Stephen Antunes Eustáquio ( ; born 21 December 1996) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a

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 boundarie ...

for

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal ...

club

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropo ...

and the Canada national team. After starting out at Nazarenos, he has spent most of his club career in Portugal with Torreense,

Leixões The Port of Leixões ( pt, Porto de Leixões, ) is one of Portugal's major seaports, located 4 km north of the mouth of the Douro River, in Matosinhos municipality, near the city of Porto. Leixões Sport Club The Port of Leixões ( pt, P ...

, Chaves,

Paços de Ferreira Paços de Ferreira () is a city in the Porto District, in the north of Portugal. The population of the city in 2011 was 7491, while its municipality had 56,340 inhabitants, in an area of 70.99 km². Sometimes referred to as the ''Capital do ...

and Porto. He also played briefly in Mexico with

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul or simply Cruz Azul () is a professional football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in the Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Because "azul" means "blue" in Spanish, the club has traditionally ...

. Born in Canada, Eustáquio represented

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...

at youth level. However, in 2019 he committed to play for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

and debuted for them in November of that year. He was part of their squad that reached the semi-finals of the

2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 16th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's soccer championship of the North, Central American, and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF. The tournament was originally scheduled ...

, also being selected for the

2022 World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022; it is the first Wo ...

Club career

Early career

Born in

Leamington, Ontario Leamington ( ) is a municipality in Essex County, Ontario, Canada. With a population of 27,595 in the Canada 2016 Census, it forms the second largest urban centre in Windsor-Essex County after Windsor, Ontario. It includes Point Pelee National ...

, to

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Port ...

parents, Eustáquio first played soccer with Leamington Minor Soccer, moving to Portugal at age 7. After beginning with amateurs Nazarenos, he spent two seasons in the third division with Torreense.

Leixões

On 7 June 2017, Eustáquio signed with

for an undisclosed fee. On 23 July he appeared in his first match as a professional in a 2–0 home win against Académico de Viseu in the first round of the

Taça da Liga The Taça da Liga (), known outside Portugal as Portuguese League Cup, is an annual football club competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) for teams competing in the Primeira Liga and LigaPro, the top two tier ...

where he played the full 90 minutes, and his debut in the Segunda Liga was on 6 August in a 4–1 away loss to Real Massamá.

Chaves

Eustáquio joined Chaves on 31 January 2018, on a five-and-a-half-year deal after his

buyout clause A buyout clause or release clause refers to a clause in a contract that imposes an obligation on another organisation wishing to acquire the services of the employee under contract to pay the (usually substantial) fee of the clause to the organisat ...

of €500,000 was paid. He made his

debut four days later, playing the entire 2–1 away victory over Feirense; he scored his first top-flight goal on 14 April, helping his team to come from behind to draw 3–3 at Boavista. On 14 September 2018, in a

Portuguese League Cup Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** P ...

match at the

Estádio do Dragão The Estádio do Dragão (; English: Dragon Stadium) is an all-seater football stadium in Porto, Portugal, and the home ground of FC Porto since 2003. It has a seating capacity of 50,033, making it the third largest football stadium in Portugal. ...

, Eustáquio scored a late equalizer which helped Chaves draw 1–1 and record their first ever point at

's home ground.

Cruz Azul

Eustáquio moved to

of the Mexican Liga MX on 15 January 2019. Vítor Severino, who worked as assistant to manager Luís Castro at Chaves, described him as "like the typical player from

La Masia La Masia de Can Planes, usually shortened to La Masia (; en, "The Farmhouse"), is a term used for FC Barcelona's youth academy. The academy includes more than 300 young players. It has been an instrumental factor in Barcelona's European succes ...

, from

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...

". On his debut, against

Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and < ...

, he was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

mere minutes after taking the field as a substitute, but eventually the

video assistant referee The video assistant referee (VAR) is a match official in association football who reviews decisions made by the referee. The assistant video assistant referee (AVAR) is a current or former referee appointed to assist the VAR in the video ope ...

cautioned him with only a

yellow card Yellow card may refer to: * Yellow card (sport), shown in many sports after a rules infraction or, by analogy, a serious warning in other areas * Yellowcard, an American alternative rock band * Yellow Card Scheme, a United Kingdom initiative conc ...

upon review; shortly after, however, he was stretchered off with an injury. After being sidelined for eight months, Eustáquio returned to the pitch on 22 September 2019, playing for the under-20 team in preparation for his full return.

Paços de Ferreira

In December 2019, Eustáquio was loaned to Portuguese top-flight club

for the remainder of the season. He made his league debut on 11 January 2020, in a 0–0 away draw against

Portimonense Portimonense Sporting Clube is a Portuguese sports club based in Portimão. Founded on 14 August 1914, it is most notable for its professional football team, which currently plays in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. It als ...

. Eustáquio agreed to another loan in September 2020. The following January, the move was made permanent for a fee of €2.5 million. He scored his first goal for them on 24 October, closing the 1–1 league draw at Nacional, and six days later he added another in a 3–2 win over Porto at the Estádio da Mata Real. On 10 April 2021, Eustáquio lasted only 22 minutes in a 5–0 home loss to Benfica, receiving a straight

red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or dia ...

for a foul on Julian Weigl. He made his European debut on 5 August, and netted the third in the 4–0 home victory against

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic territory) is a town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, with a population of 18,755 at the 2011 Census. It is a major passenger and freight roll-on roll-off port. Larne is administered by Mid ...

in the third qualifying round of the

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Europa Conference League (abbreviated as UECL) is an annual football club competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on the ...

Porto

In January 2022, Eustáquio was loaned to Porto for the rest of the season, with an option to buy. He played his first match on 6 February, replacing Fábio Vieira late into a 2–0 away defeat of Arouca. On 31 May 2022, Porto exercised its purchase option, signing Eustáquio to a contract until 30 June 2027. Having become a starter for the

Sérgio Conceição Sérgio Paulo Marceneiro da Conceição (; born 15 November 1974) is a Portuguese professional football manager and former player who mostly played as a right winger. He is the current manager of Porto. Throughout his career, he played for te ...

-led side, he scored his first goal on 30 September in the 4–1 home win over

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 (i ...

. He added two more in the group stage of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

to help his team to progress as group winners, at

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,062.

in a 4–0 victory and against

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in ...

in a 2–1 home win. In Porto's run to winning the 2022–23 Taça da Liga, Eustáquio scored early opening goals in the 3–0 semi-final victory over Académico de Viseu and the 2–0 final against

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 fo ...

. On 15 April, he was informed at

half-time In several team sports, matches are played in two halves. Half-time (also written halftime or half time) is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match. Typically, after half-time, teams swap ends of the field of play in or ...

of the home fixture against Santa Clara that his mother Esmeralda had died aged 51, and was replaced shortly after in an eventual 2–1 win.

International career

Youth

Eligible to represent

and

, Eustáquio appeared for Canada's under-17 side at the 2012 AGS Cup. In November 2017, Portugal under-21 manager

Rui Jorge Rui Jorge de Sousa Dias Macedo de Oliveira (born 27 March 1973), known as Rui Jorge, is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as a left-back, currently manager of the Portugal national under-21 team. In a 15-year professional career h ...

selected him for 2019 UEFA European Championship qualifiers against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...

and Switzerland to be held early in that month. He won his first

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 ...

against the former, playing 90 minutes and being booked in the 1–1 draw in

Constanța Constanța (, ; ; rup, Custantsa; bg, Кюстенджа, Kyustendzha, or bg, Констанца, Konstantsa, label=none; el, Κωνστάντζα, Kōnstántza, or el, Κωνστάντια, Kōnstántia, label=none; tr, Köstence), histo ...

Senior

In February 2019, Eustáquio committed to play for Canada at senior level. Upon his return from his knee injury, he received his first call-up to the team on 1 October 2019 for a

CONCACAF Nations League The CONCACAF Nations League ( es, Liga de Naciones CONCACAF, french: Ligue des Nations de la CONCACAF) is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of CONCACAF, the ...

fixture against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. He made his debut on 15 November, coming from the bench for

Mark-Anthony Kaye Mark-Anthony Kaye (born December 2, 1994) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Major League Soccer club New England Revolution and the Canada national team. Early life Born in Toronto, Ontario to Jamaican pa ...

in the second half of the 4–1 away defeat. Eustáquio was named to a 60-man preliminary squad for the

on 18 June, before making the final cut for the tournament. He scored his first international goal in the first group fixture on 11 July, a 4–1 win over

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island and an Overseas department and region, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of ...

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

, and added a

direct free kick A free kick is a method of restarting play in association football. It is awarded after an infringement of the laws by the opposing team. Direct and indirect free kicks Free kicks may be either direct or indirect, distinguished as follows: ...

four days later to open a 4–1 defeat of

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

at the same venue. Canada made the semi-finals, with him concluding the 2–0 victory against Costa Rica in the last eight. Eustáquio was called-up to the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022; it is the first Wo ...

squad, playing two games in a group-stage elimination. In June 2023, he was selected for the

2023 CONCACAF Nations League Finals 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many socie ...

. Later that month, he made the final 23-man squad due to appear at the 2023 Gold Cup, but withdrew shortly before the start of the tournament.

Personal life

Eustáquio's older brother, Mauro, was also a professional soccer player. He represented Canada at under-20 and under-23 levels.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Canada's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Eustáquio goal.''

Honours

Porto *

: 2021–22 *

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 seas ...

: 2021–22,

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese football match played since 1979 between the winners of the Portuguese League (Primeira Liga) and Portuguese ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeyp ...

Canada *

runner up:

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

Individual *Primeira Liga Midfielder of the Month: September 2022

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eustaquio, Stephen 1996 births Living people People from Leamington, Ontario People from Nazaré, Portugal Canadian people of Portuguese descent Portuguese men's footballers Canadian men's soccer players Sportspeople from Essex County, Ontario Soccer people from Ontario Footballers from Leiria District Men's association football midfielders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Campeonato de Portugal (league) players S.C.U. Torreense players Leixões S.C. players G.D. Chaves players F.C. Paços de Ferreira players FC Porto players Liga MX players Cruz Azul footballers Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Canada men's international soccer players 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2022 FIFA World Cup players Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Mexico