João Pereira (footballer, born 1990)
João Duarte Vieira Pereira (born 10 May 1990) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a central defender. Club careerBorn in Cartaxo, Santarém District, Pereira started playing football in 2001 at Sport Lisboa e Cartaxo, a subsidiary club of S.L. Benfica. 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 in Seixal, but also in the pre-season tour of Nyon.[2][3] Upon arriving in Switzerland, he was loaned to C.D. Fátima for one year,[4] making his professional debut on 20 September by playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–2 home loss against S.C. Beira-Mar.[5] He appeared in 24 games and scored once in each of his two seasons in the Segunda Liga,[6] 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.[7][8] 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.[9] In December, he agreed to a three-and-a-half-year deal with FC Sheriff Tiraspol.[10][11][12] Pereira made his Moldovan National Division debut on 3 March 2012, playing as left back and providing an assist in a 2–0 away win over FC Costuleni,[12] going on to contribute to the club's eleventh league title.[13] He moved teams in countries again in January 2013, joining FC Nordsjælland from Denmark,[14][15] after winning another league medal with Sheriff.[16] In late August 2013, after failing to receive any playing time, Pereira signed a six-month contract with Danish second tier club Vejle BK.[17] He extended his link in November for another six months,[18] and again in April 2014 for another year.[19] Pereira moved to SønderjyskE Fodbold in June 2015.[20] In January of the following year, website Bold announced that fellow Danish Superliga side Odense Boldklub had signed him for the 2016–17 campaign.[21] International careerPereira earned 49 caps for Portugal across all youth levels. He played seven times for the under–16 team, helping them win the Santarém Tournament in February 2006[22] and finish seventh in the Montaigu Tournament in April.[23] Later in the year, he participated in the Nike Tournament with the under–17s,[24] also competing in the Algarve International Tournament in February 2007.[25] Pereira represented the under-19 team during the Ireland Tournament in August 2008,[26] the La Manga Tournament in February 2009[27] and the Porto Tournament in April.[28] Additionally, he played in the two qualifying rounds for the 2009 UEFA European Under-19 Championship, but the nation did not qualify.[29] On 9 February 2011, Pereira first appeared with the under-21 side, starting in a 3–1 friendly victory over Sweden in his hometown.[30] His only international goal arrived on 1 September of that year during a 2–0 away defeat of Moldova for the 2013 European Championship qualifiers,[31] in which Portugal finished in second thus failing to progress to the finals.[32] Career statistics
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