João Real

João Daniel Mendes Real (born 13 May 1983) is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a central defender.

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Mendes and the second or paternal family name is Real.
João Real
Personal information
Full name João Daniel Mendes Real[1]
Date of birth (1983-05-13) 13 May 1983[1]
Place of birth Covilhã, Portugal[1]
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in)[1]
Position(s) Centre-back
Youth career
1994–2001 Estação
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2003 Estação
2003–2008 Covilhã 106 (13)
2008–2011 Naval 31 (1)
2011–2019 Académica 176 (16)
Total 313 (30)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He made 211 competitive appearances over eight years for Académica, where he won the Taça de Portugal in 2012. He additionally represented Naval in Primeira Liga and Covilhã in LigaPro, totalling 122 and 115 games in each division.

Club career

Born in Covilhã, Real started playing amateur football with locals of A.D. Estação. In 2003, at the age of 20, he switched to city giants Sporting Clube, twice helping them promote to the second division.[2]

In the summer of 2008, after a solid season – his second promotion – which brought him six goals in 25 matches, Real moved to the Primeira Liga with Associação Naval 1º de Maio.[3] His first year was quite unassuming, as he had to wait until 15 February 2009 to make his league debut, playing eight minutes in a 2–2 away draw against C.D. Trofense.[4]

In the 2009–10 campaign, with Naval again remaining in the top flight, Real appeared more, but was still a fringe player. On 17 April 2010, he found the net in the club's 3–1 win at F.C. Paços de Ferreira, but also scored an own goal.[5]

Real featured regularly in 2010–11, but the Figueira da Foz side were relegated after a six-year stay.[6] In June 2011, he signed for Académica de Coimbra on a free transfer.[7] In his first year with the Students, he played the final of the Taça de Portugal as they won their first trophy in 73 years via a 1–0 victory over Sporting CP.[8]

On 20 August 2012, in the first game of the new season, Real was sent off after seven minutes at S.C. Beira-Mar for conceding a penalty kick with a foul on Nildo Petrolina; his team recovered from a 3–0 deficit to earn a draw.[9] In May 2014, he extended his contract for three more years.[10]

Real remained a regular for Académica over the coming years, including after their relegation in 2016. He retired in July 2019 at the age of 36, after his link expired; also hanging up his boots on the same day was Marinho, who had arrived at the club in precisely the same deal from Naval and was the only other survivor from the cup final win.[11]

Honours

Académica

References
  1. "João Real" (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  2. Malaca, Miguel (12 July 2019). "Futebol: João Real termina carreira" [Football: João Real ends career] (in Portuguese). Rádio Cova da Beira. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  3. Frederico, Francisco (19 August 2008). "João Real (Sp. Covilhã) três épocas na Naval por troca com Elivelton" [João Real (Sp. Covilhã) three seasons in Naval in trade with Elivelton] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  4. "Trofense-Naval, 2–2 (Valdomiro 32', Rui Borges 57'; Diego 21', Marinho 30')". Record (in Portuguese). 15 February 2009. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  5. Figueiredo, João Tiago (17 April 2010). "P. Ferreira-Naval, 1–3 (crónica)" [P. Ferreira-Naval, 1–3 (match report)] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  6. "Naval 1º Maio e Portimonense descem de divisão" [Naval 1º Maio and Portimonense are relegated] (in Portuguese). TSF. 9 May 2011. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  7. "João Real confirma acordo com a Académica" [João Real confirms Académica deal]. A Bola (in Portuguese). 8 June 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  8. Valente, Susana (20 May 2012). "Académica derrota Sporting e ganha Taça de Portugal" [Académica defeat Sporting and win Portuguese Cup] (in Portuguese). Relvado. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  9. "Académica empata em Aveiro" [Académica draw in Aveiro]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 20 August 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  10. "João Real renova por mais três épocas" [João Real renews for three more seasons]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 7 May 2014. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  11. Sousa, Ricardo (12 July 2019). "Académica: ultimos "sobreviventes" da equipa que conquistou a Taça terminam a carreira" [Académica: last "survivors" from the team that won the Cup end career]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 4 July 2020.
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