A former Under-21 international, Custódio took a large step towards belated recognition at senior level when he was named as an uncapped member of Portugal's UEFA EURO 2012 squad. A tenacious midfield anchorman, he enjoyed an impressive second half to the 2011/12 season with SC Braga.

• Born in Guimaraes, he moved to Lisbon to play for Sporting Clube de Portugal at 18 and was a first-team regular for the club in the 2003/04 season, starting 27 league games.

• Helped Sporting reach the 2005 UEFA Cup final – scoring three goals en route, including one in a 1-1 draw at Newcastle United FC – but was an unused substitute for the showpiece, which the Lisbon club lost 3-1 on their own ground to PFC CSKA Moskva.

• Represented Portugal at the UEFA European Under-21 Championship in 2004 and 2006, the latter on home soil.

• Made captain of Sporting in 2006 by coach Paulo Bento but fell out of favour and left to join FC Dinamo Moskva in summer 2007; returned to Portugal 18 months later after inauspicious, injury-wrecked spell in Russia, joining home-town club Vitória SC.

• On the move again in 2010, to Braga, and helped the Arsenalistas to the UEFA Europa League final, scoring the decisive goal against SL Benfica in second leg of the semi-final; missed the first half of the 2011/12 campaign with a toe injury but recovered to help Braga sustain a surprise Liga title challenge.

UEFA honours
UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League: runner-up 2005, 2011