 Miguel Veloso of Sporting Lisbon |
"Planning for next season with Miguel Veloso is one thing. Planning for next season without Miguel Veloso is something completely different"
Paulo Bento, Sporting Lisbon coach
"Veloso is a great player, I believe that he will sign for us in the future"
Ariedo Braida, AC Milan general manager
"It is impossible to ignore good players and Veloso would be hard to ignore"
Carlos Queiroz, former Manchester United assistant manager
Touted as the next big money export set to leave Portugal, Miguel Veloso is a versatile performer who can play as a defensive midfielder, central defender or at left-back.
His strength, versatility and talented left-foot have led to a queue of potential suitors from top European clubs, with Arsenal and Manchester United said to be front-runners for his signature.
The Sporting Lisbon star has more to his armoury than tough tackling and a physical presence as he is an intelligent passer of the ball with a tremendously powerful shot.
His long throughballs even rarely missing their intended target thanks to his uncanny ability to select the right option in every, even the tightest, of situations.
Although starting his career as a centre-back, it is as a defensive midfielder that Veloso has excelled, and his star is rising fast.
He is the son of former Portugal and Benfica stalwart defender António Veloso. His father was a Benfica defender for 15 years, including seven seasons as club captain, and played 40 times for the Selecção. Paulo Bento, his current coach at Sporting, spent three seasons at O Glorioso during the 90s and played alongside Veloso Sr. during the 1994/95 campaign.
Miguel tried to follow in his father's footsteps at the Estádio da Luz, but was surprisingly rejected by Benfica. At the age 14, he switched to rivals Sporting upon recommendation from his father because of the club’s unrivalled reputation in nurturing home-grown players.
Sporting do not have the budget to compete with rivals FC Porto and Benfica in the transfer market, but their ability to mould young talent has kept them competitive. Luís Figo, Simão Sabrosa, Hugo Viana, Ricardo Quaresma, Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani, all passed through the Sporting academy on their way to the top.
Veloso won the youth championship with Sporting in 2004/05 then excelled on loan at third division outfit CD Olivais e Moscavide the next season. There, he accomplished, as an influential player, promotion to the second division.
As a result of this positive loan, Sporting recalled Veloso for the following season. And he burst onto the scene in spectacular fashion at the start of the 2006/07 campaign when he was thrown in at the deep end in Sporting’s opening Champions League match at home to a star-studded Inter Milan side.
The Italian giants were strong favourites and before the match much was made of Figo’s homecoming, but by the end of the ninety minutes all the talk was of Veloso, who produced a man-of-the-match performance to completely shut Figo and Patrick Vieira out and helped Sporting to a memorable 1-0 win.
In 2007-08 Veloso was everpresent, with João Moutinho, in Sporting's lineups throughout the season as his club played in the Champions League, reached UEFA Cup quarter-finals, finished second in domestic league and won Portuguese Cup for second year in a row.
Throughout his two seasons since bursting onto the scene at Sporting, Veloso has grown in stature to become a crucial cog in the dynamics of the Lisbon outfit.
Inevitably rumours quickly began swirling that some of Europe’s biggest clubs were preparing to make a bid for the talented youngster, but Veloso signed a long-term contract that will keep him at the Estádio José Alvalade until 2013.
The Coimbra-born player, who captained Portugal to victory on home soil in the 2003 UEFA European Under-17 Championship, was part of the Portuguese team that knocked out of the group stages in 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Netherlands.
However, his impressive performances in the Netherlands, where he scored twice in three group games, has earned him a call-up into the Portuguese full squad for the first time.
On August 2007, he was called by Selecção boss Luiz Felipe Scolari for a Euro 2008 qualifier against Armenia before making his international debut against Azerbaijan two months later and went on to make three starts in their final qualifying campaign against Kazakhstan, Armenia and Finland.
In the European Championship finals, Veloso only appeared once in the 2-0 group defeat to the co-hosts Switzerland.
Provided he stays injury free the pony-tailed star looks set for a glittering career at the very top of the game.
Full name: Miguel Luís Pinto Veloso
Date of birth: May 11, 1986
Birthplace: Coimbra, Portugal
Nationality: Portuguese
Height: 1.81 m
Weight: 79 kg
Club: Sporting Lisbon
Position: Defender, Defensive midfielder
Number: 24
Honours:
Portuguese II Divisão Serie D (2006)
Portuguese Cup (2007, 2008)
Portuguese Super Cup (2007, 2008)
Related entries:
Technorati tags: Portugal Sporting Lisbon Miguel Veloso
His strength, versatility and talented left-foot have led to a queue of potential suitors from top European clubs, with Arsenal and Manchester United said to be front-runners for his signature.
His long throughballs even rarely missing their intended target thanks to his uncanny ability to select the right option in every, even the tightest, of situations.
Although starting his career as a centre-back, it is as a defensive midfielder that Veloso has excelled, and his star is rising fast.
He is the son of former Portugal and Benfica stalwart defender António Veloso. His father was a Benfica defender for 15 years, including seven seasons as club captain, and played 40 times for the Selecção. Paulo Bento, his current coach at Sporting, spent three seasons at O Glorioso during the 90s and played alongside Veloso Sr. during the 1994/95 campaign.
Miguel tried to follow in his father's footsteps at the Estádio da Luz, but was surprisingly rejected by Benfica. At the age 14, he switched to rivals Sporting upon recommendation from his father because of the club’s unrivalled reputation in nurturing home-grown players.
Sporting do not have the budget to compete with rivals FC Porto and Benfica in the transfer market, but their ability to mould young talent has kept them competitive. Luís Figo, Simão Sabrosa, Hugo Viana, Ricardo Quaresma, Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani, all passed through the Sporting academy on their way to the top.
As a result of this positive loan, Sporting recalled Veloso for the following season. And he burst onto the scene in spectacular fashion at the start of the 2006/07 campaign when he was thrown in at the deep end in Sporting’s opening Champions League match at home to a star-studded Inter Milan side.
The Italian giants were strong favourites and before the match much was made of Figo’s homecoming, but by the end of the ninety minutes all the talk was of Veloso, who produced a man-of-the-match performance to completely shut Figo and Patrick Vieira out and helped Sporting to a memorable 1-0 win.
In 2007-08 Veloso was everpresent, with João Moutinho, in Sporting's lineups throughout the season as his club played in the Champions League, reached UEFA Cup quarter-finals, finished second in domestic league and won Portuguese Cup for second year in a row.
Throughout his two seasons since bursting onto the scene at Sporting, Veloso has grown in stature to become a crucial cog in the dynamics of the Lisbon outfit.
The Coimbra-born player, who captained Portugal to victory on home soil in the 2003 UEFA European Under-17 Championship, was part of the Portuguese team that knocked out of the group stages in 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Netherlands.
However, his impressive performances in the Netherlands, where he scored twice in three group games, has earned him a call-up into the Portuguese full squad for the first time.
On August 2007, he was called by Selecção boss Luiz Felipe Scolari for a Euro 2008 qualifier against Armenia before making his international debut against Azerbaijan two months later and went on to make three starts in their final qualifying campaign against Kazakhstan, Armenia and Finland.
In the European Championship finals, Veloso only appeared once in the 2-0 group defeat to the co-hosts Switzerland.
Provided he stays injury free the pony-tailed star looks set for a glittering career at the very top of the game.
Full name: Miguel Luís Pinto Veloso
Date of birth: May 11, 1986
Birthplace: Coimbra, Portugal
Nationality: Portuguese
Height: 1.81 m
Weight: 79 kg
Club: Sporting Lisbon
Position: Defender, Defensive midfielder
Number: 24
Honours:
Portuguese II Divisão Serie D (2006)
Portuguese Cup (2007, 2008)
Portuguese Super Cup (2007, 2008)
Did you like our post? If so, please subscribe to our RSS feed to receive more updates. Thank you for reading!
Related entries:
Technorati tags: Portugal Sporting Lisbon Miguel Veloso
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments for this post