Nélson Dias Morais (born 24 March 1974), is a former Portuguese footballer who played as a full back.

Career

Born 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 ...

, Morais started is youth development at Ginásio Corroios at age 10, joining the larger Benfica in 1988. In 1992, he joined

Gil Vicente Gil Vicente (; c. 1465c. 1536), called the Trobadour, was a Portuguese playwright and poet who acted in and directed his own plays. Considered the chief dramatist of Portugal he is sometimes called the "Portuguese Plautus," often refe ...

, debuting for the ''Gilistas'' on 30 August 1992, in a home loss against

S.C. Braga Sporting Clube de Braga (), commonly known as Sporting de Braga or just Braga, is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Braga. Best known for the men's professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese foo ...

. In the two seasons he sent in Barcelos, he was mainly a reserve player, representing them in only 15 league games. In 1994-95 season, he joined

U.D. Leiria União Desportiva de Leiria (), commonly known as União de Leiria, is a Portuguese professional football club based in Leiria. Founded on 6 June 1966, it currently plays in the Liga Portugal 2, holding home matches at Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pe ...

, playing just 3 games, only one as starter. For the next seasons, Morais dropped down to the second tier, joining

F.C. Alverca Futebol Clube de Alverca is a Portuguese Association football, football club based in Alverca do Ribatejo, Vila Franca de Xira. It currently plays in the Liga Portugal 2. History F.C. Alverca was founded on 1 September 1939. After many decades i ...

and becoming an undisputed starter, adding nearly 90 caps in the three seasons the team spent in the second tier. Acting as a

farm team In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a Team sport, team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any s ...

for Benfica, he represented the ''Reds'' on one occasion, a 0–2 home loss against

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 ...

on 30 May 1997. In 1998, he was loaned out to S.C. Campomaiorense, starting one match, a 0–5 home trashing by Benfica, on 29 November 1998. He returned to Alverca in January 1999, but did not have the same influence as before, with Valente and later

Gaspar Azevedo José Gaspar da Silva Azevedo (born 1 June 1975), known simply as Gaspar, is a Portuguese retired professional footballer who played as a central defender. Club career Gaspar was born in Santo Tirso, Porto District. During the vast majority of h ...

being preferred choices. Morais left Alverca in 2001 and played the last two seasons of his career in the third tier, at

Seixal Seixal () is a Portugal, Portuguese city and municipality, located in the district of Setúbal District, Setúbal, in the metropolitan area of Lisbon region, Lisbon. Its population includes 184,269 inhabitants (2011), in an area of that includes ...

International career

Morais earned 33 caps for Portugal from under-17 to under-21 level, representing Portugal U20 in the 1993 FIFA U20.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morais, Nelson 1974 births Living people Footballers from Lisbon Portuguese men's footballers Men's association football defenders Gil Vicente F.C. players U.D. Leiria players S.L. Benfica footballers F.C. Alverca players Primeira Liga players Portugal men's youth international footballers