Rui Miguel Nereu de Branco Batista (born 4 February 1986), known as Nereu, is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
Club career Nereu was born in Alcanena, Santarém District. A product of S.L. Benfica's youth system,Benfica-Sporting (juvenis), 1–3: Síndrome das cabinas (Benfica-Sporting (youth), 1–3: Locker room syndrome); Record, 9 June 2003 (in Portuguese)Encarnados chegam ao título de juniores com Baião no coração (Reds win junior championship with Baião in their hearts); Record, 11 June 2004 (in Portuguese) he made his senior debut on 18 October 2005 during a UEFA Champions League group stage game at Villarreal CF, after an early injury to Quim.Villarreal, rey del empate (Villarreal, king of draws); UEFA, 18 October 2005 (in Spanish) He first appeared in the Primeira Liga four days later, as the same thing happened in a 2–0 home win over C.F. Estrela da Amadora;Benfica-E. Amadora, 2–0: A águia em lua-de-mel (Benfica-E. Amadora, 2–0: Eagle on honeymoon); Record, 23 October 2005 (in Portuguese) he again took the field against the Spaniards in the Champions League group phase, featuring the full 90 minutes of the 0–1 home loss.El Villarreal, líder del Grupo D (Villarreal, Group D leaders); UEFA, 2 November 2005 (in Spanish)
As habitual backup José Moreira was also injured Nereu, who had also played with the club's reserves before their extinction, went on to take part in two more matches. In 2007, he was sold to Académica de Coimbra,Rui Nereu reforça Briosa (Rui Nereu strengthens Briosa); Record, 5 June 2007 (in Portuguese) backing up veteran Pedro Roma in his first season. However, following the signing of Slovak Boris Peškovič, he was further demoted to third-choice.Académica: os mesmos mas sem Madej para o E. Amadora (Académica: same guys but without Madej for E. Amadora); Mais Futebol, 31 January 2009 (in Portuguese)
From January 2011 to June 2012, Nereu represented F.C. Arouca of the Segunda Liga,Rui Nereu é o novo senhor da baliza (Rui Nereu is new goal master); Record, 22 December 2010 (in Portuguese) playing 14 games in his only full campaign. He subsequently alternated between his country's second and third tiers.Rui Nereu procura clube (Rui Nereu looks for club); Record, 28 December 2017 (in Portuguese)Rui Nereu: "O meu percurso poderia ter sido idêntico ao do Rui Patrício" (Rui Nereu: "My career could have been like that of Rui Patrício"); Bancada, 25 February 2018 (in Portuguese)
References
External links