Ferro (footballer)


Francisco Reis Ferreira, commonly known as Ferro, is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays for Benfica as a centre-back.

Club career

Born in Oliveira de Azeméis, Ferro started his football career at local club Oliveirense in 2005, where he remained until 2008. He then played for CD Estarreja and AD Taboeira before joining Benfica's youth system in 2011. Following his progress to the club's reserve team, he made his professional debut in a 2–1 away win over Oliveirense in LigaPro on 30 January 2016.
Ferro was promoted to Benfica's first team on 1 February 2019, alongside three other reserve team players, and six days later, he debuted with the Lisbon side as a 38th-minute substitute, replacing Jardel in a 2–1 home win over Sporting CP in the first leg of the Taça de Portugal semi-finals. In his first appearance as a starter, he scored his first goal for Benfica, the sixth in a 10–0 home thrashing of Nacional in Primeira Liga on 10 February.
Four days later, Ferro made his European debut as Benfica beat Galatasaray 2–1 in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League round of 32, their first ever victory in Turkey. He scored his first UEFA goal on 14 March, the second in a 3–0 win over Dinamo Zagreb in the round of 16's second leg.
On 17 October 2019, Ferro extended his Benfica contract until 2024.

International career

In early September 2019, Ferro was called up for the first time to the Portugal national team for the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifiers against Serbia and Lithuania, replacing injured Pepe.

Honours

Benfica
Individual