Full name Elias Alves da Silva Years Team Number 21 Height 1.76 m | Playing position Role Footballer Name Elias da Position Midfielder | |
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Date of birth (1981-09-04) 4 September 1981 (age 34) | ||
Current team PFC Beroe Stara Zagora Place of birth Montalvania, Brazil | ||
Elias Alves da Silva (born 4 September 1981), known simply as Elias, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays for Bulgarian club FC Vereya as a defensive midfielder.
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He also holds Portuguese citizenship, due to the many years spent in the country. He amassed Primeira Liga totals of 167 games and eight goals over the course of eight seasons, in representation of seven clubs.
Football career
Born in Montalvânia, Minas Gerais, Elias started playing professionally with lowly Grêmio Inhumense. In 2001, he joined FC Porto, but played mostly for its B-side during his two-year stint; he appeared once for the first team, featuring the last 13 minutes of a 3–2 home win against Varzim S.C. on 17 May 2003, after taking the place of Clayton.
In the 2004–05 season, after a brief spell back in his country with Sport Club Corinthians Alagoano, Elias moved back to Portugal, successively representing in the Primeira Liga G.D. Estoril Praia, Gil Vicente FC, F.C. Paços de Ferreira, Vitória de Setúbal, U.D. Leiria and Portimonense SC. With Vitória he won the domestic League Cup, playing the full 90 minutes in the penalty shootout win against Sporting Clube de Portugal.
On 22 December 2011, Elias joined PFC Beroe Stara Zagora in Bulgaria on a free transfer, signing a one-and-a-half year contract. He made his league debut on 3 March of the following year, in a 0–3 away loss to PFC Ludogorets Razgrad.