Role Footballer Position MIDFIELDER Name Nuno Morais Current team APOEL FC | Years Team Weight 76 kg 1994–2002 Penafiel Height 1.85 m | |
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Full name Nuno Miguel Barbosa Morais Date of birth (1984-01-29) 29 January 1984 (age 31) Playing position Number 26 (APOEL FC / MIDFIELDER) Similar People Mario Sergio, Marios Antoniades, Constantinos Charalambidis, Tomas De Vincenti, Efstathios Aloneftis | ||
Place of birth Penafiel, Portugal | ||
How to pronounce nuno morais apoel fc football futbol goal penalty kick yellow red card injury
Nuno Miguel Barbosa Morais (born 29 January 1984) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays for Cypriot club APOEL FC. Mainly a defensive midfielder, he can also appear as a central defender.
Contents
- How to pronounce nuno morais apoel fc football futbol goal penalty kick yellow red card injury
- Nuno morais 26
- Chelsea
- APOEL
- Club statistics
- Honours
- References
He was signed by Chelsea in 2004, but only stayed a few months with the club, going on to spend the vast majority of his career with APOEL and win thirteen major titles, including seven national championships.
Nuno morais 26
Chelsea
Born in Penafiel, Morais started his career at his hometown club F.C. Penafiel, but in August 2004 was signed by England's Chelsea for an undisclosed fee, in a three-year contract after a successful trial period. He made his Chelsea debut in an FA Cup win against Scunthorpe United in January 2005, playing the full 90 minutes. His first Premier League appearance occurred on 10 May 2005, as a late substitute in a 3–1 away success over Manchester United.
Due to the fact that Morais struggled to get first team action in his first season, he was loaned to C.S. Marítimo in 2005–06, alongside compatriot Filipe Oliveira. In that summer, he appeared twice for the Portuguese under-21s at the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Championship on home soil, with Oliveira.
APOEL
Returning to Chelsea, Morais only appeared twice in the league, totalling less than twenty minutes in home draws against Manchester United and Everton and playing three times the FA Cup and the Football League Cup combined. On 11 May 2007 he signed a two-year deal with Cypriot champions APOEL FC, on a free transfer.
During his time in Nicosia, Morais was converted to a defensive midfielder, and signed a new contract until June 2012. Since his debut he was an essential defensive unit as the side won, amongst other trophies, seven championships, three cups and four super cups; he also appeared in all six group stage matches of the club in its first participation in the UEFA Champions League.
In the 2011–12 Champions League, Morais was an undisputed starter for APOEL as it reached the quarter-finals for the first time ever, playing all ten matches – including the round-of-16 triumph over Olympique Lyonnais where he converted his attempt in the penalty shootout. On 4 May 2012, he agreed to a three-year extension to his link.
During 2013–14, Morais appeared in every group stage match in APOEL's UEFA Europa League campaign, and scored the 2–1 winner against FC Girondins de Bordeaux at GSP Stadium. The following season, he was also an automatic first-choice in his team's Champions League campaign.
On 7 May 2016, following his league appearance against Apollon Limassol, Morais reached 251 league matches for APOEL and became the foreigner with the most appearances in the history of the Cypriot top division. On 16 August, after playing against F.C. Copenhagen in the Champions League play-off round, he reached a club-best 81 appearances in European competitions.