Delfim José Fernandes Rola Teixeira (born 5 February 1977), known simply as Delfim, is a Portuguese former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundari ...

. In a career marred by injury problems, he amassed Primeira Liga totals of 133 games and nine goals over as many seasons, in representation of five clubs. The owner of a powerful shot, he also competed professionally in France and Switzerland.

Club career

Delfim was born in Amarante. After emerging he was 20 years old in the Primeira Liga with

Boavista F.C. Boavista Futebol Clube, commonly known as Boavista (), is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Porto. Founded on 1 August 1903 by British entrepreneurs and Portuguese textile workers (thus the "FC" being appended – the British way as oppos ...

he signed with

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

, being an essential midfield element alongside

Aldo Duscher Álvaro 'Aldo' Pedro Duscher (born 22 March 1979) is an Argentine retired footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Renowned for his physical presence on the pitch, he also held an Austrian passport, and spent most of his professional c ...

in the latter club's 1999–2000 league conquest, after an 18-year drought.Delfim: a glória em Alvalade e a lesão que quase lhe matou o sonho (Delfim: the glory at Alvalade and the injury that nearly killed his dream)
Mais Futebol, 12 March 2014 (in Portuguese) In 2001, Delfim moved to Olympique de Marseille in France, but also began an excruciating battle with injuries, appearing very rarely with the Ligue 1 side and almost retiring from football. In January 2002 he was reunited with former Sporting teammate Dimas and, after an unassuming stint with BSC Young Boys, eventually returned to Portugal. Delfim was able to revive his career in the 2007–08 season, being very important as Associação Naval 1º de Maio retained its top-division status. For the following campaign he joined top level newcomer

C.D. Trofense Clube Desportivo Trofense (), commonly known as Trofense, is a Portuguese football club based in Trofa, Portugal. Founded in 1930, it plays in Segunda Liga, holding home games at '' Estádio do Clube Desportivo Trofense'', with a capacity of 5,0 ...

, retiring at the age of 32 after his team suffered relegation.

International career

Delfim earned his only full

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

for

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

on 15 November 2000, playing the entire 2–1 friendly win over

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Braga Braga ( , ; cel-x-proto, Bracara) is a city and a municipality, capital of the northwestern Portuguese district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality has a resident population of 193,333 inhabitants (in ...

Honours

Marseille * UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2005

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Delfim Teixeira 1977 births Living people People from Amarante, Portugal Portuguese footballers Association football midfielders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Boavista F.C. players C.D. Aves players Sporting CP footballers Moreirense F.C. players Associação Naval 1º de Maio players C.D. Trofense players Ligue 1 players Olympique de Marseille players Swiss Super League players BSC Young Boys players Portugal youth international footballers Portugal under-21 international footballers Portugal international footballers Portuguese expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in France Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Sportspeople from Porto District