Miguel Veloso

Miguel Luís Pinto Veloso (Portuguese pronunciation: [miˈɣɛɫ ˈlwiʃ ˈpĩtu vɨˈlozu]; born 11 May 1986) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays for and captains Italian club Hellas Verona. Mainly a defensive midfielder, he can also operate as an attacking left back.

This name uses Portuguese naming customs: the first or maternal family name is Pinto and the second or paternal family name is Veloso.
Miguel Veloso
Veloso with Portugal at Euro 2012
Personal information
Full name Miguel Luís Pinto Veloso
Date of birth (1986-05-11) 11 May 1986
Place of birth Coimbra, Portugal
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Verona
Number 4
Youth career
1994–1999 Benfica
1999–2000 CAC Pontinha
2000–2005 Sporting CP
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2010 Sporting CP 98 (4)
2005–2006 → Olivais Moscavide (loan) 28 (7)
2010–2012 Genoa 49 (2)
2012–2016 Dynamo Kyiv 78 (6)
2016–2018 Genoa 45 (1)
2018–2019 Genoa 21 (0)
2019– Verona 42 (5)
National team‡
2001–2002 Portugal U16 10 (0)
2002–2003 Portugal U17 25 (3)
2004 Portugal U18 5 (1)
2004–2005 Portugal U19 9 (2)
2006 Portugal U20 2 (1)
2006–2008 Portugal U21 18 (5)
2007– Portugal 56 (3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:49, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11 October 2015

He started his career with Sporting, for which he appeared in 165 games all competitions comprised, and also spent two years with Genoa before joining Dynamo Kyiv in 2012. After winning four domestic honours in Ukraine, he returned to Genoa in 2016.

A full international since 2007, Veloso earned over 50 caps for Portugal, appearing at two World Cups and as many European Championships.

Club career

Born in Coimbra, Miguel Veloso started his football career at S.L. Benfica, but was rejected for being slightly overweight at the time, entering Lisbon neighbours Sporting CP's youth system at the age of 14. There, he was promoted to the first team for the 2004–05 pre-season, which took place mainly in England; he started out as a central defender.[1][2]

In order to give him more playing time, Sporting loaned Veloso to C.D. Olivais e Moscavide in the third division,[3] and he helped them promote to the second level with a career-best seven goals.[4] As a result, he was recalled by the Lions – though it appeared difficult for him to grab a place in the starting team, because of the presence of players with much more experience such as Ânderson Polga, Tonel, Marco Caneira or Custódio – and ended up playing 23 Primeira Liga matches during the campaign as his team (again) finished second. He was equally impressive in his debut in the UEFA Champions League, a 1–0 home win against Inter Milan where he stopped Patrick Vieira and Luís Figo from playing effectively, earning Man of the match accolades in the process.[5]

In 2007–08, Veloso was ever-present in Sporting's central midfield, alongside fellow youth graduate João Moutinho. The club again lost the league to FC Porto, and the same befell in the following season, with the player being involved in some run-ins with manager Paulo Bento;[6] in the previous off-season and following January transfer window, he attracted interest from several Premier League sides, but nothing materialized.[7][8][9]

Veloso helped Sporting reach the last-16 in the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League, after scoring in both legs of the 4–2 aggregate win against Everton;[10][11] the club could only, however, finish fourth in the domestic league.

On 30 July 2010, Veloso was sold to Genoa C.F.C. in Italy.[12] On 4 July 2012 he moved teams and countries again, signing a four-year contract with FC Dynamo Kyiv in the Ukrainian Premier League.[13][14]

On 31 July 2016, after 127 games across all competitions (14 goals) and four major titles, including the double in the 2014–15 campaign, 30-year-old Veloso returned to Genoa.[15] He left the Stadio Luigi Ferraris two years later,[16] but returned shortly after agreeing to a new deal.[17]

On 20 July 2019, Veloso signed a one-year contract with Hellas Verona FC.[18] He scored a free kick on his debut on 25 August, equalising in a 1–1 home draw with Bologna F.C. 1909.[19]

International career
Veloso in action against Russia in 2012

Veloso acted as captain for Portugal at the 2003 UEFA European Under-17 Championship, helping the nation emerge victorious on home soil after defeating Spain 2–1 in an Iberian final played in Viseu.[20] He was elected the tournament's Golden Player,[21] and subsequently also helped the team reach the quarter-finals in that year's FIFA World Cup held in Finland.

On 14 August 2007, following impressive performances for the under-21s in the 2007 UEFA European Championship in June (the skipper scored twice in three games, albeit in a group stage exit),[22] Veloso was called up for the full squad for the first time, for a Euro 2008 qualifier against Armenia. He would make his international debut against Azerbaijan, on 13 October; in the finals' group stage, he appeared in the 0–2 loss against Switzerland, a game in which nine out of 11 regular starters were rested.[23]

After a long spell out of the Portugal squad, Veloso was recalled by coach Carlos Queiroz for a vital 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying match in Denmark in September 2009, which ended with a 1–1 draw. He netted his first international goal in the same competition, as the national side defeated Malta 4–0 in Guimarães on 14 October.[24]

On 15 November 2011, Veloso scored from a free kick as Portugal defeated Bosnia and Herzegovina 6–2 at the Estádio da Luz in a play-off for a place at Euro 2012.[25] He played every minute of their finals campaign in Poland and Ukraine, before being substituted at half time in extra time of an eventual penalty shootout loss to Spain in the semi-finals.[26]

In September 2015, after one year in the international wilderness,[27] Veloso was recalled to the Portuguese squad by manager Fernando Santos, for a friendly with France and a Euro 2016 qualifier against Albania.[28] In the latter game, on the 7th, he headed home after a 92nd-minute corner kick for the only goal of the game.[29]

Personal life

Veloso's father, António, was also a footballer. A defender, he played several years with Benfica, and was also a longtime Portuguese international.[6][30]

In 2013, Veloso married the daughter of Genoa club president Enrico Preziosi, Paola.[31]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 19 December 2020[32][33]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Olivais Moscavide 2005–06 Portuguese Second Division 28700——287
Sporting 2006–07 Primeira Liga 230605[lower-alpha 1]0—340
2007–08 291906[lower-alpha 1]01[lower-alpha 2]0451
2008–09 210307[lower-alpha 1]11[lower-alpha 2]0321
2009–10 2536514[lower-alpha 3]4—4512
Total 9842453252015614
Genoa 2010–11 Serie A 20020——220
2011–12 29220——312
Total 492400000532
Dynamo Kyiv 2012–13 Ukrainian Premier League 2421012[lower-alpha 3]1—373
2013–14 201408[lower-alpha 4]1—322
2014–15 141529[lower-alpha 4]3—286
2015–16 202415[lower-alpha 1]01[lower-alpha 5]0303
Total 7861433451012714
Genoa 2016–17 Serie A 23021——251
2017–18 22110——231
2018–19 21010——220
Total 661410000702
Verona 2019–20 Serie A 34310——353
2020–21 8210——92
Total 425200000445
Genoa total 11538100001234
Career total 3612548966103047844
  1. Appearances in the UEFA Champions League
  2. Appearances in the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira
  3. Appearances in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League
  4. Appearances in the UEFA Europa League
  5. Appearances in the Ukrainian Super Cup

International
As of match played 11 October 2015[34]
Portugal
YearAppsGoals
200740
200830
200931
201050
201161
2012130
2013110
201480
201531
Total563
Miguel Veloso: International goals
GoalDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
114 October 2009Estádio D. Afonso Henriques, Guimarães, Portugal Malta3–04–02010 World Cup qualification[24]
215 November 2011Estádio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal Bosnia and Herzegovina5–26–2Euro 2012 qualifying play-offs[25]
37 September 2015Elbasan Arena, Elbasan, Albania Albania0–10–1Euro 2016 qualifying[29]

Honours

Club

Olivais e Moscavide

Sporting

Dynamo Kyiv

International

Portugal U-17

Individual

References
  1. Sporting secure Veloso future; UEFA, 8 January 2007
  2. Miguel Veloso treina-se para tapar falhas centrais (Miguel Veloso trains to cover for stoppers); Record, 22 February 2005 (in Portuguese)
  3. Palma, Irene (12 August 2005). "Sporting: Miguel Veloso emprestado ao Olivais e Moscavide" [Sporting: Miguel Veloso loaned to Olivais e Moscavide] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  4. "Os 12 golos de Miguel Veloso" [Miguel Veloso's 12 goals] (in Portuguese). Record. 9 May 2010. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  5. Caneira strike sends Inter crashing; UEFA, 13 September 2006
  6. "«Miguel Veloso está lesionado», diz o pai" [«Miguel Veloso is injured», says father] (in Portuguese). Record. 28 February 2009. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  7. Friday's gossip column; BBC Sport, 27 June 2008
  8. Spurs to revive Arshavin interest; BBC Sport, 27 August 2008
  9. Bolton priced out of Veloso race; BBC Sport, 31 January 2009
  10. Everton 2–1 Sporting; BBC Sport, 16 February 2010
  11. We deserved to lose, admits Everton boss David Moyes; BBC Sport, 25 February 2010
  12. Veloso leaves Sporting in Zapater swap; UEFA, 3 August 2010
  13. Мигел Велозу – игрок «Динамо»! (Miguel Veloso – Dinamo player!); Dinamo Kiev, 4 July 2012 (in Ukrainian)
  14. Мигел ВЕЛОЗУ: «Перешел в клуб с большой историей и амбициями» (Miguel Veloso – «Moved to club with history and ambition»); Dinamo Kiev, 4 July 2012 (in Ukrainian)
  15. "M. Veloso ha firmato per il Genoa" [M. Veloso has signed for Genoa] (in Italian). Genoa C.F.C. 31 July 2016. Archived from the original on 5 October 2016. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
  16. "Esclusiva OkC, Miguel Veloso nel mirino di un club turco" [Exclusive OkC, Miguel Veloso in sights of Turkish club] (in Italian). OK Calcio Mercato. 8 August 2018. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  17. "Genoa, Miguel Veloso è ufficiale: il portoghese è rossoblù per la terza volta" [Genoa, Miguel Veloso è ufficiale: il portoghese è rossoblù per la terza volta] (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. 19 October 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  18. Bargellini, Luca (20 July 2019). "UFFICIALE: Hellas Verona, contratto annuale per Miguel Veloso" [OFFICIAL: Hellas Verona, one-year contract for Miguel Veloso] (in Italian). Tutto Mercato Web. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  19. "'Exceptional courage': Cancer-stricken Mihajlovic on bench but Bologna held by Verona". France 24. 25 August 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  20. Portugal secure maximum points; UEFA, 11 May 2003
  21. 2003: Miguel Veloso; at UEFA
  22. Sunny vista for Miguel Veloso; UEFA, 22 June 2007
  23. Yakin goals send hosts out on a high; UEFA, 16 June 2008
  24. Portugal secure World Cup play-off spot with win over Malta; The Guardian, 15 October 2009
  25. Pimentel, José Nuno (15 November 2011). "Portugal overwhelm ten-man Bosnia and Herzegovina". UEFA. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  26. Burke, Chris (27 June 2012). "Spain survive test of nerve to reach final". UEFA. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  27. Regresso à selecção é objectivo de Miguel Veloso (Return to national team is the goal of Miguel Veloso); Rádio Renascença, 8 April 2015 (in Portuguese)
  28. Miguel Veloso "orgulhoso" por regressar à seleção portuguesa (Miguel Veloso "proud" to return to the national team); TSF, 31 August 2015 (in Portuguese)
  29. Veloso sinks Albania as Portugal close on finals; UEFA, 7 September 2015
  30. Os Velosos (The Velosos); Record, 18 March 2009 (in Portuguese)
  31. Miguel Veloso partilha fotos do casamento (Miguel Veloso shares wedding photos); Lux, 25 June 2013 (in Portuguese)
  32. "Miguel Veloso". Soccerway. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  33. "Miguel Veloso". ForaDeJogo. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  34. "Miguel Veloso". European Football. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
  35. "Veloso é a revelação, Simão é a consagração" [Veloso is the breakthrough, Simão the consecration] (in Portuguese). CNID. 30 June 2007. Retrieved 3 June 2010.
  36. Haslam, Andrew (29 June 2007). "Il dream team Under 21" [The Under 21 dream team] (in Italian). UEFA. Archived from the original on 15 January 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.