João Duarte Vieira Pereira (born 10 May 1990) 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 lea ...

who plays 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 ...

Club career

Born in

Cartaxo Cartaxo () is a concelho, municipality in the district of Santarém (district), Santarém in continental Portugal. The population in 2011 was 24,462, in an area of 158.17 km2. The urbanized centre of Cartaxo had a population of 9,507 in 2001. ...

Santarém District The District of Santarém ( ) is a district of Portugal, located in Portugal's West and Tagus Valley region. The district capital is the city of Santarém. The district is the 3rd largest in Portugal, with an area of , and a population of 475 ...

, Pereira started playing football in 2001 at Sport Lisboa e Cartaxo, a subsidiary club of

S.L. Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. Founded on 28 February 1904, as ''Sport Lisboa'', Benfica is one of the " ...

. He represented the former for three years, until he was called up by the latter to finish his development. After signing a professional contract, Pereira trained with the first team at

Benfica Campus Benfica Campus (formerly Caixa Futebol Campus), also known as , is the training ground and youth academy of Portuguese football club Benfica. Having nine pitches (three of synthetic turf), including the main one with 2,644 seats – Benfica ...

Seixal Seixal () is a Portugal, Portuguese city and municipality, located in the district of Setúbal District, Setúbal, in the metropolitan area of Lisbon region, Lisbon. Its population includes 184,269 inhabitants (2011), in an area of that includes ...

, but also in the pre-season tour of

Nyon Nyon (; historically German language, German: or and Italian language, Italian: , ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in Nyon District in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is located some 25 kilometer ...

. Upon arriving in Switzerland, he was loaned to C.D. Fátima for one year, making his professional debut on 20 September by playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–2 home loss against S.C. Beira-Mar. He appeared in 24 games and scored once in each of his two seasons in the Segunda Liga, helping to a best-ever eighth place in 2009–10. In June 2011, Pereira opted to terminate his contract with Benfica and sign a two-year deal with Beira-Mar. He would never appear for the team in a competitive game, being loaned the following month to C.D. Trofense also from the second division. In December, he agreed to a three-and-a-half-year deal with

FC Sheriff Tiraspol Fotbal Club Sheriff Tiraspol (), commonly known as Sheriff Tiraspol or simply Sheriff, is a professional football club based in Tiraspol, a city located in the unrecognised breakaway state of Transnistria, that plays in the Liga, the top tier ...

. Pereira made his

Moldovan National Division The Moldovan Liga, officially known as Liga 7777.md for sponsorship reasons, is an association football league that is the top division of Football in Moldova, Moldovan football league system. The competition was established in 1992, when Moldov ...

debut on 3 March 2012, playing as

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

and providing an assist in a 2–0 away win over FC Costuleni, going on to contribute to the club's eleventh league title. He moved teams in countries again in January 2013, joining

FC Nordsjælland Football Club Nordsjælland, commonly known as FC Nordsjælland, Nordsjælland () or FCN, is a professional Danish association football, football team from the North Zealand town of Farum. Founded as ''Farum Boldklub'' from the merger of the to ...

from

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, after winning another league medal with Sheriff. In late August 2013, after failing to receive any playing time, Pereira signed a six-month contract with Danish second tier club

Vejle BK Vejle Boldklub is a Danish professional football club based in Vejle in Jutland. Formed in 1891, the club is one of the most successful clubs in Danish football history, having won the Danish championship five times and the Danish cup title six ...

. He extended his link in November for another six months, and again in April 2014 for another year. Pereira moved to

SønderjyskE Fodbold SønderjyskE is a Danish sport corporation. They have a football team ( SønderjyskE Fodbold, based in Haderslev), two handball teams (SønderjyskE Håndbold, one male based in Sønderborg, one female based in Aabenraa) and an ice hockey team ( ...

in June 2015. In January of the following year, website ''Bold'' announced that fellow

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga (, ) is a professional association football league in Denmark and the highest level of the Danish football league system. The league is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams relegated. It is the current ...

side

Odense Boldklub Odense Boldklub (; also known as Odense BK or the more commonly used OB) is a Danish professional football club based in the city of Odense, in southern Denmark. The club has won three Danish championships and five Danish Cup trophies. OB play ...

had signed him for the 2016–17 campaign.

International career

Pereira earned 49

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

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 ...

across all youth levels. He played seven times for the under–16 team, helping them win the Santarém Tournament in February 2006 and finish seventh in the Montaigu Tournament in April. Later in the year, he participated in the Nike Tournament with the under–17s, also competing in the Algarve International Tournament in February 2007. Pereira represented the under-19 team during the Ireland Tournament in August 2008, the La Manga Tournament in February 2009 and the Porto Tournament in April. Additionally, he played in the two qualifying rounds for the

2009 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship 2009 Final Tournament was held in Ukraine in the cities of Donetsk and Mariupol. Players born after 1 January 1990 were eligible to participate in this competition. Qualification Qualification for the final ...

, but the nation did not qualify. On 9 February 2011, Pereira first appeared with the under-21 side, starting in a 3–1 friendly victory over

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

in his hometown. His only international goal arrived on 1 September of that year during a 2–0 away defeat of

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

for the 2013 European Championship qualifiers, in which Portugal finished in second thus failing to progress to the finals.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pereira, Joao 1990 births Living people People from Cartaxo Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Santarém District Men's association football central defenders Liga Portugal 2 players Campeonato de Portugal (league) players Liga 3 (Portugal) players S.L. Benfica footballers C.D. Fátima players S.C. Beira-Mar players C.D. Trofense players S.C.U. Torreense players Moldovan Super Liga players FC Sheriff Tiraspol players Danish Superliga players Danish 1st Division players FC Nordsjælland players Vejle Boldklub players Sønderjyske Fodbold players Odense Boldklub players Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Moldova Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Moldova Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Denmark 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen