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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: Nelson

Full name: Nelson Augusto Tomar Marcos

Position: Defender

Date of Birth: 10 June 1983

Birthplace: Sal, Cape Verde

Born in Cape Verde, Nelson is an exciting talent who in spite of arriving at Benfica as a relative unknown quickly cemented his place in the team and became a big fans’ favourite.

The speedy right-back made his professional debut at 19 and swiftly progressed up the football ladder in Portugal. He played successively for a club of greater dimension in each of his first four seasons that saw him represent Vilanovense, Salgueiros and Boavista before securing a dream move to Benfica.

Nelson made an immediate impact when bought by the Eagles in the summer of 2005, where his thrilling runs and superb crossing have become a feature of the Lisbon club’s attacking strategy. His chief assets are his skilful feet, raw speed and rapid football brain.

Magnificent display

The highlight of his first season was the virtuoso display against Manchester United as Benfica knocked the English giants out of the Champions League. His high-speed artistry created both goals in a famous 2-1 win.

In 2006/07 he has again been impressive, both in domestic competitions and in Europe. He must wish he could face Manchester United every week as he shined again against the Red Devils scoring with a stunning strike at Old Trafford, although Benfica were eventually beaten.

International Career

The defender impressed so much from an early age the Portuguese football authorities moved quickly to encourage him to adopt national citizenship and bring him into the international fold. He was granted Portuguese citizenship in December 2005, and played in the 2006 under-21 European Championships.

Nelson received his first call-up to the senior squad in the Euro 2008 qualifier against Kazakhstan. Having taken over from Miguel as Benfica’s right-back, Nelson looks set to push the Valencia player hard for the same position in the Portugal team over the coming years.

CLUB APPEARANCES* GOALS Vilanovense 32 1 Salgueiros 21 0 Boavista 32 0 Benfica** 34 1

* League only
** Up to December 2006