Sérgio Eduardo Ferreira da Cunha (born 15 October 1972 in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

), known as Serginho, is a Brazilian retired

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.

Club career

After playing in his country mostly for modest clubs – he represented

Associação Atlética Portuguesa (RJ) Associação Atlética Portuguesa, also known as Portuguesa Carioca, Portuguesa do Rio or Portuguesa da Ilha, and also nicknamed Lusa, is a Brazilian professional association football club based in Governador Island, Rio de Janeiro. The team play ...

Olaria Atlético Clube Olaria Atlético Clube (''Olaria Athletic Club'' in English), usually abbreviated to Olaria, is a Brazilian football club established in 1915, since expanded into other sports. Mostly known for its Brazilian football team based in the city o ...

América Football Club América Football Club may refer to: * América Football Club (PR), Curitiba * América Football Club (CE), Fortaleza * America Football Club (Rio de Janeiro), Rio de Janeiro * América Futebol Clube (AC), Rio Branco * América Futebol Clube ...

Vitória Futebol Clube (ES) Vitória Futebol Clube, commonly referred to as Vitória, is a Brazilian professional club based in Vitória, Espírito Santo, Vitória, Espírito Santo founded on 1 October 1912, being the oldest club in the state. It competes in the Campeonat ...

– Serginho moved at almost 22 to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

with

C.D. Nacional Clube Desportivo Nacional (), commonly known as Nacional da Madeira and sometimes just Nacional, is a Portuguese football club based in Funchal, on the island of Madeira. Founded on 8 December 1910, it currently plays in the Liga Portugal , P ...

, being an instrumental part in the

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

side's rise from

the third is a light novel series, that has also been made into manga and anime series by Ryo Hoshino and illustrated by Ariko Ito. The anime series goes under the name . According to the New York Comic Convention, ''The Third'' has been licensed by ...

and second divisions, eventually consolidating in the

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 ...

. In 2003–04, already slowing down, Serginho still scored two goals in 19 games as Nacional

qualified Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

for the first time ever to the

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 ...

. He then moved to the lower leagues both in his country (

Esporte Clube Juventude Esporte Clube Juventude (), or simply Juventude, is a Brazilian football (soccer), football club in Caxias do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul. The club currently competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the Brazilian football league system, fi ...

Universidade Estácio de Sá Futebol Clube The FISU World University Games, formerly the Universiade, is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The former name is a portmanteau of the words "Universi ...

) and Portugal (

C.F. União Clube de Futebol União, commonly known as União da Madeira, was a Portuguese association football, football club based in Funchal, Madeira, notable for its six season in the Portuguese top-flight Primeira Liga, between the 1989–90 Primeira D ...

and U.D. Santana), before retiring in 2007 at the age of 35; he was Nacional's all-time top scorer, having netted well over 100 times in competitive matches.

International career

Serginho represented Brazil's under-20s at the

1991 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1991 FIFA World Youth Championship was the eighth staging of the FIFA World Youth Championship, an international football competition organized by FIFA for men's youth national teams, and the eighth since it was established in 1977 as the FIF ...

in Portugal, but appeared only once for the eventual losing finalists, featuring 15 minutes in the 5–1 quarter-final win against South Korea.

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Serginho 1972 births Living people Footballers from Rio de Janeiro (city) Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Associação Atlética Portuguesa (RJ) players Olaria Atlético Clube players America Football Club (Rio de Janeiro) players Vitória Futebol Clube (ES) players Esporte Clube Juventude players Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players C.D. Nacional players C.F. União players Saudi First Division League players Al-Shoulla FC players Brazil men's under-20 international footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Saudi Pro League players