Portugal – @goaliecoach00
Beto (Sevilla)
Age: 32
Caps: 6
Beto was born in Lisbon. After unsuccessfully developing in local Sporting Clube de Portugal’s youth system (he only played one season with the first team, being third-choice), he played one season on loan to neighbours Casa Pia AC, being released in June 2004.
After one year each with G.D. Chaves and F.C. Marco, both in the second division, Beto joined Leixões S.C. for the 2006–07 campaign, helping the Matosinhos club return to the top level and only missing six games in his three seasons combined.
In March 2009, before 2008–09 ended, Beto agreed to a move to league powerhouse F.C. Porto, in a four-year deal worth €750.000 effective as of June. During his two-season spell he acted almost exclusively as backup to Brazilian Helton, being mostly restricted to domestic cup matches; on 22 May 2011, with the score at 2–2, he stopped a penalty kick in the Portuguese Cup final, with his team eventually winning 6–2 in Lisbon.
For 2011–12 Beto was loaned to Romanian side CFR Cluj, only missing seven Liga I contests during the season for the eventual champions. Released by Porto he returned to his country in the following summer, signing for two years with S.C. Braga; however, late into the following transfer window, he moved to Sevilla FC as the Spaniards were looking to strengthen the position following the departure of Diego López to Real Madrid – the loan was arranged until June, with the possibility of a permanent transfer afterwards.
Profitting from injury to Andrés Palop, Beto made his debut with the Andalusians one day after arriving, starting in a 1–2 away loss against Atlético Madrid for the season’s Copa del Rey semifinals’ first leg, with his team playing the last eight minutes with only nine players. His first La Liga match came on 3 February 2013, in a 2–1 home win over Rayo Vallecano.
Beto was subsequently acquired on a permanent basis, being first-choice for coach Unai Emery. He contributed with 43 appearances all competitions comprised in the 2013–14 campaign, including ten in the team’s victorious run in the UEFA Europa League, where he saved two penalties from Óscar Cardozo and Rodrigo in the final’s shootout against S.L. Benfica
Beto made his debut for Portugal on 10 June 2009, in a 0–0 friendly match in Estonia.
After finishing 2009–10 in Porto’s starting XI, he was named by manager Carlos Queiroz in a provisional 24-player list for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, making the final cut for the finals in South Africa where he did not leave the bench. He was also selected four years later, for the tournament in Brazil.
Name: Eduardo Carvalho (Braga)
Age: 31
Caps: 32
A product of Sporting Clube de Braga’s youth system, Carvalho first appeared in Portugal’s top division during the 2006–07 season, when he served a six-month loan at S.C. Beira-Mar. In the following campaign he was also loaned, this time to Vitória de Setúbal, and was as a key player in a Carlos Carvalhal-led side that won the inaugural Portuguese League Cup and thus qualifying for the UEFA Cup, with a Man of the match display in the final against Sporting Clube de Portugal where he saved three kicks in the penalty shootout.
Eduardo returned to Braga for 2008–09, playing in all the league matches while doing the same in the Minho team’s UEFA Cup round-of-16 run. The same happened in the following year – with the club finishing in its best-ever position, second – as he only conceded 20 goals, joint-best in the competition.
On 7 July 2010, Eduardo signed a four-year contract with Serie A’s Genoa C.F.C. for a reported €4 million, replacing departed Marco Amelia. Braga would also receive a 25% future transfer fee if the Italians sold the player.
Eduardo started all the games but one for Genoa in his first and only season, in a final midtable position. In July 2011 he returned to his country and joined S.L. Benfica on loan, with the Lisbon club having and option to buy at the end of the campaign.
On 26 June 2012 Eduardo signed for İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor on a three-year contract, joining countryman Carlos Carvalhal (coach) at the Süper Lig team
After UEFA Euro 2008, Eduardo was called for new national team coach Carlos Queiroz for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Malta and Denmark, where he played understudy to Quim.
He made his full debut on 11 February 2009 in a friendly match with Finland, playing the first 60 minutes in a 1–0 home win, and remained the starter throughout the remainder of the qualifying campaign. He also started in the final stages in South Africa, keeping clean sheets against Côte d’Ivoire, North Korea and Brazil, and only conceding in the round-of-16 loss against eventual champions Spain (0–1).
Name: Rui Patrício (Sporting)
Age: 26
Caps:c 29
Patricio spent most of his career with Sporting, making his debuts with the first team at only 18 and going on to appear in more than 300 official games.
Patrício represented Portugal at two European Championships.
Born in Marrazes, Leiria, Patrício played as a striker at a young age. Reportedly, a Sporting Clube de Portugal scout was in the area and saw him play in goal, being impressed enough to sign the 11-year-old to the club’s youth academy. He made his first division debut on 19 November 2006, in a 1–0 away win against C.S. Marítimo in the 10th round: standing in for habitual club and country first-choice Ricardo, he saved a penalty kick 15 minutes before the end of the game.
In the 2007–08 season, after Ricardo’s departure to Real Betis, Patrício beat competition from Sporting veteran Tiago and new signing Vladimir Stojković to become the undisputed starter. On 27 November 2007 he made his UEFA Champions League debut, in a 1–2 group stage loss at Manchester United.
During the 2008 off-season, Patrício was the subject of a rumored transfer to Italian giants Inter Milan. However, nothing came of it and, in that year’s Portuguese Supercup final, against F.C. Porto, he stopped a Lucho González penalty in a 2–0 final win, also being an everpresent fixture in the league.
In the qualifying rounds of the 2009–10 Champions League, at FC Twente, Sporting were trailing 0–1 in the 94th minute, after a 0–0 tie in the first leg: Patrício rushed to the opposing area for a corner kick, he went up for a header with Nikita Rukavytsya, both players seemed to make contact with the ball, and it was helped into the net for an own goal via the boot of Peter Wisgerhof, as Sporting eventually qualified for the last games prior to the group stage.
On 20 December 2012, Patrício was awarded Sporting’s Footballer of the Year award for a second consecutive year
From 2007, Patrício started appearing for the under-21 side. On 29 January of the following year, senior team coach Luiz Felipe Scolari called him for a 1–3 friendly defeat against Italy in Zürich, although he did not leave the bench; on 12 May he was picked to the national squad for UEFA Euro 2008, but did not play in the tournament.
Although not part of the provisional 24-player list for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Patrício was named in a backup list of six players. He made his debut on 17 November 2010, playing the second half of a 4–0 friendly win with Spain.
After Eduardo was relegated to the bench at his new club, S.L. Benfica, Patrício became the starter under national team boss Paulo Bento, and both players finished the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign with five games (450 minutes) as Portugal qualified for the final stages. He was the starter in the finals in Poland and Ukraine, conceding four goals in five matches in an eventual semifinal exit.