Sérgio Conceição
Encyclopedia
Sérgio Paulo Marceneiro da Conceição (ˈsɛɾʒiu kõsɐjˈsɐ̃w̃; born 15 November 1974) is a retired Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 footballer who played mostly as a right winger.

Known for his speed and strength, combined with his good dribbling and crossing skills, and fairly accurate shooting. During his extensive career, he played for ten different teams, in five countries. After gaining international recognition with F.C. Porto, he switched to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, where he represented three teams, namely Lazio
S.S. Lazio
Società Sportiva Lazio, commonly referred to as Lazio, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. The team, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football...

.

Having won more than 50 caps
Cap (sport)
In sports, a cap is a metaphorical term for a player's appearance on a select team, such as a national team. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of association football...

 for Portugal
Portugal national football team
The Portugal national football team represents Portugal in association football and is controlled by the Portuguese Football Federation, the governing body for football in Portugal. Portugal's home ground is Estádio Nacional in Oeiras, and their head coach is Paulo Bento...

, Conceição represented the nation in one World Cup
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...

 and one European Championship
UEFA European Football Championship
The UEFA European Football Championship is the main football competition of the men's national football teams governed by UEFA . Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the UEFA European Nations Cup, changing to the current...

.

Club career

Born in Coimbra
Coimbra
Coimbra is a city in the municipality of Coimbra in Portugal. Although it served as the nation's capital during the High Middle Ages, it is better-known for its university, the University of Coimbra, which is one of the oldest in Europe and the oldest academic institution in the...

, Conceição began his career playing for the youth teams of hometown's Associação Académica. He started professionally in the second division
Liga de Honra
The Liga de Honra , known for sponsorship reasons as the Liga Orangina, is the Portuguese second level football league. It was formerly called Segunda Divisão and Segunda Divisão de Honra . When the LPFP took control of the two nationwide levels, it was renamed Segunda Liga, before renaming it...

, consecutively for F.C. Penafiel, Leça FC
Leça F.C.
Leça Futebol Clube, better known as Leça FC or simply Leça, is a Portuguese football club located in the town of Leça da Palmeira, Matosinhos. Founded in 1912, they currently play in the Portuguese Second Division and, in the previous season of 2007-08, they finished 10th in the division...

 and F.C. Felgueiras, before moving to powerhouse F.C. Porto in 1996. Two hugely successful years with Porto saw Conceição’s marauding runs down the right flank, combined with a good goalscoring record, help his team to back-to-back domestic championships and a Portuguese Cup
Taça de Portugal
The Taça de Portugal is the main Portuguese national football knock-out competition. The tournament has been officially known as the Taça de Portugal Millennium since 2008, due to its sponsorship by Portuguese private bank Millennium BCP. It has occurred on a yearly basis since 1938 and is...

 triumph.

Conceição joined S.S. Lazio
S.S. Lazio
Società Sportiva Lazio, commonly referred to as Lazio, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. The team, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football...

 and played a significant part in their 1998–99 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup success, while also scoring five goals in 33 games in his first Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...

 season. He also helped the side to a Scudetto, an Italian Cup
Coppa Italia
The Coppa Italia is an Italian football annual cup competition. Its first edition was held in 1922, but the second champions were not crowned until 1936. Roma and Juventus lead the way with nine wins. Roma has contested more finals, 16, while Torino and Juventus follow with 13...

 (in a 1999–2000 double) and the 1999 UEFA Super Cup
1999 UEFA Super Cup
The 1999 UEFA Super Cup was a football match played on 27 August 1999 between the 1998–99 UEFA Champions League winners, Manchester United, and Lazio, winners of the 1998–99 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup....

.

In July 2000, he transferred to Parma FC
Parma F.C.
Parma Football Club , commonly referred to as just Parma, is an Italian professional football club based in Parma, Emilia–Romagna that will compete in Serie A for the 2011–12 season, having finished in twelfth position last season. Founded as Verdi Foot Ball Club in July 1913, the club changed its...

 as a makeweight in Hernán Crespo
Hernán Crespo
Hernán Jorge Crespo is an Argentine footballer who plays for Parma in the Italian Serie A. Crespo has scored over 300 goals in a career spanning 18 years. His honors include an Olympic Games silver medal, a Copa Libertadores, an English Premier League title and three Scudettos. He was topscorer in...

's transfer (along with Matías Almeyda
Matías Almeyda
Matías Jesús Almeyda is a retired Argentine footballer who played as a defensive midfielder, and the current manager of Club Atlético River Plate....

). The following season, Conceição was used in the same fashion in the transfer of Sébastien Frey
Sébastien Frey
Sébastien Frey is a French footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Serie A club Genoa.-Club career:Frey began his career with French side AS Cannes in 1997, at the age of 17...

, which saw him go to F.C. Internazionale Milano
F.C. Internazionale Milano
Football Club Internazionale Milano, often referred to as Internazionale or simply Inter, is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Italy. Outside Italy, the club is often called Inter Milan. They are the reigning FIFA Club World champions and Coppa Italia holders.Inter have always...

 while Frey went in the other direction. After two seasons and a good number of starts, he would eventually leave Inter by mutual agreement and re-joined Lazio, leaving for another familiar side, Porto, towards the end of 2003–04, again by mutual agreement, adding his third Portuguese national championship.

In 2004, Conceição signed for Belgian
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 club Standard Liège
Standard Liège
Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (Dutch: Standard Luik [], German: Standard Lüttich , is a Belgian football club from the city of Liège....

 on a one-year deal. He won the Belgian Golden Shoe
Belgian Golden Shoe
In association football, the Belgian Golden Shoe is an award given in Belgium at the beginning of each civil year to the best footballer of the Belgian First Division for the past year. The trophy is sponsored by the Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws....

 for best player of the year in his first season. However, in March 2006, he was banned for three years (the first 4.5 months of the ban taking effect immediately and the rest suspended), depending on good behaviour, for spitting on an opposing player and assaulting a referee.

After the 2006–07 season, Conceição failed to win any silverware with Standard, finishing runner-up in 2005–06's league and losing the 2007 Belgian Cup
Belgian Cup
The Belgian Cup is the main knockout football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgian Football Association. The first cup was held in 1911-12. The most successful cup club is Club Brugge KV with 10 titles followed by RSC Anderlecht and R Standard de Liège...

 final. He decided to move to Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...

 and Al Qadsia on a rather lucrative contract. Quickly unsettled, the player later admitted that he was amazed at the slack training schedule and low level of professionalism.

In January 2008, after failed deals in Portugal, however, in a surprise move, Conceição agreed to join PAOK Thessaloniki in Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

, signing an 18-month contract. His unlikely signing was largely attributed to club technical director
Director of football
"Director of football" is a term describing a senior management figure at a football club, most commonly used in Europe. The exact nature of the role is often unclear and extremely variable and causes much debate in the sports media...

 Zisis Vryzas
Zisis Vryzas
Zisis Vryzas is a former football player, and had been the vice president of PAOK FC for the past 3 years. He was born 9 November 1973 in Kavala, city of northern Greece, located in the region of Macedonia . He played as a striker for various teams in Greece and abroad, as well as the Greek...

, and the presence of Portuguese manager Fernando Santos on the bench. Though he initially struggled even to return to proper fitness levels, he was instantly given the number #7 shirt, once worn by legendary former player (and also chairman) Theodoros Zagorakis
Theodoros Zagorakis
-Kavala:Zagorakis was a defensive midfielder who usually operated on the right hand side of midfield. He started his career with Kavala, the club that also produced Zisis Vryzas, with whom he became close friends...

.

In 2008–09, Conceição was promoted to team captain. Along with compatriot Vieirinha
Vieirinha
Adelino André Vieira Freitas , commonly known as Vieirinha, is a Portuguese footballer who plays for PAOK F.C. in the Greek League, as a winger.Ambidextrous, he started playing for F.C...

, he was a regular on the team's wings and gradually became a fan favorite for his leadership and his devotion to the club. However, at the beginning of the next campaign, he was regularly troubled by knee injuries for the most part of October, managing only a few appearances. On October 13, he announced his decision to withdraw from professional football and continue working for PAOK as technical director, accepting Vryzas' proposition for the seat Vryzas himself left vacant when he assumed presidency early on.

In late May 2010, Conceição left PAOK and rejoined another former team, being made part of Standard Liège's coaching staff.

International career

Conceição earned 56 caps
Cap (sport)
In sports, a cap is a metaphorical term for a player's appearance on a select team, such as a national team. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of association football...

 for the Portuguese national team
Portugal national football team
The Portugal national football team represents Portugal in association football and is controlled by the Portuguese Football Federation, the governing body for football in Portugal. Portugal's home ground is Estádio Nacional in Oeiras, and their head coach is Paulo Bento...

, scoring 12 goals, his debut being against Ukraine
Ukraine national football team
The Ukraine national football team is the national football team of Ukraine and is controlled by the Football Federation of Ukraine. After Ukrainian Independence and breakaway from the Soviet Union, they played their first match against Hungary on 29 April 1992...

 on 9 November 1996, a 1–0 home win in a 1998 FIFA World Cup
1998 FIFA World Cup
The 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 16th FIFA World Cup, was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. France was chosen as host nation by FIFA on 2 July 1992. The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3-0 in the final...

 qualifier
1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)
Listed below are the dates and results for the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the European zone .A total of 50 UEFA teams entered the competition. The European zone was allocated 15 places in the final tournament...

. In his last international game, he was on the losing end of a 3–0 friendly defeat at the hands of Spain
Spain national football team
The Spain national football team represents Spain in international association football and is controlled by the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Spain. The current head coach is Vicente del Bosque...

 on 6 September 2003.

Early in his international career, Conceição was not known for his scoring prowess but, at UEFA Euro 2000, Portugal reached the semi-finals with a major contribution from him. In the third and final match of the group stage, against defending champions Germany
Germany national football team
The Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....

 in Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...

, Conceição bagged a hat-trick
Hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick in sport is the achievement of a positive feat three times during a game, or other achievements based on threes. The term was first used in 1858 in cricket to describe HH Stephenson's feat of taking three wickets in three balls. A collection was held for Stephenson, and he...

, scoring all of the match's goals. Portugal had guaranteed first place in the first two games, so the side played mostly with substitutes, but Conceição cemented his place in the starting XI for the rest of the tournament and subsequent call-ups.

In qualifying for the 2002 World Cup
2002 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)
Listed below are the dates and results for the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the European zone . For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification....

, Conceição scored four goals as Portugal finished atop a group that also featured the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland national football team
The Republic of Ireland national football team represents Ireland in association football. It is run by the Football Association of Ireland and currently plays home fixtures at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, which opened in May 2010....

 and the Netherlands
Netherlands national football team
The Netherlands National Football Team represents the Netherlands in association football and is controlled by the Royal Dutch Football Association , the governing body for football in the Netherlands...

 (netting against both). He was not recalled since 2003.

International goals

Club

|-
|1993–94||Penafiel||Second Division
Liga de Honra
The Liga de Honra , known for sponsorship reasons as the Liga Orangina, is the Portuguese second level football league. It was formerly called Segunda Divisão and Segunda Divisão de Honra . When the LPFP took control of the two nationwide levels, it was renamed Segunda Liga, before renaming it...

||30||2||||||||||||||||
|-
|1994–95||Leça
Leça F.C.
Leça Futebol Clube, better known as Leça FC or simply Leça, is a Portuguese football club located in the town of Leça da Palmeira, Matosinhos. Founded in 1912, they currently play in the Portuguese Second Division and, in the previous season of 2007-08, they finished 10th in the division...

||Second Division
Liga de Honra
The Liga de Honra , known for sponsorship reasons as the Liga Orangina, is the Portuguese second level football league. It was formerly called Segunda Divisão and Segunda Divisão de Honra . When the LPFP took control of the two nationwide levels, it was renamed Segunda Liga, before renaming it...

||24||3||||||||||||||||
|-
|1995–96||Felgueiras||Portuguese League||30||4||||||||||||||||
|-
|1996–97||rowspan="2"|Porto||rowspan="2"|Portuguese League||26||1||||||||||||||||
|-
|1997–98||30||8||||||||||||||||

|-
|1998–99||rowspan="2"|Lazio
S.S. Lazio
Società Sportiva Lazio, commonly referred to as Lazio, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. The team, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football...

||rowspan="2"|Italian League
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...

||33||5||||||||||||||||
|-
|1999–00||30||2||||||||||||||||
|-
|2000–01||Parma
Parma F.C.
Parma Football Club , commonly referred to as just Parma, is an Italian professional football club based in Parma, Emilia–Romagna that will compete in Serie A for the 2011–12 season, having finished in twelfth position last season. Founded as Verdi Foot Ball Club in July 1913, the club changed its...

||Italian League
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...

||25||5||||||||||||||||
|-
|2001–02||rowspan="2"|Inter
F.C. Internazionale Milano
Football Club Internazionale Milano, often referred to as Internazionale or simply Inter, is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Italy. Outside Italy, the club is often called Inter Milan. They are the reigning FIFA Club World champions and Coppa Italia holders.Inter have always...

||rowspan="2"|Italian League
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...

||22||1||||||||||||||||
|-
|2002–03||19||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|2003–04||Lazio
S.S. Lazio
Società Sportiva Lazio, commonly referred to as Lazio, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. The team, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football...

||Italian League
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...

||7||0||||||||||||||||

|-
|2003–04||Porto||Portuguese League||11||0||||||||||||||||

|-
|2004–05||rowspan="3"|Standard Liège
Standard Liège
Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (Dutch: Standard Luik [], German: Standard Lüttich , is a Belgian football club from the city of Liège....

||rowspan="3"|Belgian League||27||10||||||||||||||||
|-
|2005–06||25||7||||||||||||||||
|-
|2006–07||22||4||||||||||||||||

|-
|2007–08||Al-Qadsia||Kuwaiti League
Kuwaiti Premier League
The Kuwaiti Premier League is the top division of the Kuwait Football Association league pyramid system. It was created in 1961. Al Arabi holds the best record in the competition, winning it 16 times...

||7||5||||||||||||||||

|-
|2007–08||rowspan="3"|PAOK||rowspan="3"|Greek League||7||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|2008–09||24||4||||||||||||||||
|-
|2009–10||6||0||||||||||||||||
151||18||||||||||||||||
136||13||||||||||||||||
74||21||||||||||||||||
7||5||||||||||||||||
37||4||||||||||||||||
405||61||||||||||||||||
|}

International

|-
|1996||1||0
|-
|1997||7||1
|-
|1998||3||0
|-
|1999||9||1
|-
|2000||12||5
|-
|2001||6||2
|-
|2002||11||3
|-
|2003||7||0
|-
!Total||56||12
|}

Club

Porto
  • Portuguese League
    Portuguese Liga
    The Primeira Liga , formerly called Primeira Divisão, currently named Liga ZON Sagres after their main sponsors, is the top professional association football division of the Portuguese football league system...

    : 1996–97, 1997–98, 2003–04
  • Portuguese Cup
    Taça de Portugal
    The Taça de Portugal is the main Portuguese national football knock-out competition. The tournament has been officially known as the Taça de Portugal Millennium since 2008, due to its sponsorship by Portuguese private bank Millennium BCP. It has occurred on a yearly basis since 1938 and is...

    : 1997–98
  • Portuguese Supercup: 1997


Lazio
  • UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
    UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
    The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a football club competition contested annually by the most recent winners of all European domestic cup competitions. The cup is one of the many inter-European club competitions that have been organised by UEFA. The first competition was held in the 1960–61 season—but...

    : 1998–99
  • UEFA Super Cup: 1999
    1999 UEFA Super Cup
    The 1999 UEFA Super Cup was a football match played on 27 August 1999 between the 1998–99 UEFA Champions League winners, Manchester United, and Lazio, winners of the 1998–99 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup....

  • Italian League
    Serie A
    Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...

    : 1999–2000
  • Italian Supercup
    Supercoppa Italiana
    The Supercoppa Italiana is a pre-season football competition held the week before the season begins in Italy every year. It is contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season, as a curtain raiser to the new season. It is usually played at the home of the Serie A...

    : 1998
    1998 Supercoppa Italiana
    The 1998 Supercoppa Italiana was a match contested by Juventus, the Serie A 1997-98 winner, and Lazio, the Coppa Italia 1997-98 winner.It was the fourth appearance for Juventus , whereas it was Lazio's first appearance....

  • Italian Cup
    Coppa Italia
    The Coppa Italia is an Italian football annual cup competition. Its first edition was held in 1922, but the second champions were not crowned until 1936. Roma and Juventus lead the way with nine wins. Roma has contested more finals, 16, while Torino and Juventus follow with 13...

    : 1999–2000, 2003–04


Parma
  • Italian Cup
    Coppa Italia
    The Coppa Italia is an Italian football annual cup competition. Its first edition was held in 1922, but the second champions were not crowned until 1936. Roma and Juventus lead the way with nine wins. Roma has contested more finals, 16, while Torino and Juventus follow with 13...

    : Runner-up 2000–01


Standard
  • Belgian Cup
    Belgian Cup
    The Belgian Cup is the main knockout football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgian Football Association. The first cup was held in 1911-12. The most successful cup club is Club Brugge KV with 10 titles followed by RSC Anderlecht and R Standard de Liège...

    : Runner-up 2006–07

Country

  • UEFA European Football Championship
    UEFA European Football Championship
    The UEFA European Football Championship is the main football competition of the men's national football teams governed by UEFA . Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the UEFA European Nations Cup, changing to the current...

    : Third-place 2000
  • UEFA European Under-18 Championship
    UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship
    The European Under 19 Football Championship is an annual football competition organised by the sport's European governing body, UEFA. The competition has been held since 1948. It was originally called the FIFA junior tournament, until it was taken over by UEFA in 1955...

    : Runner-up 1992

Personal

Coimbra
Coimbra
Coimbra is a city in the municipality of Coimbra in Portugal. Although it served as the nation's capital during the High Middle Ages, it is better-known for its university, the University of Coimbra, which is one of the oldest in Europe and the oldest academic institution in the...

's municipality governors named a local 2,500-seater stadium after him – the Estádio Municipal Sérgio Conceição
Estádio Municipal Sérgio Conceição
Estádio Municipal Sérgio Conceição is a football stadium in Taveiro, in the city of Coimbra, Portugal...

.

External links

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