Fernando Meira

Football player infobox
playername= Fernando Meira
fullname = Fernando José da Silva Freitas Meira
nickname =


dateofbirth = birth date and age|1978|6|5|df=yes
cityofbirth = Guimarães
countryofbirth = Portugal
height = height|m=1.90
currentclub = Galatasaray
clubnumber = 5
position = Central Defender
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1995–1998 1998–1999 1999–2000 2000–2001 2002–2008
2008–
clubs = Vitória SC
FC Felgueiras
Vitória SC
SL Benfica
VfB Stuttgart
Galatasaray
caps(goals) = 022 0(0)
033 0(0)
030 0(2)
046 0(2)
173 (11)
0|005 0(0)
nationalyears = 2000–
nationalteam = Portugal
nationalcaps(goals) = 053 0(2)
pcupdate = September 29 2008
ntupdate = August 22 2008

Fernando José da Silva Freitas Meira, known as Fernando Meira, (born 5 June 1978 in Guimarães), pron. IPA2|fɨɾ'nɐ̃du 'mɐiɾɐ, is a Portuguese football player who currently plays for Turkish club Galatasaray.

He has won numerous caps for the Portugal national football team and is a regular in the national side's defence. After being left out of the squad for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, he earned a recall under new coach Luiz Felipe Scolari.

Club career

He began his career with Vitória de Guimarães in 1995/96 and spent two further seasons there before moving to second division FC Felgueiras on loan. In 1998/99 Meira played 33 league games as Felgueiras narrowly missed out on promotion, finishing fifth, before returning to Guimarães for another fine season in which he scored his first goals in league football. In 2000 SL Benfica paid €4m (plus a player) for him in summer 2000 and the defender did not disappoint, earning the club captaincy and bolstering his reputation to the point that VfB Stuttgart paid €7.5m for his skills in January 2002. [ cite web |title=Bundesliga reaches cash crossroads |publisher=ESPN |date=2007-11-13 |url=http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=481150&root=europe&cc=5739 |accessdate=2008-07-20 ] Stuttgart's general manager, Rolf Rüssmann, described the player as a "trophy" signing. cite web |title=Fernando Meira - Player profile |publisher=Sky Sports |url= http://www.skysports.com/football/euro2008/player-profiles/0,23132,13954_153392,00.html|accessdate=2008-07-20 ] In 2002/03 season VfB Stuttgart coach Felix Magath fielded Fernando Meira in 31 Bundesliga matches, and only a suspension prevented him from featuring in all 34 as the club finished second to clinch a place in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League. He missed two UEFA Cup matches, including the home defeat by Celtic FC. In 2006 he became team captain of VfB Stuttgart. In 2006-07 they won the Bundesliga trophy, making it the first time the team won it in 15 years and the first domestic league title for Meira.

On 20 July 2008, at the end of the 2007/2008 season, VfB Stuttgart removed Meira of the team captaincy and announced their intention to sell the player. [ cite web |title=Meira departs Going |publisher=vfb.de |date=2008-07-20 |url=http://www.vfb.de/en/aktuell/news/2008/24266.php |accessdate=2008-07-20] Shortly afterwards, on 22 July 2008, Meira signed a four year contract with Turkish club Galatasaray. [ cite web |title= Portugal defender Fernando Meira leaves Stuttgart for Galatasaray |publisher=International Herald Tribune |date=2008-07-23 |url=http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/07/23/sports/EU-SOC-Stuttgart-Meira.php |accessdate=2008-07-23 ] [ cite web |title=Meira signs with Galatasaray |publisher=Galatasaray.org |date=2008-07-22 |url=http://www.galatasaray.org/kulup/haber/1532.php |accessdate=2008-07-22]

International career

Meira made his international debut in 2000 but failed to secure a regular position until the 2006 World Cup. The defender played in all of Portugal's seven games in the tournament, finishing fourth overall. cite web |title=Fernando Meira - Player profile |publisher=UEFA|url=http://www1.uefa.com/tournament/players/player=24371/index.html |accessdate=2008-07-20 ] The player continued to be a regular fixture in the UEFA Euro 2008 tournament in Austria and Switzerland, appearing in all of Portugal's group stage games. However he did not feature in their quarter final match against Germany. Portugal lost the game and Germany went on to the final of the tournament.

Honours

* Galatasaray
** Turkish Super Cup: 1 (2008)

* Stuttgart
**Bundesliga"'
***Winner: 2006-07
***Runner-up: 2002-03
**DFB Pokal
***Runner-Up: 2006-07

* Portugal
**FIFA World Cup:
***4th place: 2006

References

External links

* [http://www.fernando-meira.de/ Meira's Official homepage] de icon pt icon
* [http://www.galatasaray.org/futboltakimi/pages/oyuncu_297.php Profile at galatasaray.org] tr icon en icon
* [http://www.tff.org/Default.aspx?pageId=30&kisiId=1168318 Profile at TFF.org] tr icon
* [http://www.transfermarkt.de/de/spieler/1432/fernandomeira/profil.html Profile at transfermarkt.de] de icon