Silvestre Varela

Silvestre Varela

Personal information
Full name	Silvestre Manuel Gonçalves Varela
Date of birth	(1985-02-02) February 2, 1985
Place of birth	Almada, Portugal
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Winger
Team information
Current team	Porto
Number	17
Youth career
2000–2002	Pescadores
2002–2004	Sporting CP
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2004–2008	Sporting CP	2	(0)
2004–2005	→ Casa Pia (loan)	36	(11)
2006–2007	→ Vitória Setúbal (loan)	45	(4)
2007–2008	→ Recreativo (loan)	22	(0)
2008–2009	Estrela Amadora	28	(5)
2009–	Porto	65	(21)
International career‡
2005–2007	Portugal U21	26	(6)
2010–	Portugal	8	(2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 00:00, 13 May 2012 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 17:45, 13 June 2012 (UTC)

Silvestre Manuel Gonçalves Varela (born 2 February 1985 in Almada) is a Portuguese footballer who plays for F.C. Porto in the Portuguese first division, as a winger.

Club career

Sporting

A product of Sporting Clube de Portugal's youth system, Varela was loaned to Casa Pia A.C. and Vitória Futebol Clube in his early years as a professional. Despite being a regular with the Portuguese under-21s and having enjoyed a decent form in various tournaments, he was not able to secure a place in Sporting's first team, only managing two substitute appearances in the 2005–06 season.

In 2007–08 Varela, alongside two former Sporting players, Beto and Carlos Martins, played for Recreativo de Huelva in Spain (Varela on loan again). After a disappointing season despite having received playing time in La Liga, he returned to Sporting in July 2008, only to be immediately sold to C.F. Estrela da Amadora.

Porto

Before the season was over, in March 2009, courtesy of his solid performances at Estrela, only relegated from the top division off the field, Varela signed a four-year agreement with champions F.C. Porto, on a free transfer, starting in July.

In his first season at Porto, Varela ranked second in overall goals in the team, only behind Colombian striker Radamel Falcao. In March 2010, however, he broke his fibula in training, being lost for the remainder of the campaign, as Porto finished third.

In 2011–12, under new manager Vítor Pereira, Varela, as practically all Portuguese players (the roster was composed of three nationals), lost his importance in the first team. On 16 February 2012, in a rare start, he put Porto ahead against Manchester City in the season's UEFA Europa League round-of-32, in an eventual 1–2 home loss.

International career

Courtesy of his Porto performances, Varela gained his first full cap for Portugal on 3 March 2010, appearing in the second half of the 2–0 friendly win with China, in a match played in Coimbra. His first goal came on 26 March 2011 in a 1–1 friendly draw against Chile, in Leiria.

Varela was selected by manager Paulo Bento for the 23-man squad that competed in the Group of Death in UEFA Euro 2012. He played ten minutes in the group stage opener against Germany, in an eventual 0–1 loss. He came on as a sub again in the second group match on June 13th against Denmark and scored the winner in the 87th minute. He netted a cheeky screamer, first miscuing a cross before spinning around and striking the living daylights out of it on his second swipe. It gave Portugal life in the group with one match to go against Netherlands.

International goals

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref.
1	26 March 2011	Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa, Leiria, Portugal	Chile	1–0	1–1	Friendly
2	13 June 2012	Arena Lviv, Lviv, Ukraine	Denmark	3–2	3–2	UEFA Euro 2012 Honours Porto UEFA Europa League: 2010–11 Portuguese League: 2010–11, 2011–12 Portuguese Cup: 2009–10, 2010–11 Portuguese Supercup: 2009, 2010, 2011 UEFA Super Cup: Runner-up 2011 Portuguese League Cup: Runner-up 2009–10 References External links Template:Zerozero profile Stats at ForaDeJogo BDFutbol profile