João Alves (footballer, born 1980)

For other people named João Alves, see João Alves (disambiguation).

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Rosa and the second or paternal family name is Alves.

João Artur Rosa Alves (born 18 August 1980) is a Portuguese retired professional footballer who played as a central midfielder.

João Alves

Personal information
Full name	João Artur Rosa Alves
Date of birth	(1980-08-18) 18 August 1980 (age 44)
Place of birth	Chaves, Portugal
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
1989–1998	Chaves
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1998–2004	Chaves	152	(17)
2004–2005	Braga	22	(4)
2005–2007	Sporting CP	25	(1)
2007–2012	Vitória Guimarães	118	(3)
2012–2013	Omonia	14	(1)
2013–2014	Académico Viseu	29	(4)
2014–2015	Freamunde	1	(0)
Total		361	(30)
International career
1999	Portugal U18	2	(0)
2005	Portugal	3	(0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Born in Chaves, Alves started his professional career at hometown club G.D. Chaves,^[1] making his debut in the Primeira Liga on 11 November 1998 in a 1–2 home loss against U.D. Leiria after coming in as a substitute in the 63rd minute. He appeared in a further nine league matches during that season, with the northerners eventually being relegated after ranking 17th.

In 2004–05, after five additional campaigns with Chaves in the second division, Alves joined S.C. Braga,^[2] his first league appearance occurring on 14 November 2004 in a 0–0 draw at Leiria. After some solid performances that helped the Minho side finish fourth, he moved to Sporting CP.

After having appeared just twice for Sporting in 2006–07, Alves signed a three-year contract with Vitória S.C. in July 2007, with Sporting keeping half of the player's rights.^[3] In his first year, he only missed one league game as his team came straight from the second level into a final third place.^[4]

Alves made an average of 23 league appearances in the following three seasons, and on 20 June 2011 he replaced veteran Flávio Meireles as club captain.^[5]

International career

On 17 August 2005, Alves made his debut for the Portugal national team, making an assist for Hélder Postiga in a 2–0 friendly win over Egypt.^[6]

Career statistics

Club

Club	Season	League			Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Chaves	1998–99[7]	Primeira Liga	10	0	0	0	—		10	0
	1999–2000[7]	Segunda Liga	21	0	1	0	—		22	0
	2000–01[7]	Segunda Liga	27	6	0	0	—		27	6
	2001–02[7]	Segunda Liga	31	5	1	0	—		32	5
	2002–03[7]	Segunda Liga	33	3	3	1	—		36	4
	2003–04[7]	Segunda Liga	30	2	1	0	—		31	2
	Total		152	17	6	1	—		158	18
Braga	2004–05[7]	Primeira Liga	20	4	2	0	—		22	4
	2005–06[7]	Primeira Liga	2	0	0	0	—		2	0
	Total		22	4	2	0	—		24	4
Sporting	2005–06[7]	Primeira Liga	23	1	3	0	2[a]	0	28	1
	2006–07[7]	Primeira Liga	2	0	0	0	1[b]	0	3	0
	Total		25	1	3	0	3	0	31	1
Vitória Guimarães	2007–08[7]	Primeira Liga	29	0	5	1	—		34	1
	2008–09[7]	Primeira Liga	25	1	8	0	4[c]	1	37	2
	2009–10[7]	Primeira Liga	22	0	6	0	—		28	0
	2010–11[7]	Primeira Liga	22	2	8	0	—		30	2
	2011–12[7]	Primeira Liga	20	0	3	0	3[a]	0	26	0
	Total		118	3	30	1	7	1	155	5
Omonia	2012–13[8]	Cypriot First Division	14	1	4	2	1[a]	0	19	3
Académico Viseu	2013–14[7]	Segunda Liga	29	4	1	0	—		30	4
Freamunde	2014–15[7]	Segunda Liga	1	0	2	0	—		3	0
Career total			361	30	48	4	11	1	420	35

1. Appearances in UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League
2. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
3. Appearances in UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup

Honours

Club

Sporting

• Taça de Portugal: 2006–07

Omonia

• Cypriot Super Cup: 2012

International

Portugal

• UEFA European Under-19 Championship: 1999