Hernâni Neves

Hernâni Madruga Neves (born 2 November 1963), known simply as Hernâni, is a retired Portuguese football and beach soccer player. In the former, he played as a defensive midfielder.

Hernâni

Personal information
Full name	Hernâni Madruga Neves
Date of birth	(1963-11-02) 2 November 1963 (age 61)
Place of birth	Mourão, Portugal
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position	Midfielder
Youth career
1980–1981	Juventude Setúbal
1981–1982	Vitória Setúbal
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1982–1988	Vitória Setúbal	38	(1)
1985–1986	→ Farense (loan)
1988–1994	Benfica	33	(1)
1994–1996	Vitória Setúbal	14	(0)
1996–1997	Desportivo Beja	12	(1)
Total		97	(3)
International career
1987–1990	Portugal	2	(0)
1998–2008	Portugal (beach soccer)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

He amassed Primeira Liga totals of 84 games and two goals over the course of ten seasons, representing in the competition Vitória de Setúbal and Benfica.

Football career

Hernâni was born in Mourão, Évora District, and began his professional career with Vitória de Setúbal. In a career greatly hampered by injuries he only played one solid season as a professional, 1987–88, appearing in 23 out of 38 matches to help the club finish in eighth position and attracting the attention of Primeira Liga and European Cup runner-up S.L. Benfica, which signed him in the subsequent off-season.

On 4 December 1988, Hernâni scored a rare goal, netting for Benfica in a 2–0 home win against former side Setúbal. A fortnight later, after a 2–0 home success against Lisbon neighbours Sporting Clube de Portugal, he tested positive for cocaine,^[1] and received a three-month ban.^[2][3] He was a first-team regular in the latter part of the 1989–90 campaign, and played the whole of the 1990 European Cup final, lost 1–0 to AC Milan;^[4] he remained with the club for a further four years, but made only six appearances combined.

After a return to Setúbal, where he played 14 games in two seasons, and a spell in the Segunda Liga with C.D. Beja where he reunited with former Vitória teammate Adelino Nunes, Hernâni retired from the game in June 1997 at age 33.^[5] He also earned two caps for Portugal, his debut coming on 5 December 1987 in a 0–3 defeat to Italy in the UEFA Euro 1988 qualifiers.^[6]

Beach soccer

One year after retiring, Hernâni started appearing for the Portugal beach soccer team, being one of their leading figures for one full decade and winning a total of 14 titles, as well as many other top-three finishes.^{[7][8][9][10]}

From 2006 to 2009, he also played at club level, with Italian side Cavalieri del Mare di Viareggio.^[11]

Football statistics

^{[12][citation needed]}

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition^[13]

Club	Season	League			Taça de Portugal		Taça da Liga		Europe		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Vitória de Setúbal	1982–83		2	0
	1983–84		8	1
	1984–85		5	0
	1986–87
	1987–88		23	0
Farense (loan)	1985–86
Benfica	1988–89		13	1	1	0			3	1
	1989–90		14	0	1	0			4	0
	1990–91		2	0	1	0			0	0
	1991–92		0	0	0	0			0	0
	1992–93		3	0	1	0			0	0
	1993–94		1	0	1	0			2	0
Vitória de Setúbal	1994–95		13	0
	1995–96		1	0
Beja	1996–97		12	1
Career total			97	3	5	0			9	1

Honours

Football

• Primeira Liga: 1988–89, 1990–91, 1993–94
• Taça de Portugal: 1992–93; runner-up 1988–89
• Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira runner-up: 1993
• European Cup runner-up: 1989–90

Beach soccer

• Italian Supercup: 2008

Portugal

• Mundialito: 2003, 2008; runner-up 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007
• FIFA World Cup: 2001; runner-up 1999, 2002, 2005; third place 2003, 2004, 2008
• Euro League: 2002, 2007, 2008; runner-up 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006; third place 1999, 2003
• Euro League Portuguese Event: 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
• Euro League French Event: 2004, 2005
• Euro League Spanish Event: 2005; runner-up 2006; third place 2007
• Euro League Italian Event: runner-up 2005, 2007; third place 2006
• Copa Latina: 2000; runner-up 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003; third place 2005
• Pro Tour runner-up: 2001

Individual

• FIFA World Cup: MVP 2001
• Mundialito: MVP 2004

See also

• List of doping cases in sport