Nélson Ricardo Cerqueira Rodrigues Lenho (born 22 March 1984) 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

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 ...

. He played 84 matches in the

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 ...

over five seasons, representing

Leixões The Port of Leixões (, ) is one of Portugal's major seaports, located 4 km north of the mouth of the Douro River, in Matosinhos municipality, near the city of Porto. Leixões Sport Club, commonly known simply as ''Leixões'', is Matosinh ...

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 ...

, Chaves 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 ...

in the competition. He added 223 games and four goals in the

LigaPro The Liga Portugal 2 (), also known as Liga Portugal Meu Super for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division of the Portuguese football league system. At the end of each season, the two top-finishing teams are promoted to the top-tier ...

Club career

Born in

Viana do Castelo Viana do Castelo () is a concelho, municipality and seat of the district of Viana do Castelo District, Viana do Castelo in the Norte Region, Portugal, Norte Region of Portugal. The population in 2021 was 85,778, in an area of . The urbanized are ...

, Lenho started his 14-year professional career in the third division, spending one season apiece with G.D.R.C. Os Sandinenses and S.C. Freamunde and helping the latter club to promote to the Segunda Liga in 2006–07. In 2009 he signed with

Leixões S.C. Leixões Sport Club (), commonly known as Leixões, is a Portuguese sports club from Matosinhos. It is organised into several departments for many sports, such as athletics, boxing, football, futsal, handball, karate, swimming, volleyball, wat ...

of the

, making his debut in the competition on 25 October in a 1–0 away loss against Vitória de Setúbal and appearing in just six more matches until the end of the season, which ended in relegation as last. Lenho returned to the second tier subsequently, where he represented C.D. Santa Clara,

C.F. Os Belenenses Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses (), commonly known as Os Belenenses or simply Belenenses, is a Portuguese sports club best known for its football team. Founded in 1919, it is one of the oldest Portuguese sports clubs. It is based in the 19,856 ...

and G.D. Chaves. He joined top-flight side F.C. Penafiel ahead of 2014–15, being again scarcely used in another ill-fated campaign. In 2015–16, Lenho was an undisputed starter for Chaves who returned to the top division after a lengthy absence, scoring his only goal on 30 September 2015 in the 1–1 home draw with S.L. Benfica B. The

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

was as important the following season as they easily avoided relegation after a tenth-place finish, being the league's only player to play every minute. On 3 July 2017, Lenho joined C.D. Aves on a three-year contract. He appeared in 27 games in all competitions in his

first year A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

, including the final of 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 ...

against

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

as the club won its first-ever major trophy. Lenho retired in May 2019 at the age of 35, following a short spell with

Académico de Viseu F.C. Académico de Viseu Futebol Clube, commonly known as Académico de Viseu, is a Portuguese professional association football, football club based in Viseu. Founded in 1914 as ''Clube Académico de Futebol'', the club went through several changes ...

of division two. Shortly after, he returned to Chaves as

sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an 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 types of sports. The ...

Honours

Freamunde *

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 pyrami ...

: 2006–07 Belenenses * Segunda Liga: 2012–13 Aves *

: 2017–18

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lenho, Nelson 1984 births Living people 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Viana do Castelo Men's association football fullbacks Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players SC Vianense players Vitória S.C. players G.D.R.C. Os Sandinenses players S.C. Freamunde players Leixões S.C. players C.D. Santa Clara players C.F. Os Belenenses players G.D. Chaves players F.C. Penafiel players C.D. Aves players Académico de Viseu F.C. players