Hugo Morais

Hugo Eduardo dos Santos Morais (born 12 February 1978 in Lisbon) is a Portuguese retired professional footballer who played as a central midfielder.

Football career

After finishing his formation at local C.F. Estrela da Amadora's youth system, Morais played for a series of clubs in the lower leagues. In 1999 he joined C.S. Marítimo, but his spell was very unsuccessful as he only appeared in six Primeira Liga games, also being loaned two times and very often demoted to the reserves, finally being released in June 2004.

Subsequently, Morais played one year for C.D. Aves and F.C. Barreirense in the second division, after which he was left out of work, even having to resort to taking an intensive course for unemployed players arranged by the Portuguese Footballers Association. He was then "rescued" by Leixões SC, scoring three goals in 30 matches as the Matosinhos team returned to the top level after a lengthy absence.

In the 2009–10 season, Morais netted seven times – all through penalty kicks– whilst only missing one league game, but Leixões dropped back to division two. On 21 June 2010, aged 32, he signed a two-year contract with Académica de Coimbra.

In the summer of 2012, Morais returned to former club C.F. União (he had already played there in 2003–04 on loan from Madeiran neighbours Marítimo), moving to the second tier side on a free transfer.

Honours

Leixões

• Segunda Liga: 2006–07

Académica

• Taça de Portugal: 2011–12