João Aurélio

João Aurélio
Personal information
Full name	João Miguel Coimbra Aurélio
Date of birth	17 August 1988 (age 36)
Place of birth	Beja, Portugal
Height	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Right-back, midfielder
Team information
Current team	Nacional
Number	2
Youth career
1996–2002	Desportivo Beja
2002–2005	Despertar
2005–2007	Vitória Guimarães
Senior career*
Years	Team
2007–2008	Penalva
2008–2016	Nacional
2016–2018	Vitória Guimarães
2018–2020	Moreirense
2020–2022	Pafos
2022–	Nacional
International career
2008	Portugal U20
2008–2010	Portugal U21
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 09:11, 24 December 2024 (UTC)

João Miguel Coimbra Aurélio (born 17 August 1988) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays for C.D. Nacional as a right-back or a right midfielder.

He spent the vast majority of his career with Nacional, making 239 competitive appearances over eight seasons. He later represented Vitória de Guimarães and Moreirense, totalling 283 Primeira Liga games.

Club career

Nacional

Born in Beja, Aurélio began his professional career with lower league club S.C. Penalva do Castelo. In the 2008–09 season, he moved straight into the Primeira Liga with Madeira's C.D. Nacional, managing ten league appearances in his first year and scoring in a 2–1 away win against C.F. Os Belenenses on 26 April 2009.^[2]

In the following campaign, Aurélio started impressively, netting against Sporting CP in the opener – although he also scored in his own net – and S.C. Olhanense, both 1–1 draws.^[3]^[4] Additionally, he also started and scored in the UEFA Europa League 4–3 home defeat of FC Zenit Saint Petersburg (eventual 5–4 aggregate win).^[5]^[6]

Aurélio continued to be an important first-team element in the following six top-division seasons, appearing in 149 matches and scoring in a 3–0 victory at Rio Ave F.C. on 28 September 2013.^[7] He also featured regularly as right-back.^[8]

Vitória Guimarães

On 9 June 2016, Aurélio signed a two-year contract with Vitória SC, where he had played youth football from ages 17 to 19.^[9] He played 62 total games for the team from Guimarães, including four in their run to the final of the Taça de Portugal, but was unused in the decisive match that the team lost 2–1 to S.L. Benfica.^[10]

Aurélio started in a 3–1 defeat to the same opponent in the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira on 5 August 2017.^[11]

Moreirense

Having turned down the chance to play in Croatia for HNK Hajduk Split, Aurélio moved to Vitória's neighbours Moreirense F.C. on a two-year deal on 20 June 2018.^[12] In his third appearance, on 27 August, he scored with the last touch of the game to seal a 1–1 home draw with B-SAD.^[13]

Pafos

On 25 August 2020, the 32-year-old Aurélio left Portugal for the first time, signed for a two-year contract at Pafos FC of the Cypriot First Division on a free transfer.^[14]

International career

After good performances for Nacional, Aurélio was called up to the Portugal under-21 side by Oceano, for the 2011 UEFA European Championship qualifiers. In the 81st minute of the match against Lithuania, he came on as a substitute for S.L. Benfica's Fábio Coentrão and headed in the final 4–1 three minutes later.^[15]

Personal life

Aurélio's twin brother, Luís, was also a footballer and a midfielder. He played most of his career in the lower leagues, and they shared teams at Nacional.^[16]^[17]

Career statistics

As of 7 June 2021^[18]^[19]

Club	Season	League		Cup		League Cup		Europe		Other^[a]		Total
Club	Season	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Penalva	2007–08	34	5	2	0	—		—		—		36	5
Nacional	2008–09	10	1	1	0	2	0	—		—		13	1
	2009–10	27	4	3	0	3	0	8	1	—		41	5
	2010–11	19	0	2	0	3	0	—		—		24	0
	2011–12	16	0	1	0	1	0	4	0	—		22	0
	2012–13	24	0	2	0	2	0	—		—		28	0
	2013–14	26	1	1	0	3	1	—		—		30	2
	2014–15	33	0	6	1	1	0	2	0	—		42	1
	2015–16	31	0	4	0	4	0	—		—		39	0
	Total	186	6	20	1	19	1	14	1	—		239	9
Vitória Guimarães	2016–17	25	0	5	0	2	0	—		—		32	0
	2017–18	22	0	2	0	3	0	4	0	1	0	32	0
	Total	47	0	7	0	5	0	4	0	1	0	64	0
Moreirense	2018–19	21	2	0	0	0	0	—		—		21	2
	2019–20	29	2	0	0	1	0	—		—		30	2
	Total	50	4	0	0	1	0	—		—		51	4
Pafos	2020–21	36	1	1	0	—		—		—		37	1
Career Total		353	16	30	1	25	1	18	1	1	0	427	19

^ Includes Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "João Aurélio" (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
^ Melo, Rui Miguel (27 April 2009). "Golo polémico do Nacional deu vitória" [Controversial Nacional goal gave win]. Jornal de Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 17 April 2020.
^ "Nacional e Sporting empatam 1–1 com dois golos de João Aurélio" [Nacional and Sporting draw 1–1 with two goals from João Aurélio]. Açoriano Oriental (in Portuguese). 15 August 2009. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
^ "Nacional e Olhanense empatam" [Nacional and Olhanense draw] (in Portuguese). Rádio e Televisão de Portugal. 1 September 2009. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
^ "Arrogantes russos com sorte imerecida" [Cocky Russians got more than they deserved]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). 21 August 2009. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
^ "Zenit-Nacional, 1–1 (crónica)" [Zenit-Nacional, 1–1 (report)] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 27 August 2009. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
^ "Eficácia madeirense arrasa o Rio Ave" [Efficiency from Madeira to crush Rio Ave]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 28 September 2013. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
^ Pestana, Emanuel (7 May 2016). "Regressos de João Aurélio e Rodrigo Pinho" [Returns of João Aurélio and Rodrigo Pinho]. Record (in Portuguese). Retrieved 3 July 2016.
^ "João Aurélio reforça o Vitória de Guimarães" [João Aurélio bolsters Vitória de Guimarães] (in Portuguese). Rádio Renascença. 9 June 2016. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
^ "Benfica-V. Guimarães, 2–1". Record (in Portuguese). 28 May 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
^ Marques, José Carlos (5 August 2017). "Benfica vence Supertaça ao derrotar Guimarães por 3–1" [Benfica win Supercup by defeating Guimarães 3–1]. Correio da Manhã (in Portuguese). Retrieved 7 April 2020.
^ Freitas, Bruno (20 June 2018). "Surpresa João Aurélio chegou com Trigueira" [Surprise João Aurélio arrived with Trigueira]. Record (in Portuguese). Retrieved 7 April 2020.
^ "Belenenses volta a deixar escapar pontos nos descontos" [Belenenses let points get away in added time again]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). 27 August 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
^ Afonso, Jorge (25 August 2020). "João Aurélio é reforço do Pafos FC" [João Aurélio is addition to Pafos FC]. Record (in Portuguese). Retrieved 26 August 2020.
^ "Oceano com maré cheia de golos" [Ocean ("Oceano" in English, pun on manager's name) with tideful of goals] (in Portuguese). Rádio e Televisão de Portugal. 4 September 2009. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
^ "Sub-21: Os De Boer de Beja" [Under-21: Beja's De Boers]. Record (in Portuguese). 18 April 2009. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
^ "Irmãos João e Luís Aurélio vão deixar o Nacional" [Brothers João and Luís Aurélio will leave Nacional] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 20 May 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
^ João Aurélio at ForaDeJogo (archived)
^ "João Aurélio". Soccerway. Retrieved 1 January 2018.