Player Profile: Miguel Lopes
Full name: Hugo Miguel Almeida Costa Lopes
Position: Defender
Date of Birth: 19 December 1986
Birthplace: Lisbon, Portugal
When Paulo Bento pronounced the name Miguel Lopes in his Euro 2012 squad, it was a surprise for many. “It’s one of happiest days of my life. I always said I wanted to be called up for the Selecção. My dream has come true,” said the classy 25 year old full-back at the time.
But for those who had watched his progress at four different clubs in the last four seasons, it was not such a shock. Lopes came through the ranks at Benfica, but never made it past the B team. He then spent time in the lower leagues with Operário, until 2nd-division Rio Ave contracted him in 2007.
It was at the Vila do Conde club that Lopes first started turning heads. An ever-present (alongside Fábio Coentrão) as Rio Ave stormed to promotion, a series of exuberant displays of solid defending and surging forward runs to support the attack, now in the top flight, persuaded FC Porto to buy Lopes.
Competing with experienced Uruguayan international Jorge Fucile for a starting berth, Lopes barely got to double figures in appearances in his first season at the Estádio do Dragão. As so often happens at Porto, a promising young Portuguese player found his place in the team barred by an expensive import.
Lopes’ hopes of having hit the big time were somewhat quashed when he was shipped out to the Spanish second tier on a season-long loan at Real Betis. Far from hankering for a better solution, Lopes got his head down and enjoyed a highly productive year in Spain, becoming a huge fans’ favourite and playing a big part in the club’s promotion to La Liga.
Curiosity
Miguel Lopes settled so well at Betis that he and his agent gave serious thought to making the stay in Seville longer: “I’m very comfortable here; Betis has touched me in the heart,” Lopes said, who further endeared himself to the club's fans by often spending over an hour after games or after training outside his car chatting with supporters and posing for photos.
Given the way he had ended 2010/11, Lopes could reasonably have nurtured hopes of being given another chance at FC Porto. However, the Dragons decided to forsake his services again and a second loan ensued, this time at Braga.
The consistent brilliance of regular right-back Leandro Salino kept Lopes out of Braga’s starting line-up until March, but when injury curtailed Salino’s season, Lopes seized his chance. A superb run of form in the final two and a half months of the campaign, including standout performances against both Benfica and FC Porto, saw Lopes’ stock on the rise again.
Benefiting from his ability to play on either flank, Lopes got the call from Bento, and he will be hoping that he can make a meaningful contribution in Ukraine and Poland to definitively persuade the FC Porto hierarchy he is worthy of a place in their 2012/13 squad.
by Tom Kundert (23/05/2012)
| CLUB |
APPEARANCES* |
GOALS |
| Rio Ave |
50 |
0 |
| FC Porto** |
12 |
0 |
| Real Betis |
21 |
0 |
| Braga |
10 |
0 |
| |
|
|
| PORTUGAL** |
0 |
0 |
* League only
** Up to May 2012
|
