Hélio (footballer)

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Souza and the second or paternal family name is Gonçalves.
Hélio
艾里奧
Hélio with Hong Kong in 2024
Personal information
Full name Hélio José de Souza Gonçalves
Date of birth (1986-01-31) 31 January 1986 (age 38)
Place of birth Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Centre-back
Team information
Current team
 Kitchee
Number 5
Youth career
2002–2006 Santos
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2007 Ceará 0 (0)
2007 Olímpia 20 (2)
2008–2014 Citizen 111 (10)
2014– Kitchee 101 (2)
International career‡
2016– Hong Kong 38 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 3 December 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 11 June 2024

Hélio José de Souza Gonçalves (born 31 January 1986), commonly known as Hélio (Portuguese: [ˈɛlju]; Chinese: 艾里奧, Cantonese: [ŋàːi le̬i (ŋ)ōu]), is a professional footballer who currently plays as a centre back for Hong Kong Premier League club Kitchee.[1]

Born in Brazil, Hélio acquired his HKSAR passport on 31 October 2015, which means he is eligible to represent Hong Kong on the international level.[1]

Club career

Early career

Hélio transferred from Sántos B to Ceará at the beginning of the 2006–07 season. Then, he joined Olímpia at the beginning of the 2007–08 season without playing a single game for Ceará. He played 20 games for Olímpia, scoring 2 goals. After that, he joined Hong Kong First Division League club Citizen in the winter transfer window 6 months later.

Citizen

Hélio played a total of 111 league games for Citizen, scoring 10 goals in his 6-year stay at the club. He won the HKFA Senior Challenge Shield once with the club. He left the club for Kitchee in the summer transfer window of 2014.

Kitchee

He has played a total of 82 league games for Kitchee thus far, scoring a single goal, and has won the HKPL and the HKFA League Cup twice with the team, and has won the Season play-offs and Senior Challenge Shield once with Kitchee. He also completed the treble with the team in the 2016–17 season.

On 27 March 2018, Hélio suffered an injury after playing for Hong Kong in an AFC Asian Cup qualifier against North Korea and was substituted in the 11th minute.[2] The injury left him out of action for 9 months until he returned on 16 December 2018 as a late substitute against Hoi King.[3]

International career

On 3 June 2016, Hélio made his international debut for Hong Kong in a 2016 AYA Bank Cup match against Vietnam.

On 26 December 2023, Hélio was named in Hong Kong's squad for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup.[4]

Career Statistics

Club

As of 22 May 2021[5]

Club Season League Senior Shield League Cup FA Cup AFC Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Citizen 2008–09 ? 3 - - - - ? 3
2009–10 16 0 - - - - 16 0
2010–11 13 2 - - 1 0 - 14 2
2011–12 17 2 - 2 0 1 0 6 1 26 3
2012–13 16 2 7 0 - 2 0 - 25 2
2013–14 19 1 1 0 - 2 0 - 22 1
Kitchee 2014–15 10 0 1 0 2 0 2 0 - 15 0
2015–16 6 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 - 10 0
2016–17 19 1 3 0 - 4 1 2 0 28 2
2017–18 8 0 1 0 - - 4 0 13 0
2018–19 8 0 1 0 - 3 1 7 0 19 1
2019–20 12 0 0 0 - 1 0 - 13 0
2020–21 15 0 - - - - 15 0
Total 159 11 15 0 6 0 17 2 19 1 216 14

International

As of matches played 11 June 2024
National team Year Apps Goals
Hong Kong 2016 6 0
2017 10 0
2018 1 0
2019 5 0
2020 0 0
2021 3 0
2022 2 0
2023 7 1
2024 4 0
Total 38 1
Scores and results list Hong Kong's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Hélio goal.
List of international goals scored by Hélio
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 11 September 2023 Hong Kong Stadium, So Kon Po, Hong Kong  Brunei 3–0 10–0 Friendly

Honours

Club

Citizen

Kitchee

References

  1. ^ a b "Paulinho and Hélio acquired the HKSAR passports". Kitchee Football Team (in Chinese). 31 October 2015. Archived from the original on 2 February 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  2. ^ "港足教練廖俊輝失望但滿意香港精神 葉鴻輝嘆高空波對抗輸晒". Ming Pao. Retrieved 27 March 2018. (in Chinese)
  3. ^ "下半場入5粒！傑志分組賽開齋". on.cc. 16 December 2018. Retrieved 16 December 2018. (in Chinese)
  4. ^ "中國香港代表隊 – 決選名單" [Hong Kong, China Team – Finalists]. Hong Kong Football Association (in Chinese). 26 December 2023. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  5. ^ "Hong Kong - Hélio Gonçalves - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 22 May 2021.