João Moutinho
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (July 2008) |
 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | João Filipe Iria Santos Moutinho | ||
| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Everton F.C. | ||
| Number | 7 | ||
| ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of July 19, 2008 | |||
João Filipe Iria Santos Moutinho (born September 8, 1986 in Portimão) is a Portuguese footballer, and is an all-round midfielder for Sporting Club de Portugal.
Club career
Youth
After showing great promise as a boy playing for his hometown club, Portimonense, when João Moutinho turned 13 he signed with Sporting Clube de Portugal to continue his football education. His sports-fanatic parents (his father Nélson himself a former football player) played an important part in his choice too.
Senior squad
During the 2004-05 pre-season, only 17 years old, Moutinho was called by then-manager José Peseiro onto the first squad, where he played some preseason games and began to display some talent for a such a young player. After the pre-season, however, he returned to the junior team, at the time coached by Paulo Bento, with players such as Miguel Veloso and Nani. He helped the team win the national title that season, although he was regularly training with the main squad.
In the beginning of 2005 he was called up for a game in the Portuguese Cup, thus making his official debut on 23 January 2005. Based on extremely consistent displays, Moutinho wasted no time in establishing himself as a regular as he quickly grew into a polished performer, able to play in any position across a flat midfield or in a diamond formation. His box-to-box dynamism and tremendous determination quickly made him a firm fans' favourite, as he rarely missed a game since becoming a first-choice player.
His performances in the closing stages of 2004-05, especially in the UEFA Cup with man-of-the-match displays against Feyenoord and Newcastle United that helped the Lions reach the final of the competition, made him an automatic starter for Sporting despite his young age.
In his second season Moutinho's further progress and exceptional consistency (the midfielder was the only player in Portugal in 2005-06 to play every minute of every match in the Portuguese league) was one of the brightest spots in Sporting's runner-up final place. Incidentally, Moutinho netted his team's final goal of the campaign in a 1-0 win over SC Braga to ensure a return to Champions League football for the Lisbon club.
In 2006-07, following the departure of veteran Ricardo Sá Pinto, Moutinho was made vice-captain at just 19 years of age (in 2007-08, after Custódio and Ricardo left, he would be named captain, the second youngest in the history of the club's professional football, behind legendary Francisco Stromp).
In 2007-08, with Leandro Romagnoli (another attacking midfielder) also in the starting eleven, Moutinho, more often than not, moved from his natural behind the forwards midfielder role to right midfielder, where he still managed to deliver impressive performances. During this season, Moutinho further established himself as somewhat of a symbol for the club and its supporters, earning plaudits as one of the Portuguese Liga top players with his impressive regularity and quality performances.
During the 2008 - 2009 pre-season Moutinho has angered some of the Sporting fans by expressing his desire to leave the club, with English premier league club Everton having had a £13million bid turned down for the player. Sportings' chairman was reluctant to sell their talismanic captain and it now seems likely after Newcastle United's bid of £17.7 million, he will relent, and Moutinho will be playing his football in the North East come September 2008.
Statistics
Statistics as of 22 February 2008.
| Club | Season | Portuguese Liga | Portuguese Cup | Carlsberg Cup | UEFA | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | Goals | Games | Goals | Games | Goals | Games | Goals | Games | Goals | ||
| Sporting CP | 2004/05 | 18 | 0 | 2 | 0 | - | - | 8 | 0 | 28 | 0 |
| Sporting CP | 2005/06 | 34 | 4 | 5 | 1 | - | - | 2 | 0 | 41 | 5 |
| Sporting CP | 2006/07 | 29 | 4 | 6 | 2 | - | - | 6 | 0 | 41 | 6 |
| Sporting CP | 2007/08 | 26 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 36 | 7 |
| Total | 107 | 13 | 15 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 24 | 1 | 146 | 18 | |
Honours
- Portuguese Cup 2006, 2007
- Portuguese SuperCup 2007
References
External links
