Miguel Lopes

This name uses Portuguese naming customs. The first or maternal family name is Almeida Costa and the second or paternal family name is Lopes.
Miguel Lopes

Lopes training with Portugal
Personal information
Full nameHugo Miguel Almeida Costa Lopes
Date of birth19 December 1986
Place of birthLisbon, Portugal
Height1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing positionRight back
Club information
Current team
Sporting CP
Number13
Youth career
1995–1999Oriental
1999–2002Olivais Moscavide
2002–2004Alverca
2004–2005Benfica
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2005–2006Benfica B24(4)
2006–2007Operário21(7)
2007–2009Rio Ave50(2)
2009–2012Porto14(1)
2010–2011→ Betis (loan)21(0)
2012→ Braga (loan)10(0)
2013–Sporting CP21(0)
2013–2014→ Lyon (loan)19(0)
National team‡
2009Portugal U213(0)
2012–Portugal4(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 09:39, 5 April 2015 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16 October 2012

Hugo Miguel Almeida Costa Lopes (born 19 December 1986) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays for Sporting Clube de Portugal as a right back.

Club career

Born in Lisbon, Lopes started his professional career with S.L. Benfica's B-team. In the following summer, he moved to the lower leagues with C.D. Operário.

After some solid displays, Lopes signed in the 2007–08 season with second division's Rio Ave FC. In his first year he was an habitual starter, as the Vila do Conde side returned to the top flight after two years.

In the 2008–09 campaign Lopes helped Rio Ave to home draws against Benfica and F.C. Porto, and was again featured regularly, thus prompting interest from bigger teams. In January 2009, he agreed to a four-year deal with Porto: in his debut season, having to compete with Uruguayan Jorge Fucile for a starting berth, he appeared sparingly in the league but did manage to play in 17 official games, 13 as a starter.

In late August 2010, deemed surplus to requirements by new Porto manager André Villas-Boas as practically all Portuguese players in the team, Lopes moved to Spanish side Real Betis on a one-year loan deal.[1] He passed his medical and was unveiled on 2 September,[2] eventually appearing in exactly half of the league games during the season as the Andalusians returned to La Liga after three years.

Lopes spent the first part of 2011–12 unregistered by Porto. In the January transfer window he was loaned to fellow league club S.C. Braga,[3] going on to start in seven of his league appearances as it finished third and qualified to the UEFA Champions League for the second time in its history.

Lopes returned to Porto for the 2012–13 season. On 29 September he scored through a rare header, opening the score in an eventual 2–2 draw at former team Rio Ave;[4] however, in January 2013, he joined fellow Big Three side Sporting Clube de Portugal on a five 1/2-year contract, with Marat Izmailov moving in the opposite direction.[5]

On 7 July 2013 Lopes moved to Olympique Lyonnais in Ligue 1, on a one-year loan deal.[6]

International career

Due to his ability to play as both a right and a left back, Lopes was selected by Portugal coach Paulo Bento for his UEFA Euro 2012 squad.[7] He made his national team debut on 2 June, a 1–3 friendly loss with Turkey in Lisbon.[8]

Club statistics

As of 23 March 2015
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Benfica B 2005–06[9] Segunda Divisão 244————244
Operário 2006–07[9] Segunda Divisão 21720———237
Rio Ave 2007–08[9] Segunda Liga 2423010——282
2008–09[9] Primeira Liga 2600030——290
Total 5023040——572
Porto 2009–10[9] Primeira Liga 12020500000190
2010–11[9] Primeira Liga 000000001[lower-alpha 1]010
2012–13[9] Primeira Liga 2110002[lower-alpha 2]01[lower-alpha 1]061
Total 14130502020261
Betis (loan) 2010–11[10] Segunda División 21010———220
Braga (loan) 2011–12[9] Primeira Liga 10000201[lower-alpha 3]0—130
Sporting 2012–13[9] Primeira Liga 1400000——140
2014–15[9] Primeira Liga 70302000—120
Total 21030200000260
Lyon (loan) 2013–14[10] Ligue 1 19020109[lower-alpha 4]0—310
Career total 181141401401202022314
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Appearance in Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira
  2. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  3. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League

Personal life

Lopes' twin brother, Nuno, is also a footballer and a right-back. Both came through exactly the same youth system setup, with the exception of Benfica.[11]

References

  1. ↑ Miguel Lopes es el nuevo fichaje (Miguel Lopes is new signing); Betis' official website, 31 August 2010 (Spanish)
  2. ↑ Miguel Lopes: "El Betis merece estar en Primera" (Miguel Lopes: "Betis deserves to be in Primera"); El Desmarque, 2 September 2010 (Spanish)
  3. ↑ Miguel Lopes assina até ao fim da época (Miguel Lopes signs until end of season); Braga's official website, January 2012 (Portuguese)
  4. ↑ Tarantini brace punishes poor Porto with a draw; PortuGOAL, 29 September 2012
  5. ↑ Izmailov and Miguel Lopes switch clubs, but who stands to benefit from the deal?; PortuGOAL, 8 January 2013
  6. ↑ Lyon take Miguel Lopes on loan from Sporting; UEFA.com, 7 July 2013
  7. ↑ "Nélson Oliveira, Miguel Lopes e Custódio na lista para o Euro-2012" [Nélson Oliveira, Miguel Lopes and Custódio in Euro-2012 list] (in Portuguese). A Bola. 14 May 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
  8. ↑ "Portugal's woes continue with Turkey defeat". UEFA.com. 2 June 2012. Retrieved 3 June 2012.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 9.8 9.9 "Miguel Lopes". ForaDeJogo. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Miguel Lopes". Soccerway. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  11. ↑ "Jogo de Alvalade juntou dois irmãos gémeos" [Game at Alvalade joined two twin brothers]. Record. 18 January 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2015.

External links