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Players: Abel Freddy Adu H. Almeida Bruno Alves Anderson J. Andrade N. Assis Vitor Baia Boa Morte Bosingwa M. Caneira Cardozo R. Carvalho Ze Castro Jorge Costa Rui Costa Conceicao Costinha F. Couto M. da Costa Dady Deco Di Maria Y. Djalo Duda M. Fernandes P. Ferreira Luis Figo Luis Filipe Nuno Gomes L. Gonzalez Helton Izmailov Karagounis Katsouranis Liedson L. Lopez Luisao David Luiz Makukula Maniche Mantorras F. Meira R. Meireles P. Mendes Miguel Miguelito Moreira J. Moutinho Nani Nelson Pauleta C. Peixoto Pepe Petit Pereirinha Joao Pinto H. Postiga Polga Quaresma Quim Ricardo R. Rocha C. Rodriguez Ronaldo Romagnoli P. Sousa Simao Tarik Tiago J. Tomas Tonel Miguel Veloso Hugo Viana Vukcevic Abel Xavier Select player

Player profile: Luis Filipe

Full name: Luis Filipe Angelo Rodriguez Fernandes

Position: Defender

Date of Birth: 14 June 1979

Birthplace: Cantanhede, Portugal

Right-back Luis Filipe is not the fastest of full-backs, nor is he the flashiest, but one cannot deny that he gives everything he has each and every time he takes to the field. Whether he is part of the starting XI or comes on for the last ten minutes of the match, the Benfica defender does what is asked of him without complaint.

Filipe enjoyed a meteoric start to his career. After coming through he ranks as a winger at Academica, Spanish side Atletico Madrid set their sights on the prodigy and signed him soon after his professional debut with Academica.

But things did not work out in the Spanish capital for Filipe and after making just one appearance for the reserve team, Filipe was shipped back to Portugal to Sporting Braga. At Braga the player quickly rediscovered his best form, playing 52 matches and scoring 7 goals. His sparkling performances persuaded Sporting to snap up the winger.

Bittersweet season

Now a member of Lazlo Boloni’s team, Luis Filipe’s first season with the Portuguese giants was bittersweet. At 23 years of age the flanker was a member of Sporting’s championship winning team, albeit making just 10 appearances and failing to hit the net.

A brief high point then came as Filipe scored the first ever goal at Sporting’s brand new Jose Alvalade stadium in a 3-1 pre-season friendly victory over Manchester United. But when the season proper kicked off things took a turn for the worse, as the player suffered a series of injuries, limiting his contributions to just three matches.

Positional change

A loan spell at Leiria followed before Filipe was sold to Maritimo, but only in 2005 when the player returned to Sporting Braga did Filipe’s career get back on track. The player made a total of 52 appearances and was transformed from a winger to a full-back.

Filipe’s second chance at a big club came in the summer of 2007 as Benfica made a surprise swoop for the Braga player, tying him to a 4-year deal. Filipe has made 11 appearances for Benfica thus far as he wages an intense battle with Nelson for the right-back berth, which can only benefit the club.

Experience has taught Luis Filipe that in order to earn your spot, you have to work for it, and that is exactly what he is doing with Benfica.

CLUB APPEARANCES* GOALS Academica 19 2 Atletico Madrid B 1 0 Braga 52 7 Sporting 13 0 Leiria 16 2 Maritimo 30 0 Braga 52 1 Benfica** 11 0

* League only
** Up to December 2007