Jose Fonte is a Portuguese footballer who plays as central defender. He spent most of his career in his native Portugal. However, now Jose Fonte performs in England and, despite the fact that he is almost 33 years old, in the near future does not plan to end his career.
Carier start
Jose Fonte was born on December 22, 1983 in Portugal, where at the age of eight he ended up at the Penafiel Club Football Academy. But he stayed there for a relatively short time - only three years, after which he went through the viewing at the Lisbon Sporting and was accepted. Over the next seven years, he was in the system of one of the strongest clubs in the country, and then entered into a professional contract with him when he was eighteen years old.
But Sporting turned out to be too big a club for the defender, and until 2004 he was in the second team, where he played 59 matches. Naturally, this situation did not suit the player, and Jose Fonte moved to the small club “Felgeiras”, where he was guaranteed playing practice.
Go to Felgeiras and go to Benfica
In the year that Jose Fonte, a footballer who has not yet been particularly impressed with the public, spent in the new club, he appeared on the field 29 times and attracted the attention of Portuguese scouts. As a result, in the summer of 2005 he ended up in the Premier League - as part of the Setubal Vitoria. There he played 17 matches in six months - and immediately signed a contract with Benfica, which at that time was one of the leaders of the Portuguese championship.
Rental period
However, unfortunately, Fonte never played a match for Benfica. First, he was sent for half a year to rent in the “Pasus de Ferreira”, where he spent 11 matches, and then to “Estrell”, where he went on the field for the year in 27 matches. As a result, in 2007, Fonte was sent on a last lease for a year - but this time outside the country. Crystal Palace hosted the Portuguese, who played 26 matches and scored one goal. The player’s contract with Benfica came to an end, and he transferred to the English club as a free agent.
Game in england
In the new club, Jose spent two more seasons, entering the field in 66 matches and scoring five more goals - but in the winter of 2010 he was bought by Southampton, who paid a half million euros for the defender. So Fonte found a club in which he could stay for a long time. During six and a half seasons, he played 269 matches for Southampton and scored 15 goals, in 2012 taking part in raising the club from League Two to League One, where Southampton firmly established itself. This season, Jose has played in 7 matches and still remains one of the leaders of the club’s defense, as well as the team captain.
Team appearances
In the Portuguese national team, Jose made his debut relatively recently - in November 2014, when he was already 30 years old. Since then he has been called up to the national team constantly and has already played 19 matches in which he gave one assist. He also went to the 2016 European Championship, where he did not participate in the group stage, but in the playoffs he played all four matches from whistle to whistle, winning this tournament.
Personal life
As for the Jose Fonte family? The player’s personal life is hidden behind a veil of secrecy, since he does not really like to spread it in public. Most interesting is the fact that Jose has a younger brother Rui, who is also a footballer. Together they played for the Sporting double, and then met again at Crystal Palace.