Bernardo Silva

Benfica

A product of S.L. Benfica's youth system, Silva played for its ranks, and in 2013 they won the 2012–13 Portuguese Juniors Championship. He made his debut for Benfica B in a Segunda Liga match against Trofense on 10 August 2013 (Matchday 1). On 19 October 2013, Silva made his debut for Benfica at the age of 19, in a 2013–14 Taça de Portugal third round 1–0 away victory against Campeonato Nacional de Seniores club C.D. Cinfães, coming out of the bench in the 80th minute. His good performance for Benfica B in the 2013–14 Segunda Liga earned him the league's Breakthrough Player of the Year award. He was a member of Benfica's domestic treble-winning team of the 2013–14 season, playing only 31 minutes in a total of three matches.

Monaco

On 7 August 2014, Silva joined Monaco on one-year loan deal. He made his debut on 17 August in a Ligue 1 away match against Bordeaux, replacing Lucas Ocampos in the second half. On 21 September, he made his first start, in a 1–0 home win against Guingamp. On 14 December, he scored the only goal of a home win against Marseille. On 20 January 2015, Benfica announced that Silva's economic and sports rights had been sold to Monaco for €15.75 million; he signed a contract for Monaco that would expire on 30 June 2019. On 10 April, he scored twice in a 3–0 away win against Caen. On 10 August 2015, Silva extended his contract by one year, tying him to the club until June 2020. In the 2016–17 Champions League group stage away…

2013–2018: Youth level and first international tournaments

In 2013, Silva represented Portugal at the 2013 European Under-19 Championship, reaching the semi-finals. For his performances, he was named among the top 10 talents under the age of 19 in Europe by a selection of UEFA reporters. On 31 March 2015, Silva made his senior debut for Portugal, starting in a 0–2 friendly defeat to Cape Verde in Estoril. On 27 June 2015, Silva scored Portugal U21s' first goal in a 5–0 win against Germany U21 in the semi-finals of the European Under-21 Championship in Czech Republic. He was left out of the Portuguese squad for the finals of Euro 2016 due to injury. Silva was selected for the Portugal squad for the 2017 Confederations Cup which was hosted in Russia. He scored the second goal of the match in the group stage of the tournament, a 4–0 win over New Zealand. The national team reached the semi-finals before losing out to Chile in a penalty shootout after a 0–0 draw at the end of regulation time. He missed the third place play-off in which Portugal defeated Mexico 2–1 after extra time. Silva was named in Portugal's 23-man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. He featured in all 4 matches with Portugal, but was knocked out of the tournament after a 2–1 loss to Uruguay.

2018–present: Nations League titles and subsequent tournaments

Silva was selected for three matches in the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League group stage, scoring a goal and providing an assist in a 3–2…

Silva is a diminutive, elegant, and creative left-footed playmaker, with a slender build, who is capable of playing in several attacking and midfield positions. Throughout his career, he has been fielded in a variety of roles, including as a winger on either flank (although he favours the right side of the pitch), as a central midfielder, as a deep-lying playmaker, as an attacking midfielder, or even as a second striker; he has also been deployed in a false 9 role, or even as wing-back on occasion. He is mainly known for his technique, acceleration, agility, passing, ball control, vision, creativity, and dribbling skills, as well as his energy and defensive work-rate, which enables him to cover ground, press opponents, and start attacks after winning back possession. Although he is known for his ability to carry the ball forward, run at defences, and retain possession, he is also known to be an intelligent team player, with a strong personality, who prefers to participate in the build-up of offensive plays rather than undertaking individual dribbling runs. Despite primarily being a creative midfielder, he is also capable of scoring goals himself.

Bernardo Mota Veiga de Carvalho e Silva was born on 10 August 1994, in Lisbon, Portugal. Silva's football journey started in Lisbon, where his early passion for the game was nurtured.