Hélder Marino Rodrigues Cristóvão (born 21 March 1971), known simply as Hélder as a player, 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 lea ...

who played as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

, currently

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Penafiel Penafiel ( or ) is a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality and former bishopric (now a Latin Catholic titular see) in the Norte Region, Portugal, northern Portugal, Portuguese Porto District, district of Porto. Capital of the Tâmega Subregion ...

. He amassed

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

totals of 197 matches and 16 goals over eight seasons, mostly with Benfica. He also competed professionally in Spain, England, France and Greece, representing mainly Deportivo. Hélder appeared for

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

Euro 1996 The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in England from 8 to 30 ...

. In 2009, he started working as a manager, going on to spend several years with Benfica's reserves.

Playing career

Club

Born in

Luanda Luanda ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Angola, largest city of Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Ang ...

Portuguese Angola In southwestern Africa, Portuguese Angola was a historical Evolution of the Portuguese Empire, colony of the Portuguese Empire (1575–1951), the overseas province Portuguese West Africa of Estado Novo (Portugal), Estado Novo Portugal (1951–1 ...

, Hélder first attracted attention as a

Estoril Estoril () is a town in the civil parish of Cascais e Estoril of the Portuguese Municipality of Cascais, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a popular tourist destination, with hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numero ...

player, moving to Benfica for the 1992–93 season where he would stay the following four and a half years, mainly as a starter. In December 1996, he signed for

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña () or simply Depor, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, that competes in the Segunda División, the ...

, playing 22

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

matches in only six months as the club finished in third position. In November 1999, Hélder joined

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

of the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

on loan for a fee of £500,000, making 12 official appearances and scoring in a 2–2 away draw against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

in the

Tyne–Wear derby The Tyne–Wear derby, also known as the Wear–Tyne derby or the North East derby, is a local derby between the association football clubs Sunderland and Newcastle United. The derby is an inter-city rivalry in North East England with the two ci ...

the following 6 February. In that season, the Spaniards went on to conquer their first league title, with the player failing to contribute in that competition; he subsequently returned to ''Depor'', appearing very rarely in his last year, which ended in

conquest Conquest involves the annexation or control of another entity's territory through war or Coercion (international relations), coercion. Historically, conquests occurred frequently in the international system, and there were limited normative or ...

of the

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

. For the 2002–03 campaign, aged 31, Hélder returned to Benfica, playing there two more years (winning the

Taça de Portugal The Taça de 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 Generali Tranquilidade since the 2024–25 seaso ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

) and joining

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

the following season, where he teamed up with compatriot

Pauleta Pedro Miguel Carreiro Resendes (born 28 April 1973), known as Pauleta (), is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a striker. During 18 years as a senior he never played in the Primeira Liga, having spent 12 of those cam ...

. He spent his last year at AEL in 2005–06, appearing rarely in the

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

and retiring subsequently.

International

Hélder earned 35

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 Java ...

for the Portugal national team, scoring three goals. His first was on 12 February 1992 in a 2–0 win over the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in an

exhibition game An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the playe ...

, and his last a 4–0 loss to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in Paris on 25 April 2001, in another friendly. Hélder represented the nation at

UEFA Euro 1996 The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in ...

, appearing in all four matches for the quarter-finalists as he started alongside

Fernando Couto Fernando Manuel Silva Couto (; born 2 August 1969) is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a centre back. During a 21-year professional career, he played in a number of top clubs in Portugal, Spain and Italy (12 seasons ...

Coaching career

Cristóvão began working as a manager in the summer of 2009, precisely with his first club Estoril (in the Segunda Liga). On 28 September, merely two months after being appointed, he was fired. On 3 July 2013, Cristóvão returned to Benfica as manager of the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

, replacing

Luís Norton de Matos Luís Maria Cabral Norton de Matos (born 14 December 1953) is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a forward, and a manager. He amassed Primeira Liga totals of 211 matches and 36 goals over nine seasons, representing in the competition ...

. In the 2014–15 season, he led them to their second best position in the second tier, a sixth place (fifth in 2013–14), as the highest scoring team with 81 goals. Benfica B only managed to stave off relegation in the 2015–16 campaign in the last matchday, defeating

Freamunde Freamunde is a Portuguese parish in the municipality of Paços de Ferreira. The population in 2011 was 7,789,Mafra Mafra is a Czech media group that publishes printed and internet media, headquartered in Prague, Czech Republic. From 2013 to 2023, it was a subsidiary of Agrofert holding conglomerate owned by trust of Andrej Babiš, the former Prime Ministe ...

and

Aves Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight ...

. Cristóvão's team collected more losses (21) than wins (15), conceding 64 times whilst scoring 59; additionally, on 15 March 2016, he was suspended for 30 days after being

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

against

Covilhã Covilhã (), officially Covilhã City (), is a city and a concelho, municipality in the Centro, Portugal, Centro region, Portugal. The city proper had 33,691 inhabitants in 2021. The municipality population in 2021 was 46,455 in an area of . It is ...

, which ended with a 2–2 home draw. On 5 April 2018, Cristóvão announced he would leave Benfica at the end of the season. In August that year, he was hired as

director of football A sporting director, or director of sport, is an senior management, executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many typ ...

and academy director at

Al Nassr Al-Nassr Football Club () is a professional football club based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The club competes in the Saudi Pro League, the top tier of the Saudi football league system. Al-Nassr is one of only three clubs to have participated ...

in the

Saudi Professional League The Saudi Pro League (SPL), also known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Saudi Arabia and the highest level of the Saudi football league system. The SPL is regarded as th ...

. He became

caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a caret ...

in November after the exit of José Daniel Carreño, and relinquished that role when compatriot

Rui Vitória Rui Carlos Pinho da Vitória (; born 16 April 1970) is a Portuguese football manager and a former player who played as a midfielder. He is currently the manager of Super League Greece club Panathinaikos. As a manager, he most notably spent th ...

was appointed the following January. Three months later, he was given a new job in the same league at

Al-Ettifaq Al-Ettifaq Club (), commonly known as Al-Ettifaq or simply Ettifaq, is a professional football club in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, which competes in the Saudi Pro League. The club was established by the merger of three Dammam-based clubs in 1945. Al- ...

who had two games remaining to avoid relegation, which was finally achieved. Cristóvão was named manager of

Dunajská Streda Dunajská Streda (; ; ) is a town located in southern Slovakia ( Trnavský kraj). Dunajská Streda is the most culturally significant town in the Žitný ostrov area. The town has a population of 22,730, with ethnic Hungarians forming the 72% maj ...

on 6 January 2020, taking charge of the third-placed team of the

Slovak Super Liga The Slovak First Football League (), officially known as Niké liga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Slovakia and the highest level of the Football in Slovakia, Slovak football league system. It was formed ...

on a deal until 31 May. On 15 May, however, the club decided not to renew his contract. On 7 June 2021, Cristóvão was appointed at newly promoted Al-Hazem in the Saudi top division. He was removed from the bottom-placed side on 27 November and replaced by

Constantin Gâlcă Constantin "Costel" Gâlcă (born 8 March 1972) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, who is currently in charge of Liga I club Rapid București. Equally at ease as a defensive or central midfielder and possessing an a ...

. Cristóvão was hired by

Ismaily Ismaily Sporting Club () is an Egyptian football club, established on 20 March 1921 as El Nahda Sporting Club () ( Egyptian pronunciation: Nady El Nahda), based in Ismaïlia, Egypt. The club is best known for its football team. Also it's consi ...

, placed last in the

Egyptian Premier League The Egyptian Premier League (), also known as the Nile League () for sponsorship reasons, after the addition of title sponsor Nile Developments, is a professional association football league in Egypt and the highest level of the Egyptian football ...

, on 13 September 2022. His contract was terminated hours later, allegedly due to misinformation presented on his

curriculum vitae In English, a curriculum vitae (,

by his

agent Agent may refer to: Espionage, investigation, and law *, spies or intelligence officers * Law of agency, laws involving a person authorized to act on behalf of another ** Agent of record, a person with a contractual agreement with an insuran ...

. On 30 January 2023, Hélder returned to his country's second tier, replacing

Filó Filipe André Paula da Rocha (born 19 May 1972), known as Filó, is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a centre-back, and a current manager. He played mostly for Espinho, while also representing Paços de Ferreira in the Primeira Li ...

at 12th-placed

. Having finished the season in the same position, he signed for another year.

Personal life

Cristóvão's son, Flávio, also became a professional footballer in the same position.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Benfica *

: 1993–94 *

: 1992–93, 1995–96, 2003–04 Deportivo *

: 2001–02 *

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España, also known as the Spanish Super Cup, is a super cup tournament in Football in Spain, Spanish football. Founded in 1982 Supercopa de España, 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2 ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

References

External links

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Helder 1971 births Living people Portuguese sportspeople of Angolan descent 20th-century Portuguese sportsmen Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Luanda Men's association football central defenders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players G.D. Estoril Praia players S.L. Benfica footballers La Liga players Deportivo de La Coruña players Premier League players Newcastle United F.C. players Ligue 1 players Paris Saint-Germain FC players Super League Greece players Athlitiki Enosi Larissa F.C. players Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portugal men's international footballers UEFA Euro 1996 players Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in England Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in France Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Greece Portuguese football managers Liga Portugal 2 managers G.D. Estoril Praia managers S.L. Benfica B managers F.C. Penafiel managers Saudi Pro League managers Al-Nassr FC managers Al-Ettifaq FC managers Al-Hazem F.C. managers Slovak First Football League managers FC DAC 1904 Dunajská Streda managers Portuguese expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate football managers in Slovakia Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Slovakia