Fernando Meira

Early career and Benfica

Born in Guimarães, Meira began his professional career with hometown's Vitória Sport Clube, but only had one solid season with its first team, in 1999–2000 (precisely his last), as he appeared in 30 of his 53 games with the Minho side. In 1998 he was also loaned, to F.C. Felgueiras of the Segunda Liga, being an essential defensive unit as they narrowly missed out on promotion after finishing fifth. In the summer of 2000, Meira joined Primeira Liga giants S.L. Benfica for a €4 million transfer fee plus one player. He played 31 matches in his first season – 30 starts – and was also awarded team captaincy, but the Lisbon club did not win any silverware during his stint.

VfB Stuttgart

In January 2002, Meira signed for VfB Stuttgart in Germany for €7.5 million; it was the Bundesliga club's record transfer fee until July 2007, when they signed Ciprian Marica from FC Shakhtar Donetsk for €8 million, and general manager Rolf Rüssmann described the player as a "trophy" signing, showing great ambitions for the future. He made his league debut on the 26th in a 3–0 home win against Hamburger SV, playing the entire game as a stopper. Meira scored his first goal for Stuttgart on 23 February 2002, in a 1–1 draw at FC Hansa Rostock where he also conceded a penalty which resulted in the opponents' goal. His second came on 7 April in a 2–0 away victory over SC Freiburg, and he finished his first year with 14 league appearances to help his side finish…

After having earned 20 caps for the under-21s, Meira made his full debut for Portugal on 11 October 2000 in a 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier against the Netherlands. In 2004 he played three games at the Summer Olympic Games, a group-stage exit. Meira was selected for the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Benefitting from injury to Jorge Andrade, he appeared in all of Portugal's seven matches in the tournament as the national team finished fourth. Meira was also a regular fixture at UEFA Euro 2008 held in Austria and Switzerland, taking part in the first three matches but missing the quarter-final clash with Germany, a 3–2 defeat.

Club

International

Scores and results list Portugal's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Meira goal.

VfB Stuttgart

Bundesliga: 2006–07 UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2002 DFB-Pokal runner-up: 2006–07 DFB-Ligapokal runner-up: 2005 Galatasaray

Turkish Super Cup: 2008 Zenit

Russian Premier League: 2010 Russian Cup: 2009–10 Russian Super Cup: 2011 Orders

Medal of Merit, Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa (House of Braganza)