Sérgio Conceição

Sérgio Paulo Marceneiro da Conceição (pron. IPA //) is a Portuguese football player, born on November 15th, 1974 in Coimbra. Sérgio Conceição has excelled both in FC Porto and in a star-studded SS Lazio.

He had 56 caps for Portugal National Team, scoring 12 goals, 8 for FC Porto, 22 for Lazio, 6 for Parma and 20 for Inter. His first cap, still at FC Porto was against Ukraine on 9th November 1996, in a 1-0 win for the World Cup qualifyings. His last game was a 0-3 defeat with Spain, in 6 September 2003, in a friendly match. Since then, he´s been absent from the National Team.

Coimbra's municipality governors gave his name to a 5,000 seats stadium built in Coimbra.

Club career

Conceição began his career playing for the youth teams of his hometown's Académica de Coimbra. Then he played for Leça FC and FC Felgueiras before moving to FC Porto in 1996. In Porto he won 2 Portuguese Football Championship titles and 2 Portuguese Football Cups. In 56 league appearances for FC Porto he scored 9 goals.

He joined SS Lazio from Porto for $10 million, and played a significant part in their UEFA Cup Winners Cup success while also scoring five goals in 33 games in his first Serie A season.

Speedy and strong on the right flank, he also weighs in with his fair share of goals. He is also an excellent crosser of the ball. What makes him more dangerous is his ability to play either side of the field and his standout service from the wings. Conceição scored one goal in nine EURO 2000 qualifying appearances and the greatest game of his career came in the finals of that tournament, on June 20, 2000, when he scored a brilliant hat-trick as Portugal thrashed Germany 3-0 in a first-round group game in Rotterdam.

Later that same year, he transferred to Parma AC. In the summer of 2001, Conceição was used as a makeweight in the transfer of Sebastien Frey, which saw him go from Parma to Inter Milan while Frey went in the other direction.

In 2004 he signed for Belgian club Standard Liège. He won the Belgian Golden Shoe for best player of the year in 2005. In March 2006, he was suspended for 3 years (4.5 months, and the rest suspended) ^*, depending on good behaviour, for spitting on a player and assaulting a referee.

Teams

2005/06 Standard Liège
2004/05 Standard Liège
2003/04 FC Porto and S.S. Lazio
2002/03 Internazionale
2001/02 Internazionale
2000/01 Parma AC
1999/00 SS Lazio
1998/99 SS Lazio
1997/98 FC Porto
1996/97 FC Porto
1995/96 FC Felgueiras
1994/95 Leça FC
1993/94 FC Penafiel

International appearances

Early in his international career, Conceição was not known for his scoring prowess. But since his breakout performance at Euro 2000, he can be counted on for offence.

At Euro 2000, Portugal reached the semi-finals thanks in part to Sérgio Conceição. In the third and final match of the group stage, against defending champions Germany, Sérgio Conceição could not be contained. He bagged a hat-trick, scoring on 35, 54 and 71 minutes, and Portugal won, 3-0. Portugal had guarenteed the first place in the group in the first two games, so this third game was played mostly with substitutes, which was his case. With such an incredible performance he gained a position in the team.

Against France in the semi-final, Conceiçao created problems for the French defenders all match long. His performance at Euro 2000 stamped his place on Portuguese national team, which is now considered among the best in the world.

In qualifying for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Conceiçao scored four goals as Portugal finished atop a group that also featured the Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands. Conceiçao scored the game-winner against the Netherlands in Rotterdam and scored a goal against fellow FIFA World Cup-participant Ireland.

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Club career

Teams

International appearances