Hugo Miguel Almeida Costa Lopes (born 19 December 1986) 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 le ...

who plays 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 ...

for Estrela Amadora. During his career, he played for each of the Big Three of Portuguese football – Benfica,

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 ...

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 ...

– as well as spending time on loan in Spain and France. He competed five years in the Turkish

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 ...

with

Akhisarspor Akhisarspor Kulübü (Akhisar Sports Club), commonly known as Akhisarspor, is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Akhisar.

and

Kayserispor Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the Kadir Has Stadium in red and yellow kits. The team has won one Turkish Cup in 2008 and also fini ...

. Lopes 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 ...

Club career

Early career

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 ...

, Lopes started his professional career with

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 ...

B team B, or b, is the second letter of the Latin-script alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' bee'' (pronounced ), plural ''bees''. It r ...

. The following summer, he moved to the lower leagues with

CD Operário Clube Operário Desportivo ''(known as CD Operário, Operário dos Açores or just Operário),'' is a Portuguese football club based in Lagoa in the island of São Miguel in the Azores. Background CD Operário currently plays in the Segunda Di ...

. After some solid displays, Lopes signed in the 2007–08 season with Segunda Liga's

Rio Ave FC Rio Ave Futebol Clube, commonly known as Rio Ave (), is a Portuguese professional football club based in Vila do Conde, that competes in the Primeira Liga. The club is named after the Ave River, which flows through the town and into the Atlant ...

. In his first year, he was an habitual starter as the

Vila do Conde Vila do Conde (, ; "the Count's Town") is a municipality in the Norte Region of Portugal. The population in 2011 was 79,533, in an area of 149.03 km². The urbanized area of Vila do Conde, which includes the parishes of Vila do Conde, Azurar ...

side returned to the

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, ...

after two years. In 2008–09, Lopes helped Rio Ave to home draws against Benfica and

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 ...

, and was again featured regularly, thus prompting interest from bigger clubs.

Porto

On 23 January 2009, Lopes agreed to a four-year deal with Porto which was made effective on 1 July. In his debut season, having to compete with Uruguayan

Jorge Fucile Jorge Ciro Fucile Perdomo (; born 19 November 1984) is a Uruguayan former professional footballer. A defender, he was equally at ease on the right or left flank. After starting out at Liverpool Montevideo he moved to Porto in Portugal, going ...

for a starting berth, he appeared sparingly in the league but did manage to play 19 official matches, 14 as a starter. In late August 2010, deemed surplus to requirements by new Porto manager

André Villas-Boas Luís André de Pina Cabral e Villas-Boas (; born 17 October 1977) is a Portuguese football manager, who most recently was the manager of Ligue 1 club Marseille. He is one of a growing number of top-level managers who have never played football ...

as practically all Portuguese players, Lopes moved to Spanish side

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

on a one-year loan deal. He passed his medical and was unveiled on 2 September, eventually appearing in exactly half of the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

games during the campaign as the

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

ns returned to

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

as champions after three years. Lopes spent the first part of 2011–12 unregistered by Porto. In the January

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 ...

he was loaned to fellow league club

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 ...

, going on to start in seven of his league appearances as it finished third and qualified to the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

for the second time in its history. Lopes returned to Porto for the 2012–13 season. On 29 September he scored through a rare header, opening the score in an eventual 2–2 draw at former team Rio Ave.

Sporting CP

In January 2013, Lopes joined fellow Big Three side

on a five-and-a-half-year contract, with

Marat Izmailov Marat Nailevich Izmailov (russian: Марат Наилевич Измайлов, tt-Cyrl, Марат Наил улы Измайлов; born 21 September 1982) is a Russian former professional footballer. Mainly a right midfielder, he could als ...

moving in the opposite direction. On 7 July, he agreed to a one-year loan deal at

Olympique Lyonnais Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a men and women's French professional football club based in Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The men play in France's highest football division, Ligue 1. Founded in 1950, th ...

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

. On 31 May 2015, Lopes was featured in

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

of the

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 ...

against Braga, coming on as a substitute after the first-half dismissal of

Cédric Soares Cédric Ricardo Alves Soares (born 31 August 1991), known simply as Cédric (), is a Portuguese professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football)#Full-back, right back for club Fulham F.C., Fulham, on ...

. Although he was beaten by

Rafa Silva Rafa is a masculine given name, mostly as a diminutive form (hypocorism) of Rafael. It may refer to: People * Rafael Nadal (born 1986), Spanish tennis player * Rafa (footballer, born 1985), Spanish footballer Rafael López Gómez * Rafael Ben� ...

who put the opposition 2–0 up, his side eventually won 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 pen ...

. Lopes returned to Spain on 6 August 2015, joining

Granada CF Granada Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. (), known simply as Granada, is a Spanish football club based in the city of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, that plays in the Segunda División, after being relegated from La Liga in the 2021� ...

on a one-year loan deal.

Turkey

The following season, still owned by Sporting, Lopes signed with

Akhisarspor Akhisarspor Kulübü (Akhisar Sports Club), commonly known as Akhisarspor, is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Akhisar.

in the

. Subsequently, the move was made permanent. On 10 May 2018, Lopes helped the club win their first professional trophy, the

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 ...

. In

, he scored once in the 3–2 win over Fenerbahçe SK. Lopes joined

of the same league in July 2019, on a two-year contract. When he returned home for injury treatment the following March, he was unable to get back into Turkey due to

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 COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

restrictions, and his place was taken by Bosnian new signing Zoran Kvržić.

Later career

Lopes returned to Portugal in December 2021 after six years away, with the 35-year-old signing with C.F. Estrela da Amadora who had just been promoted to the second tier.

International career

Due to his ability to play as both a right and a left back, Lopes was selected by

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 ...

for his

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 ...

squad. He earned his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

on 2 June in a 1–3 friendly loss against

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

in Lisbon, being an unused member in the finals in Poland and Ukraine.

Personal life

Lopes' twin brother, Nuno, was also a footballer and a right-back. Both came through exactly the same youth system setup, with the exception of Benfica.

Career statistics

Honours

Porto *

: 2012–13 *

: 2009–10 *

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 ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

Betis *

: 2010–11 Sporting CP *Taça de Portugal: 2014–15 Akhisarspor *

: 2017–18 *

Turkish Super Cup The Turkish Super Cup ( Turkish: ''TFF Süper Kupa''), as it is currently known, is the annual super cup football match contested between the previous season's Süper Lig champions and the Turkish Cup winners in Turkey. It was originally known a ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopes, Miguel 1986 births Living people Portuguese twins Twin sportspeople Portuguese footballers Footballers from Lisbon Association football defenders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players S.L. Benfica B players CD Operário players Rio Ave F.C. players FC Porto players S.C. Braga players Sporting CP footballers Sporting CP B players C.F. Estrela da Amadora players La Liga players Segunda División players Real Betis players Granada CF footballers Ligue 1 players Olympique Lyonnais players Süper Lig players Akhisarspor footballers Kayserispor footballers Portugal youth international footballers Portugal under-21 international footballers Portugal international footballers UEFA Euro 2012 players Portuguese expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Turkey Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in France Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Turkey