Moisés Moura Pinheiro

Moisés
Personal information
Full name	Moisés Moura Pinheiro
Date of birth	(1979-07-25) 25 July 1979
Place of birth	Nanuque, Brazil
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Centre back
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1998–2001	Vitória	46	(1)
2002	Paraná
2002–2003	Spartak Moscow	43	(2)
2004–2005	Krylia Sovetov	22	(1)
2005–2006	Cruzeiro	23	(1)
2007–2008	Flamengo	4	(0)
2007–2008	→ Boavista (loan)	15	(0)
2008–2011	Braga	54	(2)
2011–2012	Al Rayyan	24	(0)
2012	Shanghai Shenhua	17	(2)
2013	Portuguesa	22	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20 January 2014. † Appearances (Goals).

Moisés Moura Pinheiro, simply known as Moisés (born 25 July 1979), is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a central defender.

Club career

Born in Nanuque, Minas Gerais, Moisés started his career with Esporte Clube Vitória, gradually becoming a regular for the Série A team and helping it win two consecutive Bahia State Championships.^[1]^[2] In 2002 he competed with fellow league side Paraná Clube who finished 22nd out of 26 teams, narrowly avoiding relegation.

Moisés moved to Russia still in 2002, joining Premier League club FC Spartak Moscow and winning the Russian Cup after defeating FC Rostov 1–0 in the final, with the player playing the full 90 minutes.^[3] The following season, as his team underperformed in the domestic championship, he was allowed to leave the capital, signing for another side in the country and category, FC Krylia Sovetov Samara, for US$1.9 million.^[4]

Initially things started well for Moisés and his new team, who finished a best-ever third in the league and lost the domestic cup final, against FC Terek Grozny.^[5] After not being paid for five months, however, he returned to his country and joined Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, where he won the Minas Gerais League^[6] and attracted interest from Sporting Clube de Portugal, especially since his contract was about to end;^[4] the move was, however, terminated by Lisbon club after a ruling by FIFA concluded that he had been persuaded by Cruzeiro to terminate his contract with Krylia, and he was subsequently banned for four mouths, with the Brazilians not being able to acquire any players for two transfer windows.^[7]

After his ban was lifted, Moisés would however play parts of the following four seasons in Portugal (two full), notably with S.C. Braga. In 2009–10 he only missed two league games as the Minho club finished in a best-ever second place, adding nine UEFA Champions League appearances in the following campaign (qualifying rounds included); he also played in his country with Clube de Regatas do Flamengo, who loaned him to Boavista F.C. while selling 50% of his economic rights to Cruzeiro.

On 16 January 2011 Moisés joined Qatar Stars League side Al Rayyan SC, who paid €1.5 million for his services, split between Braga and Cruzeiro.^[8] On 27 December of the following year he returned to his homeland, signing with Associação Portuguesa de Desportos.^[9]