Luís Carlos Lourenço da Silva (born 5 June 1983), known as Lourenço, is a 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 as a forward.

Club career

Sporting CP

Lourenço was born in

Luanda Luanda () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major Angola#Economy, industrial, Angola#Culture, cultural and Angola#Demographics, urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atl ...

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

. A

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 ...

youth graduate, he made his professional debut in England, serving two brief loan spells first at

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

then

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic be ...

, both in the Football League One. Additionally, he played and scored regularly for Sporting's reserves. Lourenço made three appearances and scored once for Sporting in the

2003–04 UEFA Cup The 2003–04 UEFA Cup was won by Valencia in the final against Marseille. It wrapped up a league and UEFA Cup double for Valencia. Porto could not defend their title as they automatically qualified for the 2003–04 UEFA Champions League and a ...

, making his Primeira Liga debut on 16 August 2003 in a 2–1 away win against Académica de Coimbra and scoring in the game (he found the net in the season's first three official matches). However, he gradually lost his importance in the squad, and spent the next years on loan to several clubs in the country.

Later years

Lourenço was released by Sporting in the summer of 2006, signing for

Vitória de Setúbal 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 * Steven Vitória ...

. In the following 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 wi ...

he moved countries again, joining

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

side Panionios FC, initially on loan. After signing permanently for two years he hardly received any playing time, being released on 1 July 2009. After a short and unassuming spell back in Portugal, Lourenço moved abroad again, signing in January 2011 with

UD Alzira Unión Deportiva Alzira is a Spanish football team based in Alzira, in the autonomous community of Valencia. Founded in 1946 it plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 2, holding home games at '' Estadio Luis Suñer Picó'', with a capacity of ...

in the Spanish Segunda División B. He reunited at the club with former Sporting teammate Beto, and both were released in June after the team's

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

, having appeared in a combined total of three games.

International career

Lourenço was picked for the Portuguese under-21 squads at two

UEFA European Championships The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is contes ...

, 2004 and 2006. Additionally, he represented the nation at the 2004 Summer Olympics and the 2005 Vale do Tejo International Tournament (

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 ...

). Lourenço eventually switched allegiance to

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

, earning his only

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 10 August 2011 by coming on as an 85th-minute substitute for

Manucho Mateus Alberto Contreiras Gonçalves (born 7 March 1983), commonly known as Manucho, is an Angolan former professional footballer who played as a striker. Manucho moved from Petro Atletico to Manchester United in January 2008. Before playing ...

in a 0–0 friendly in Liberia.

Honours

Sporting CP *

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 sea ...

: 2001–02

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lourenco, Luis 1983 births Living people Portuguese sportspeople of Angolan descent Portuguese men's footballers Angolan men's footballers Footballers from Luanda Men's association football forwards Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players Sporting CP B players Sporting CP footballers C.F. Os Belenenses players U.D. Leiria players Vitória F.C. players Moreirense F.C. players S.C. Farense players C.D. Pinhalnovense players Atlético Clube de Portugal players English Football League players Bristol City F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Super League Greece players Football League (Greece) players Panionios F.C. players A.O. Kerkyra players Segunda División B players UD Alzira footballers Liga I players CSM Corona Brașov (football) players Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portugal men's B international footballers Angola men's international footballers Olympic footballers for Portugal Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Angolan expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in England Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Greece Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Romania Angolan expatriate sportspeople in Romania Portuguese football managers Angolan football managers C.D. Fátima managers