Place of birth Paredes, Portugal Number 8 Height 1.74 m Current team Apollon F.C. | Playing position 1989–2000 Paços Ferreira Weight 72 kg | |
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Full name Mário Sérgio Leal Nogueira Date of birth (1981-07-28) 28 July 1981 (age 35) | ||
Mário Sérgio Leal Nogueira (born 28 July 1981), known as Mário Sérgio, is a Portuguese footballer who plays for Cypriot club Apollon Limassol as a right back.
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He amassed Primeira Liga totals of 137 games and three goals over the course of eight seasons, representing Paços de Ferreira, Sporting, Vitória de Guimarães and Naval. Abroad, he played for Metalurh Donetsk and APOEL, winning seven major titles with the latter club.
Mário Sérgio appeared with Portugal at the 2004 Olympic Games.
Portugal
Born in Paredes, Mário Sérgio was a youth graduate of F.C. Paços de Ferreira, making his Primeira Liga debut on 1 October 2000 by playing four minutes in a 4–1 home win against C.F. Estrela da Amadora. He was first-choice in the following two seasons.
On 25 June 2003, Mário Sérgio joined Sporting Clube de Portugal on a four-year contract, being the first signing of manager Fernando Santos. He said upon his arrival: "I am an ambitious player. I have fought for this opportunity and now want to show my worth". However, three years later and with only 18 competitive appearances to his credit, also being loaned to fellow league side Vitória de Guimarães, he was released.
Immediately after leaving the Lions, Mário Sérgio signed for two years with Associação Naval 1º de Maio also in the top level. He was an undisputed starter during his tenure, scoring his third and last league goal on 14 January 2007 to contribute to a 3–0 away victory over Vitória de Setúbal.
Metalurh Donetsk
On 27 July 2008, Mário Sérgio moved to FC Metalurh Donetsk for an undisclosed fee. He made his Ukrainian Premier League on 19 August, in a 1–0 home win against FC Karpaty Lviv.
On 25 September 2009, Mário Sérgio renewed his link for two more years, keeping him at the club until 2012. In March 2012, he became the first player to appear in 100 league games for Metalurh, achieving this feat against SC Tavriya Simferopol; he was released midway through that month alongside two other players, however, having scored twice in the competition, both goals coming against Karpaty in September 2011.
APOEL
On 15 May 2012, Mário Sérgio signed a two-year deal with Cypriot club APOEL FC, scoring his first goal against Alki Larnaca F.C. in a last-minute equalizer. He also participated with the team in the qualifying phase of the UEFA Europa League, netting against Aalesunds FK in a 2–1 home success; at the end of his debut campaign he won the First Division, which was the first major accolade of his career.
On 17 August 2013, APOEL beat Apollon Limassol 1–0 to win the Cypriot Super Cup and Mário Sérgio scored a rare goal in the 35th minute. During the season, he appeared in five games in the group stage of the Europa League, and helped his side conquer the treble as they went on to add the league and the Cup.
On 6 December 2014, Mário Sérgio signed a two-year contract extension with APOEL, running until June 2017.
Apollon Limassol
On 30 December 2016, after he cut ties with APOEL, free agent Mário Sérgio signed a six-month deal with Apollon Limassol with an option for a further season.
International career
Mário Sérgio played for the Portuguese under-21s during two years, representing the nation at the 2004 UEFA European Championship, and was also in squad for the 2004 Summer Olympics football tournament. He gained his first cap for the former on 15 October 2002, in a 2–4 loss in Turkey for the 2004 European Championship qualifiers.