Luis Neto - Portuguese in Russia

Luis Netu is certainly not a football player of the level of the famous namesake Luis Figo, but he had time to say his word during the playing career. At the moment he is one of the most useful legionaries in the St. Petersburg "Zenith" - but he played not only for the Russian team. From this article you will find out what this central defender managed to achieve, for which clubs he played, what role he played in the Portuguese national team and so on. Luis Neto is a very interesting player, whose career was quite impressive and varied.

Carier start

Luis Neto was born on May 26, 1988 in Portugal, where he began to get involved in football. Already at the age of ten he was in the football academy of a small club "Varzim", in which he spent all his childhood. There he studied all the skills, got practice, before signing in 2006 a professional contract with this club. However, initially no one regarded him as a promising or promising player - his level was far from the highest. Therefore, in his first season for the adult team "Warzim", he held only one single match. In the years that followed, the situation did not improve much: Nino played only 27 games in three years, which was extremely small. He was already 22 years old, when he was admitted to the base of the club - only in the season 2010/2011 he started to leave the first minutes of the match and quickly showed himself with the best side. In one season he spent more games than in the previous four years, scoring two more goals. But the complete lack of trust of the club management in the past led to the fact that Luis Netu refused to renew the contract with the club. As a result, in 2011, the 23-year-old defender moved to Nacional.

Going to "Nacional"

Already from the first matches for "Nacional" Luis Neto, whose biography says that from that moment the life of the player made a sharp turn, showed that this club for him is only a starting step for getting into a stronger team. There he spent only one season, played 32 games, in which he scored one goal. And immediately received an offer from the Italian "Siena" - this meant that the defender will participate in one of the strongest European championships. "Nacional", of course, received compensation for the player at a rate of almost four million euros. However, Luis Netou is a footballer who will never stop at what has been achieved, and therefore he did not stay long in Italy.

Performances in Italy

In the new club, Neto did not manage to win back even the season - he came in the summer, and left in the winter. The fact that they are interested in the Russian club "Zenith", and everyone knows that in Russia the schedule of games is very different from that in other countries. Therefore, Netu, having played for "Siena" only 22 matches, decided to move to St. Petersburg, where he was offered a stunning salary. "Siena" also did not remain deprived - it received six and a half million euros compensation. That's how it turned out in the club for which he is now, the Portuguese defender Luis Neto. "Zenith" saw it as a 100% player base, and the Portuguese is still doing a great job.

The game for "Zenith"

Let the championship of Russia and not included in the top five of the best European championships, "Zenith" is constantly taking part in the Champions League, and when Netu even won one championship, one cup and two super-cups - this was the first in his career trophies for the Portuguese. To date, he played for the St. Petersburg club three and a half seasons, going on the field 111 times. Now Netu is 28 years old, that is, he has reached the peak of his career, but he is not considered to be a strong player. He does not even get a call to the national team, although in "Zenith" continues a regular gaming practice. His contract is calculated until 2019, but it is likely that it will be extended. Of course, do not forget that "Zenith" this summer acquired Ivan Novoseltsev, who is considered one of the most outstanding Russian defenders of recent times. However, Netu can always save his versatility, since he can act both on the right flank of the defense, and in the place of the defensive midfielder.

National team appearances

In the Portuguese national team, Neto clearly does not perform on leading roles - he debuted only in 2013, when he was already 25 years old. But he was called to the team in 2012 - they just did not let him out on the field, but kept it in reserve. His first match Netu played against Ecuador, where the Portuguese lost 2: 3. As a result, he went to the 2014 World Cup, but sat on all three matches on the bench, as he was only the fourth in the center of defense - even after Pepe's removal, Bruno Alves was not the pair, but Ricardo Costa. As a result, on Euro-2016 Netu did not go in principle, and at the moment he played for the national team only eleven matches. The latter was in November 2015, when Luis came into the base for a friendly match with the Luxembourg national team. So far, Neto is too young to finish his career in the national team, so he just waits for his chance, although the probability is extremely small, because even after Ricardo Costa's departure, the Portuguese had another substitute player - Jose Fonte.