Carlos Hugo Freitas Carneiro (born 3 March 1982) is a former Portuguese

handballer Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thro ...

Career

Born in

Guimarães Guimarães () is a city and municipality located in northern Portugal, in the district of Braga. Its historic town centre has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001, in recognition for being an "exceptionally well-preserved ...

, Carneiro started his youth career in his hometown club,

Vitória S.C. Vitória Sport Clube, popularly known as Vitória de Guimarães or sometimes just Vitória, is a Portuguese professional football club based in Guimarães that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football, at the Est ...

at age 15, he then spent a two-year span at

Xico Andebol The Xico Andebol is a Portuguese handball team based in Guimarães, which plays in the top tier domestic league, the Andebol 1 The Campeonato Nacional de Andebol Masculino (English: Men's Handball National Championship), also known simply a ...

, before joining

ABC Braga ABC Braga is a professional handball team based in Braga, Portugal. It plays in LPA. It was founded on 29 December 1933. Despite the practice of handball as a primary sport, the club plays other sports such as roller hockey, basketball, athlet ...

and start a professional career at age 18, and debuting for the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

, only a year later. In 2004, he moved to

Madeira Andebol SAD Madeira Andebol S.A.D., known until 1998 as Academico Funchal, is a Portuguese handball club from Funchal. Its women's team has won the national championship a record 15 times since 1994, and it is a regular in the EHF Cup and Cup Winners' Cup' ...

and won the league in his first season, and finished runner-up in the second. His performances led to a move to Benfica after two seasons in Madeira. In his first year in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

, Carneiro helped the team conquer their first national title in 18 years, plus, he added a League Cup in the following season. His best individual seasons came in 2010–11 and in 2012–13, when he was elected

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

of the

Liga Portuguesa de Andebol The Campeonato Nacional de Andebol Masculino (English: Men's Handball National Championship), also known simply as Andebol 1 (or Campeonato Placard Andebol 1 for sponsorship reasons), is the premier handball league in Portugal and is overseen ...

, while also adding three titles in other competitions. On 5 June 2015, Benfica announced the departure of Carneiro after 8 seasons defending Benfica, with the 33-year-old joining cross-town rivals, Sporting, shortly after. In his first season at Sporting, he helped the club win their second

EHF Challenge Cup The EHF European Cup is an annual men's handball club competition organised by the European Handball Federation (EHF). It is the third-tier competition of European club handball, after the EHF Champions League and the EHF European League. Foun ...

and the first league title in 16 years. A year later, he won back-to-back league titles with them.

Honours

;Madeira Andebol SAD *

: 2004–05 ;SL Benfica *

: 2007–08 *

Portuguese Handball Cup The Portuguese Handball Cup (Portuguese: Taça de Portugal de Andebol) is a handball competition played in the Swiss system and eligible for all professional and amateur teams in Portugal. The most successful club in the competition is Sporting CP ...

: 2010–11 *

Portuguese Handball Super Cup Portuguese Handball Super Cup (Portuguese: Supertaça de Portugal de Andebol) is a professional handball competition played between the winners of the Liga Portuguesa de Andebol and the winners of the Cup, or against the finalist of the Cup if the ...

: 2011, 2013 * Portuguese Handball League Cup: 2008–09 ;Sporting CP *

: 2016–17, 2017–18 *

: 2016–17

References

External links

EHF page
1982 births Living people Sportspeople from Guimarães Portuguese male handball players S.L. Benfica handball players Sporting CP handball players 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen {{Portugal-handball-bio-stub