Sergio Conceicao Biography

Sergio Conceicao, born 15 November 1974 in Coimbra, is a Portuguese former professional footballer and current football coach. He played as a midfielder for many teams in Europe and Asia and for the Portuguese national team. Right now, he is the head coach for Portuguese giants FC Porto.

Throughout his playing career, Conceicao was renowned for his speed and power, along with his good passing skills and fairly accurate kicking. After starting his career at FC Penafiel, Conceicao made his professional breakthrough at FC Porto, where he signed in 1996.

After two Portuguese league title-winning seasons, he moved to Italy, playing for SS Lazio, Parma and Internazionale. He was instrumental in Lazio's successful years in the mid-2000s when they won the Cup Winners' Cup and the Italian league title. In total, Conceicao spent six years in Italy before moving back to Porto for a short spell. He played in Belgium, Kuwait and Greece in the last years of his career. His long playing career ended with PAOK FC in 2010.

Sergio Conceicao was a leading player of the Portuguese football team for a long time. He debuted on 9 November 1996 against Ukraine, and he was present at Euro 2000 and the 2002 World Cup. Conceicao scored three goals against Germany in 2000 and took Portugal to the semi-finals. However, in 2002 Portugal was eliminated in the group stage.

He missed the 2004 Euros in his own country due to injury. Since then he was not called up for the national selection, as younger players like Deco and Cristiano Ronaldo were preferred. On several occasions, Conceicao expressed his dissatisfaction to the Portuguese Football Association about not being called up again.

All You Need to Know About Sergio Conceicao Biography

In June 2010 he moved to Belgian club Standard Liege and was appointed assistant coach alongside his friend Dominique D'Onofrio. During the summer of 2011, he left the club, along with D'Onofrio. He agreed to his first job as head coach in January 2012 with Portuguese first division team Olianense. He led the team to an 8th place finish in his first season, which was the best position for the team since the 1963-64 season.

Between 2013 and 2017, he worked as a manager for Académica, Braga, Vitória Guimarães and Nantes before signing as the head coach of Porto. It was announced on 5 June 2021 that his contract with Porto was extended for 3 more years, until 2024.

Sergio Conceicao Information

Now that we know him better, in this section of

Sergio Conceicao biography

, we will share some general information about him such as

Sergio Conceicao nationality

to let you know him even more.

Sergio Conceicao Bio

• Full Name: Sergio Paulo Marceneiro da Conceicao

• Nickname: N/A

• Profession: Professional Footballer

Sergio Conceicao Physical Stats

• Weight: 78 Kg

• Height: 1.78 m

• Eye Color: Brown

• Hair Color: Dark Brown

Sergio Conceicao Football Information

• Position: Winger

• Jersey Number: 11

• Professional Debut: 1993

Sergio Conceicao Date of Birth and Personal Info

• Date of Birth: 15 November 1974

• Birth Place: Coimbra, Portugal

• Zodiac Sign: Scorpio

• Nationality: Portuguese

In this section of

Sergio Conceicao biography

stay tuned as we want to share some information about

Sergio Conceicao childhood

and more.

Sergio Conceicao Early Life

Conceicao started his professional career with the small club FC Penafiel in 1993. During the only season he spent at the club, Conceicao managed to play 30 matches for them in the league and scored one goal. Although he didn’t score many goals during his time at Penafiel, his good performances brought him to the attention of bigger clubs.

In 1994, he joined Leça FC, which was playing at the second tier of the Portugal league system at the time. There, he played a total of 24 matches in the Portuguese second division and managed to score three goals, establishing himself as one of the best young players of the Portuguese club.

For the 1995-1996 season, he moved to the Portuguese second division side FC Felgueiras. After getting the first team playing experience in both FC Penafiel and the Leça FC during the previous two seasons, he played a key role at FC Felgueiras, where he appeared in 30 matches for his new club and scored four goals to bring more attention from bigger clubs in Portugal.

Now that we know him better, in this section of

Sergio Conceicao biography

, we will share some general information about his playing career at Porto.

FC Porto

In 1996, having proved his talent in the second division, he was signed by the Portuguese giants

in the 1996-97 season. Sergio Conceicao played his first match for Porto on 18 August 1996, in the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira final first leg against Benfica, he entered the pitch in the 66th minute, replacing Edmílson.

One month later, in the second leg, he played the full 90 minutes as a right midfielder for FC Porto, where he gave the assist to his team’s 4th goal to Arnold Wetl. After the two games, Porto won 6-0 and became the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira champions.

While in the league the manager of Porto never deployed Sergio Conceicao during the full season, but he got some good playing time in the Champions League. His first European match was the Group D of that season’s Champions League match away against

, in which he started the match and played the full 90 minutes. Porto won that match 2-3.

He played in all of the remaining five group stage matches against the likes of AC Milan, IFK Göteborg and

BK. After progressing from the Group stage, FC Porto played against a strong Manchester United side on 3 May 1997, at Old Trafford. Sergio Conceicao started the match and was replaced in the 87th minute while his team was down 4-0 against the Red Devils. This was his last match during the 1996/97 season.

In the next season, he was even more influential as he scored eight goals in the league, which FC Porto won again, and they also won the Portuguese Cup against Braga. With his good performances over the previous two season as one of the young prospects of FC Porto, there was interest from many European clubs in signing him, and it was on the summer transfer window of 1998 that a €10m transfer to Lazio was finalized.

Now that we know him better, in this section of Sergio Conceicao biography, we will share some general information about his Lazio career.

Lazio

Sergio Conceicao made his debut for

on 29 August 1998, where he started the Supercoppa Italiana match against Juventus. Thanks to a goal from the young Portuguese footballer, Lazio managed to win 1-2 and crown as champions. With a goal in his debut match, Sergio Conceicao was regarded as a great signing for his new team.

His next match for Lazio came on around one week later in the Second Round 1st leg match of Coppa Italia, against Cosenza Calcio, where he played the whole match and they won 2-1. He made four other appearances in the 1998/99 Coppa Italia for his club and gave an assist to his teammate Roberto Mancini in the Round of 16 first leg match against AC Milan.

He also made his debut in UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup on 17 September 1998, in the First Round 1st leg match against FC Lausanne-Sport, where he only played 67 minutes and the match ended in a 1-1 draw. In the second leg match against the Swiss team, he scored one of his team’s goals, helping to finish 2-2 and progressing to the Round of 16 on away goals rule.

In that year’s UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, Lazio managed to reach the final. They played the Spanish side RCD

on 19 May 1999, where Sergio Conceicao played 34 minutes and they won 2-1, thus earning his first European title.

Sergio Conceicao made his Serie A debut on 13 September 1998 in an away match against Piacenza Calcio 1919, playing 45 minutes in the match that ended 1-1. On the 5th matchday of 1998/99 Serie A, Sergio Conceicao managed to score his first brace at Lazio, in the away game against

, which they won 3-5. On the return match against Inter Milan, once again he scored a goal to help his team win 1-0 at home.

In the next match against LR Vicenza, he scored another goal for Lazio, before scoring his last

goal in the 26th matchday against Venezia FC, in a match that they won 2-0 at home. In total, Sergio Conceicao played 44 matches for Lazio in all competitions, scored 7 goals and gave 1 assist to his teammates.

The 1999/00 season started for Sergio Conceicao in the first Serie A match of the season on 30 August 1999, where he played 59 minutes against Cagliari Calcio. On 3 October 1999, in the match against AC Milan, he gave an assist to Marcelo Salas for his team’s third goal of the match, which ended 4-4.

His first goal of the Serie A season came against AC Perugia Calcio on 4 December, where they managed to win 0-2. That season, he also scored another Serie A goal on matchday 33 against Bologna FC 1909, helping his team to a 2-3 away win.

In his first Champions League match of that season against the Slovenian team NK Maribor, he was able to score a goal in a 4-0 win. On 24 November 1999, he scored another European goal, this time against the French side Olympique Marseille. 

That season, he played a total of 43 matches in Coppa Italia, Serie A and

, scored four goals and gave another four assists to his teammates.

Parma

In the summer transfer window of 2000, Sergio Conceicao joined

. He played his first match for Parma on 14 September 2000, in the First Round 1st leg of UEFA Cup against Pobeda Prilep and scored a goal. He scored another goal in UEFA Cup, in the 3rd round 2nd leg match against the German side TSV 1860 Munich.

He debuted for Parma in Serie A in the first match of the season against ACF Fiorentina, where he gave an assist to Márcio Amoroso in a match that ended 2-2. Between 19 November 2000 and 2 December 2000, Sergio Conceicao scored three consecutive goals for Parma against Bologna FC 1909, his former team Lazio and Atalanta BC.

He scored another two consecutive goals against ACF Fiorentina and Brescia Calcio on the 18 and 19 matchdays of the Serie A season. During the one season he spent at Parma, Sergio Conceicao played in a total of 36 matches in all competitions, scored 7 goals and gave 4 assists to his teammates.

Now that we know him better, in this section of Sergio Conceicao biography, we will share some general information about Inter Milan career.

Inter Milan

Sergio Conceicao joined the Italian giants Inter Milan in 2001. His first match in the new team came on 26 August 2001, where he started the match against AC Perugia Calcio, before coming out at the 84th minute. They won 4-1. On 19 December 2001, he provided the assist to the Brazilian Ronaldo in the 3-0 home win against Hellas Verona. The next matchday, he gave another assist, this time to Christian Vieri, in the 2-3 victory against Piacenza Calcio 1919.

His only Serie A goal in Inter Milan jersey came on 24 February 2002, in the 3-2 home win against Udinese. That season, Sergio Conceicao played 32 matches for Inter Milan, scoring a goal and providing 2 assists to his teammates, all in Serie A.

The next season, Sergio Conceicao had some poor performances and despite playing in a total of 33 matches in Serie A, Champions League and

, managed to score just one goal and give two assists to his teammates, just like the previous season.

Return to Lazio

At the end of the 2002-03 season, Sergio Conceicao mutually terminated his contract with Inter and returned to his former team, Lazio. He played his first match for Lazio since his return in the 3rd round 1st leg of UEFA Champions League qualifiers, against SL Benfica. He also made 5 appearances in the UCL group stage, failing to score a goal or give assists.

In the first match of Serie A, Sergio Conceicao entered the pitch in the 59th minute and provided the assist to Massimo Oddo for the last goal of his team in the 4-1 win. At the winter transfer break, following his poor performances, the two parties agreed to terminate his contract and the Portuguese player once again joined Porto.

Return to Porto

After signing for Porto, Sergio Conceicao scored on his debut match in the Round of 16 of Taca de Portugal, in the 4-0 win against UD Vilafranquense. Three days later, he started in the league match against CF Estrela Amadora SAD, before being substituted in the 85th minute.

On 5 March 2004, he gave the assist for his team fourth goal to Deco, in the 4-1 home win against Belenenses SAD. In the last matchday of the league season, he gave another assist, this time to Benni McCarthy in the 3-1 win against FC Paços de Ferreira. He played a total of 28 matches that season, with 16 matches for Lazio and 12 games for Porto.

Standard Liège

In the summer transfer window of 2004, the now experienced Portuguese winger decided to pursue his career in Belgium and joined

. He made his debut for the new team on 22

 August 2004, when he came on as a substitute for Almami Moreira, however, he was sent off for violent conduct 11 minutes later.

His first goal for the Belgian club came on 10 November 2004 when he scored his team’s only goal in the 1-0 home win against rivals RSC Anderlecht. The pinnacle of his spell with Standard Liège was between 11 December 2004 and 15 January 2005, where he first scored a goal in the away draw against KAA Gent and then scored two consecutive braces against KV Oostende and Lierse SK.

He scored four more goals later that season in the league, against Beerschot AC, Club Brugge KV, KSK Beveren and the KAA Gent. That season which proved to be the most prolific season in his career, Sergio Conceicao scored a total of 11 goals in 34 matches and also gave 7 assists to his teammates.

The next season was less productive for Sergio Conceicao as he only scored 7 goals and had 3 assists in a total of 29 matches. In his last season with Standard Liège, the Portuguese footballer scored even fewer goals and finished the season with 4 goals and 10 assists in 27 matches with the Belgian side.

Al Qadsia

In the summer of 2007, the 33-years old Sergio Conceicao signed for Kuwaiti club Al Qadsia for a salary of 1.1 million Euros per season. After making 7 appearances in the Kuwaiti league and scoring 5 goals, following problems with settling in the country, he decided to terminate his contract and move back to Europe.

PAOK

Sergio Conceicao moved to the Greek club

in the winter transfer break of 2008. He played his first match for the new club on 17 February, in the 0-2 away win against Apollon Pontou. That season he played another 6 matches in the Greek Super League, failing to score or give any assists.

The next season started in the best possible way for him as he managed to score a goal in the first league match against OFI Crete. Between 25 October and 8 November 2008, he provided three consecutive assists in three matches against APO Levadiakos, Iraklis Thessaloniki and Panionios Athens.

In the 200/09 season, he played a total of 31 matches for PAOK, scored 6 goals and gave 10 assists to his teammates in Super League, Kypello Elladas and the SL Play-off.

During his last season with PAOK, he played 9 matches and failed to score any goals or give assists. On November 14, 2009, he retired from football.

Portugal National Team

Sergio Conceicao played his first match for

national team under Artur Jorge in November 1996, in a match in which Portugal won 1-0 against Ukraine. Since then was frequently been called up for national team matches, but not always as a starter. The highlight of his international career was in Euro 2000, played in Belgium and Holland, where he scored a hat-trick in the 35th, 54th and 71st minutes as Portugal beat Germany.

During the qualification for the 2002 World Cup, Conceicao scored 4 goals, with some of them being decisive. However, in the group stage in South Korea, he failed to score any goals and Portugal didn't even reach the round of 16.

After the World Cup, he never was called up again to the national team. In total, he played 56 matches for his country and scored 12 goals. The first came against Northern Ireland, killing off George Best's former national team's dreams of qualifying for the 1998 World Cup in France. He only returned to scoring in a 7-0 win over Azerbaijan on the way to Euro 2000, before a historic hat-trick against Germany in the final round.

At that point, he was only the sixth player to score three goals in a single game at the European Championship. In their semi-final against France, a repeat of the 1984 epic which Michel Platini scored in the 119th minute, Sergio Conceicao gave Nuno Gomes the assist for a left-footed strike which delighted an entire nation.

Sergio Conceicao Profile

Following the end of his active playing career, offered by PAOK club, he decided to continue at the Greek club as a sports director. At the time, he was studying to get a coaching license as he wanted to continue his career in football as a manager. However, he resigned from his post as sports director of PAOK on May 30, 2010.

Assistant coach at Standard Liege

After he resigned from the Greek club, Sergio Conceicao returned to his former club in Belgium, to serve as an assistant manager, and thus improve his coaching skills. He left the role on 6 June 2011 to pursue his coaching career in his home country of Portugal.

His coaching story began in 2012. He accepted a job at Olhanense in January, which he led to salvation in the Portuguese Primeira Liga at the end of the season. He resigned in the middle of the following season.

In April 2013, Sergio Conceicao went back to his hometown Coimbra to lead Academica. He managed to avoid relegation and finished the 2013-14 season in a comfortable ninth place, alongside Braga, who had a worse goal difference and remained out of the European cups for the first time in ten years.

It was then that Sergio Conceicao went on to coach

. In one season he was able to improve his reputation as a coach: he finished fourth in the league and reached the final of the Portuguese Cup, which was lost on penalties against Sporting Lisbon although they were two goals ahead at half-time. However, the president did not enjoy the final loss and issued a fiery statement. So the coach packed his bags and moved to Vitoria Guimaraes.

In his time on the Braga bench, he said before the Portuguese Cup semi-final against Rio Ave that he would walk home if they reached the final. However, Sergio Conçeicao kept his word. In fact, after having eliminated Rio Ave, he walked more than 40 kilometers, wearing a bib, from Vila do Conde to Braga. It was a historic feat, even if his team failed to win the final.

Following a season with only one highlight, namely the first home win against Porto in 14 years, and a spell at Nantes, Sergio Conceicao took up Porto's offer in 2017. He arrived in place of a former teammate, Nuno Espírito Santo, during the summer of 2017, winning the league at the first attempt. He then signed a contract extension and reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League in his second season.

Sergio Conceicao won his second coaching title in 2020 with two days to spare and beat

in the final of the domestic cup. The Portuguese coach failed to win his third league win and was one of the names on the radar to succeed Gattuso on the Napoli bench, however, the Italian club decided to sign Luciano Spalletti as their new coach.

Now that we know him better, in this section of Sergio Conceicao biography, we will share some general information about his coaching style.

Style of Play

Sergio Conceicao likes an aggressive 4-4-2, compact in defence with tight lines and aggressive in transitions. The vertical compactness of his team put

in crisis in the Champions League.

The two centre-forwards are the first to orchestrate the pressing against the opponents' central defenders, and one of the midfielders rises to close off the line of passing to the low play and the wings tighten up. Sergio Conceicao's Porto is second in ball possession and first in average shots per game in the Primeira Liga. Only one team concedes less than that.

FC Porto is a team that does not shy away from dribbling, taking a lot of men over the ball line, as evidenced by their average of over 20 dribbles per game. They demand a lot from their wingers, who occupy more central positions while the full-backs go up to provide width on the flanks, and from the central midfielders who cover a lot of ground in both phases.

Sergio Conceicao's football at Porto requires constant communication between players, energetic and versatile players in key roles and defenders who can also initiate action from below. These qualities have become indispensable in modern football at all levels.

Reception

During his time as a player, he was one of the first footballers of the golden generation of Portuguese football, who played for many years in Italy, proving his talent.

Nowadays he is considered one of the emerging coaches in Europe. His great achievements at Porto made him one of the most sought after managers at the moment.

Sergio Conceicao outside Football

As a very young football coach, Sergio Conceicao is currently fully focused on his football career and he is not involved in any business other than football right now. He also spends time with his family when he is not busy in football.

Sergio Conceicao Personal Life

In this section of Sergio Conceicao biography, we will take a look into his personal life and share some info about

Sergio Conceicao life story

and

Sergio Conceicao religion

.

Family, Children, and Relationships

He is not a celebrity in the headlines. He has always had a private life. He was married to the beautiful Liliana Conceicao, with whom he had five children: the four eldest, Francisco, Moises, Rodrigo and Sergio, followed in their father's footsteps and started their adventure as footballers. His second son, 'Chico' Francisco, made his debut with Porto under the guidance of his father.

From time to time, Sergio Conceicao participates in many charity matches to help raise funds for philanthropy causes. In one example, in the summer of 2003, Sergio Conceicao played in a charity match organized by Luis Figo, alongside numerous football star and the famous Formula One champion Michael Schumacher.

During his suspension from playing football in Belgium, he became an ambassador for the anti-racism campaign 'Don't be a monkey'. He also organised shirt sales in his name and raised thousands of euros in funds for a number of associations of which he was a sponsor. Since he joined Standard Liege, he also sponsored a young boy suffering from cancer and never missed an opportunity to visit him.

Legal Issues

The Portuguese have often been noted for his lack of composure in certain situations, however, there are no reports of legal disputes to his name on media. During the Belgian Cup match between Standard Liege and Zulte-Waregem on 21 March 2006, he spitted at a player of the opposing team (Stijn Meert) who had provoked him.

This was noticed by referee Peter Vervecken, who gave him a red card. In anger, Conceicao took off his shirt and kicked the referee in the head. The Belgian Football Union Committee banned him from all matches for four months from 11 April 2006. That sanction was also effective at the international level.

Sergio Conceicao Career Statistics

In this section of Sergio Conceicao biography, we will take a look at his career stats on the international and club level.

Club

From the start of his career at Penafiel to the day he retired at PAOK, he played a total of 526 matches in all competitions and scored 73 goals. He spent most of his career playing for the Belgian side Standard Liege.

International

Between 1996 and 2003, Sergio Conceicao played a total of 56 matches for his country and scored 12 goals for Portugal.

Managerial

From his first coaching position at Olhanense up to 19 May 2021 that he coaches Porto, his teams have played a total of 395 matches. With 223 wins, 85 draws and 87 losses, he has a win ratio of 56.46 percent.

Sergio Conceicao Honors

As a player, Sergio Conceicao has won many titles during his career on club level, including Primeira Liga, Taça de Portugal and Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira with Porto, Serie A, Coppa Italia, Supercoppa Italiana, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Super Cup with Lazio.

He also finished third-placed in Euro 2000 and was 1992 UEFA European Under-18 Championship runner-up with Portugal.

As a manager, he has so far won the Primeira Liga and Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira on two occasions and finished as champions of the Taça de Portugal with Porto.

His individual title and awards include the 2005 Belgian Golden Shoe and Primeira Liga Best Coach on two occasions.

Read More:

Follow

 for