Steven de Sousa Vitória (born 11 January 1987) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

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 Chaves and the Canada national team. Having started out at

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 ...

, he went on to play for several clubs in Portugal in both the

and the Segunda Liga, this including a one-year spell at Benfica. He also competed professionally in the United States and Poland. Vitória is a Canadian international, making his debut in 2016 at the age of 29, after previously representing Portugal at youth international level. He was part of the squads at the

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Amer ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

and

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

, reaching the semi-finals of the latter, and at 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 ...

Early life

Born in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada, 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 ...

immigrants from the

Azores ) , motto= ( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem=( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

, Vitória played youth soccer with the Sudbury Lions, CS Azzurri, Mississauga Falcons, Dixie SC, Kleinburg-Nobleton SC, and

Glen Shields SC The Glen Shields Sun Devils were a soccer team which played in the Canadian Professional Soccer League from 1998–2002. They played their home matches in Thornhill, Ontario. The franchise was one of the original teams of the CPSL. Originally f ...

. He joined the

Woodbridge Strikers Woodbridge Strikers Soccer Club is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Woodbridge, Ontario. The club was founded in 1976 as a youth soccer club and added its semi-professional club in League1 Ontario in 2014. The team plays home ...

at the age of 17, being deployed mainly as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

. He was approached to appear 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 ...

's youth national teams on multiple occasions after leaving the country, but declined each time.

Club career

Porto

Vitória was signed by

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, MHIH, OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Por ...

at the age of 18, already reconverted as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. In the following years he began a series of loans, starting out at

G.D. Tourizense Grupo Desportivo Tourizense is a Portuguese football club based in Touriz, Tábua Municipality. Founded in 1975, it plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, holding home games at '' Estádio Visconde do Vinhal'', with a 1,200-seat capacity. Histor ...

in the

third division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

then joining

S.C. Olhanense Sporting Clube Olhanense () is a Portuguese sports club from Olhão, Algarve. Its football team was founded on 27 April 1912 and currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, the fourth tier of Portuguese football. It holds home matches at the ...

for two years, and helping the

Algarve The Algarve (, , ; from ) is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities ( ''concelhos'' or ''municípios'' in Portuguese). The region has its ...

side

promote Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

to the

in his second season by appearing in 18 games, 15 as a starter. In the 2009–10 campaign, Vitória continued on loan, this time with

S.C. Covilhã Sporting Clube da Covilhã, commonly known as just Sporting da Covilhã, is Portuguese football club from the city of Covilhã that plays in the second-tier Liga Portugal 2. The club was founded in 1923. Their nickname is the ''Leões da Serra'', ...

in the Segunda Liga. He played his first official match for his new club on 2 August 2009, in a 1–0 away win against

A.D. Carregado Associação Desportiva do Carregado, commonly known as just Carregado, is a Portugal, Portuguese Association football, football club based in Carregado, a parish of Alenquer Municipality, Portugal, Alenquer, Lisbon. Founded in 1950, it currently ...

in 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 ...

Estoril

Vitória cut all ties with Porto in July 2010, signing with

G.D. Estoril Praia Grupo Desportivo Estoril Praia (), commonly known as Estoril, is a Portuguese sports club from Estoril, Cascais, Lisbon. Founded on 17 May 1939, its football team currently plays in Primeira Liga and hold home games at the Estádio António Coi ...

in the second division. In his debut season in the top flight,

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, he played 27 games and scored 11 goals to finish ninth in the top scorers' chart– eight of them from

penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * P ...

– to help his team finish fifth and

qualify Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

for the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

Benfica

Free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

Vitória joined

S.L. Benfica Sport Lisboa e Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. Founded on 28 February 1904 as ''Sport Lisboa'', B ...

on 16 June 2013, signing a four-year contract; he called the day of his signing "the most important and happiest day of my life". His only league appearance took place in the last day of the season as the club had already been crowned champions, and he played the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 loss at former side Porto. Vitória was an unused substitute in Benfica's loss in the Europa League final to

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville, the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It plays in Spanish football's top flight, La Liga. Sevilla have won the UEFA Eu ...

. After becoming unsatisfied with his status, he was targeted by

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vi ...

and

C.S. Marítimo Club Sport Marítimo MH M, commonly known as Marítimo ( locally ), is a Portuguese sports club founded in Funchal, Madeira, in 1910. Marítimo is best known for its football team playing in Portugal's top-flight competition, the Primeira Liga. ...

. On 9 February 2015, Vitória was loaned to

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

side

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in Chester, Pennsylvania. The Union compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the club began playing in 2010 ...

for one season. He scored his first goal for the team in his hometown, in a 3–1 away defeat to

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...

, being released in December after the club declined against exercising its contract option on the player.

Lechia Gdańsk

Vitória joined

Lechia Gdańsk Lechia Gdańsk () is a Polish football club based in Gdańsk. The club was founded in 1945 by people expelled from Lwów, who were supporters of Poland's oldest football team Lechia Lwów, founded in 1903. The club's name comes from Lechia, a ...

on 17 August 2016, signing a three-year contract. He made his debut on 21 September, playing the entire round-of-16 penalty shootout loss to

Puszcza Niepołomice Puszcza Niepołomice is a professional Polish football club located in Niepołomice, Poland. It currently plays in the second tier. The team's colors are yellow, white and green. Current squad References E ...

in the

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in football ( pl, Puchar Polski w piłce nożnej ) is an elimination tournament for Polish football clubs, held continuously from 1950, and is the second most important national title in Polish football after the Ekstraklasa titl ...

(1–1 after 120 minutes).

Moreirense

Vitória returned to Portugal to sign with

Moreirense F.C. Moreirense Futebol Clube is a Portuguese professional Association football, football club based in Moreira de Cónegos, Guimarães Municipality, in Minho Province, Minho. Founded on 1 November 1938, it plays in the Liga Portugal 2, holding home gam ...

on 4 July 2019, agreeing to a three-year deal. He made his debut on 11 August, playing the entire 3–1 defeat at

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. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese ...

. He scored his first goal on 2 November, in a 1–1 home draw against

Vitória de Guimarães Vitoria or Vitória may refer to : People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Steven Vitória ...

Chaves

On 4 July 2022, after being relegated, the 35-year-old Vitória joined newly promoted

G.D. Chaves Grupo Desportivo de Chaves, commonly known as Chaves (), is a Portuguese football club from Chaves currently playing in the Primeira Liga. They were founded in 1949 and currently play at Estádio Municipal de Chaves. Their home kit is red-and-bl ...

for an undisclosed fee. He scored his first goal on 27 August, a powerful long-range header to open the 2–0 victory at

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 ...

International career

Portugal

Vitória 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 the

2006 Lusophony Games The 1st Lusophone Games ( pt, 1.os Jogos da Lusofonia; ) were held in the Macau Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China between 7 and 15 October 2006. The 2006 Games were the first edition of this multi-sport event for Po ...

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

, the

2006 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship 2006 Final Tournament was held in Poland between 18 July and 29 July 2006. The top three teams in each group qualified for the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Players born after 1 January 1987 were allowed to parti ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

and the

2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 16th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup (formerly called the FIFA World Youth Championship), hosted by Canada from 30 June to 22 July 2007. Argentina defeated the Czech Republic in the title game by the score ...

in his birth nation. In the latter tournament, he featured in the 2–1 group stage loss to

Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

Canada

In September 2012, without having been

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

at senior level, 25-year-old Vitória considered switching allegiance to

. In January 2016, he accepted a call-up by the country for a

friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

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 ...

on 5 February, and played the full 90 minutes in the 1–0 defeat at the

Home Depot Center Dignity Health Sports Park is a multi-use sports complex located on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills in Carson, California. The complex consists of the 27,000-seat Dignity Health Sports Park soccer stadium, the Dignit ...

. He scored his first goal on 6 October, helping to a 4–0 friendly win over Mauritania. Vitória was named to the Canadian squads for the

and

. In the latter tournament, he captained the side to the semi-final, where he was suspended for the 2–1 defeat to

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

. In November 2022, Vitória was included in the squad for 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 ...

. He made his debut in the competition on the 23rd at the age of 35, in a 1–0 loss against

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

Style of play

Vitória is known for his heading, marking and scoring abilities, especially on penalty kicks and free kicks.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Olhanense * Segunda Liga: 2008–09 Estoril *Segunda Liga: 2011–12 Benfica *

: 2013–14 *

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 ...

: 2013–14 *

runner-up: 2013–14 Lechia Gdańsk *

: 2018–19

References

External links

Philadelphia Union official profile
* *
Portugal national team data
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vitoria, Steven 1987 births Living people Canadian people of Portuguese descent Canadian people of Azorean descent Canadian soccer players Portuguese footballers Soccer players from Toronto Association football defenders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players FC Porto players G.D. Tourizense players S.C. Olhanense players S.C. Covilhã players G.D. Estoril Praia players S.L. Benfica B players S.L. Benfica footballers Moreirense F.C. players G.D. Chaves players Major League Soccer players Philadelphia Union players Ekstraklasa players Lechia Gdańsk players Portugal youth international footballers Canada men's international soccer players 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2022 FIFA World Cup players Canadian expatriate soccer players Portuguese expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Poland Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in the United States Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Poland Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Poland