Elpídio Pereira da Silva Filho (born 19 July 1975), known as Silva, is a Brazilian former professional

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 lea ...

who played as a striker. He spent most of his career in Portugal, mainly representing Boavista and amassing

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

totals of 187 matches and 62 goals over eight seasons. Other than in his country, he also competed in Japan, South Korea and Cyprus.

Career

Born in

Campina Grande Campina Grande is the second most populous Brazilian city in the State of Paraíba after João Pessoa, Paraíba, João Pessoa, the capital. It is considered to be the most important city of the Northeastern Brazilian subregion called ''agreste''. ...

Paraíba Paraíba ( , ; ) is a states of Brazil, state of Brazil. It is located in the Brazilian Northeast, and it is bordered by Rio Grande do Norte to the north, Ceará to the west, Pernambuco to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Paraíba i ...

, Silva started his professional career with

Atlético Mineiro Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico *Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy *Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic Cl ...

but quickly moved overseas, joining

J1 League The , the J.League or the for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Japan and the highest level of the Japanese football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation ...

club

Kashiwa Reysol is a Japanese professional association football, football club based in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Sankyo ...

. After just one season, he signed for Portugal's

Braga Braga (; ) is a cities of Portugal, city and a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality, capital of the northwestern Portugal, Portuguese Braga (district), district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality ...

, where he remained until June 2000. Silva's most productive period, however, was lived with fellow

side Boavista. There, he was instrumental in winning the 2001 national championship (their only) by scoring 11 goals, one coming in the decisive 3–0 home victory against

Aves Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight ...

in the last round. In the subsequent edition of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

, Silva scored in a 1–1 draw at

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, also finding the net in the second match between the two teams, with the same result. In Boavista's

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

semi-final run the following campaign, he labelled

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

a "one-man team" prior to the sides' meeting in the competition's semi-finals; the Scots won 2–1 on aggregate, with

Henrik Larsson Edward Henrik Larsson (; born 20 September 1971) is a Swedish professional association football, football coach and former player who played many times for the Sweden men's national football team, Swedish national team. A Striker (association f ...

– the "one man" of Silva's tirade – scoring the decisive goal in

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

. A move to

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

ensued but, barred by newly signed compatriot

Liédson Liédson da Silva Muniz (born 17 December 1977), known simply as Liédson, is a former professional footballer who played as a striker. Nicknamed ''Levezinho'' ("Slender one") due to his light frame (63 kg),

, Silva received few opportunities to shine. He did score six times in the league in his debut season, also being loaned to Vitória de Guimarães in between. Released by the

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 ...

club in January 2006, Silva subsequently represented

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

, where he did not appear due to fitness problems, Corinthians Alagoano,

Suwon Samsung Bluewings The Suwon Samsung Bluewings () are a South Korean Association football, football club based in Suwon that competes in the K League 2, the second tier of South Korean football. Founded in December 1995, they have won the K League on four occas ...

and

Alki Larnaca Alki Larnaca (, ''ALKI Larnakas'') was a Cypriot football club based in the town of Larnaca. The club was founded in 1948 and it was dissolved on the 6th of May 2014 due to financial issues. The club's colours were blue and red. They reached th ...

. In January 2009, he moved to

AEK Larnaca AEK Larnaca FC (, "Athletic Union Kition (ancient state), Kition of Larnaca") is a Cyprus, Cypriot professional association football, football club based in Larnaca. The club was formed in 1994 after a merger of two historical Larnaca clubs, EP ...

also in the

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...

Career statistics

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Silva, Elpidio 1975 births Living people 20th-century Brazilian sportsmen Brazilian men's footballers Footballers from Campina Grande Men's association football forwards Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Clube Atlético Mineiro players Sport Club Corinthians Alagoano players J1 League players Kashiwa Reysol players Primeira Liga players S.C. Braga players Boavista F.C. players Sporting CP footballers Vitória S.C. players K League 1 players Suwon Samsung Bluewings players Derby County F.C. players Cypriot First Division players Alki Larnaca FC players AEK Larnaca FC players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Japan Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in South Korea Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Japan Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in England Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in South Korea Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus