing two seasons in the third division and one in

the second ''The Second'' is the second studio album by Canadian-American rock band Steppenwolf, released in October 1968 on ABC Dunhill Records. The album contains one of Steppenwolf's most famous songs, " Magic Carpet Ride". The background of the orig ...

. In 2006 he signed for

U.D. Leiria União Desportiva de Leiria, commonly known as União de Leiria (), is a Portuguese football club based in Leiria, central Portugal. Founded on 6 June 1966, it currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, holding home matches at Estádio Dr. ...

, but only totalled two Primeira Liga appearances in his first two years, also serving two loans in the process, one of them in Romania with

CS Pandurii Târgu Jiu Clubul Sportiv Pandurii Lignitul Târgu Jiu (), commonly known as Pandurii Târgu Jiu or simply Pandurii, was a Romanian football club based in Târgu Jiu, Gorj County, which competed last time in the Liga IV. Founded in 1962 following the merg ...

. Soares returned to Leiria for the 2008–09 campaign, helping União be promoted to the top flight after a one-year absence. Eventually, he would also become

club captain The team captain of an association football team, sometimes known as the skipper, is a team member chosen to be the on-pitch leader of the team; they are often one of the older or more experienced members of the squad, or a player that can heavi ...

. On 31 October 2010, during a 1–2 home loss against

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 ...

– where he had played youth football – Soares fractured his left

leg A leg is a weight-bearing and locomotive anatomical structure, usually having a columnar shape. During locomotion, legs function as "extensible struts". The combination of movements at all joints can be modeled as a single, linear element ca ...

while attempting a shot, being sidelined for four months. After returning, he contributed 14 matches in 2011–12 as his team suffered relegation. After a spell with

AC Omonia Athletic Club Omonia Nicosia ( el, Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Oμόνοιας Λευκωσίας, ΑΣΟΛ; ''Athlitikos Sillogos Omonias Lefkosias'', ''ASOL''), commonly known as Omonia Nicosia, or simply Omonia ("Harmony"; also tran ...

in Cyprus, where he won the Super Cup in 2012, Soares signed a two-year deal with C.D. Primeiro de Agosto of the Angolan

Girabola Girabola, or ''Campeonato Nacional de Futebol em Séniores Masculinos'', is the top division of Angolan football. It is organized by the Angolan Football Federation. The league winner and runner-up qualify for the CAF Champions League. Gira ...

in November 2013. The team was managed by Daúto Faquirá, who had given him his debut at Barreirense. In July 2015, Soares returned to the Eastern Mediterranean island to join

. As before, he won the Super Cup in his first summer at the club, this time beating

APOEL FC APOEL FC ( el, ΑΠΟΕΛ; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', literally "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") ...

in a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

. Soares came back to Portugal after six years away in July 2018, signing a two-year contract for C.D. Feirense. In September the following year, after relegation from the top flight, he rescinded his link and moved to F.C. Arouca in the third tier. The 35-year-old extended his contract in May 2020, when a

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

-ended

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resulted in promotion.

International career

Soares opted to represent Cape Verde internationally. He made his debut on 27 May 2006 in a friendly against

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 ...

, playing the last five minutes of a 4–1 loss as a substitute for Emerson da Luz. On 2 June 2007, he scored his first goal in a 2–2 home draw with

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

in 2008 Africa Cup of Nations

qualification Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

. He was a member of the squad in the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

qualification campaign, scoring to conclude a 3–1 win over

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

also in Praia. On 24 May 2010, Soares appeared in a friendly in

Covilhã Covilhã () is a city and a municipality in the Centro region, Portugal. The city proper had 34,772 inhabitants in 2001. The municipality population in 2011 was 51,797, in an area of . It is located in the Beiras e Serra da Estrela subregion and ...

against the country of his birth, who were preparing for the World Cup in South Africa, playing the entire match as the minnows (ranked 117th) managed a 0–0 draw. He was part of Cape Verde's first major tournament squad at the

2013 Africa Cup of Nations The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations South Africa 2013 for sponsorship reasons, held from 19 January to 10 February 2013, was the 29th Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized ...

, where the Blue Sharks reached the quarter-finals, but was overlooked for the 2015 edition.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Cape Verde's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Soares goal.''

Honours

Barreirense *

Segunda Divisão The Segunda Divisão Portuguesa (English: ''Portuguese Second Division'') was a football league situated at the third level of the Portuguese football league system. The division had previously been the second level of the Portuguese pyramid but, w ...

: 2004–05 Omonia *

Cypriot Super Cup The Cypriot Super Cup is a Cypriot football trophy, contested in an annual match between the previous season's Cypriot First Division champions, and the Cypriot Cup winners. The match is contested at the beginning of the football season, and is u ...

: 2012 AEL Limassol *Cypriot Super Cup: 2015

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Soares, Marco 1984 births Living people Portuguese sportspeople of Cape Verdean descent Sportspeople from Setúbal Black Portuguese sportspeople Portuguese footballers Cape Verdean footballers Association football midfielders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players F.C. Barreirense players S.C. Olhanense players U.D. Leiria players C.D. Feirense players F.C. Arouca players Liga I players CS Pandurii Târgu Jiu players Cypriot First Division players AC Omonia players AEL Limassol players Girabola players C.D. Primeiro de Agosto players Cape Verde international footballers 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players 2021 Africa Cup of Nations players Portuguese expatriate footballers Cape Verdean expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Romania Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Expatriate footballers in Angola Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Romania Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Angola Cape Verdean expatriate sportspeople in Romania Cape Verdean expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Cape Verdean expatriate sportspeople in Angola