Player Profile: Simão Sabrosa

An attacker who has played for leading clubs in Portugal and Spain, Simão has excellent ball skills, a fierce shot and is equally adept on either flank.

A product of the Sporting Clube de Portugal youth system, Simão was promoted to the first-team squad in 1996/97 and duly scored on his debut – just one minute after being introduced as a substitute. He spent three seasons in the Sporting side – registering ten goals in 30 league games in 1998/99 – before crossing the border to Spain.

He was chiefly used from the bench in his first term at FC Barcelona following a €15m transfer but broke into the team during the 2000/01 campaign, when he played in all of Barcelona’s UEFA Champions League matches.

He sought a move back to Portuguese football, though, and in January 2001 was signed by SL Benfica in a deal reportedly worth €12m. Then 21, Simão agreed a three-year contract with the Lisbon side. In 2002/03 he hit 18 league goals in 33 outings, having scored eleven in 26 the previous season. Captained Benfica in the majority of his 31 matches after Hélder fell out of favour with coach José Antonio Camacho and struck the decisive goal in the Portuguese Cup final as the side defeated FC Porto.

Ever-present as he inspired Benfica to their first SuperLiga title for eleven years scoring 15 goals although he was dogged by a hernia in the second half of the season. He underwent an operation on his hernia at the end of the season.

Simão’s path to the Portugal senior squad began at junior level, where he won the UEFA European Under-16 Championship in 1996. He graduated to the U18s and U21s before making his full debut against Israel on 12 November 1998. Then 19, he replaced Rui Costa and scored in a 2-0 victory. Overlooked for Euro2000 Simão missed out on the 2002 World Cup through injury but played at Euro04 and has since cemented a place in the starting lineup. Now, even though he is already an experienced player, he is going to make his debut in a World Cup this summer.