A dynamic left-footed midfielder, Miguel Veloso is the son of António Veloso, who played for Portugal at the 1984 UEFA European Championship. Whereas his father captained SL Benfica, Veloso junior came through the ranks at city rivals Sporting Clube de Portugal.

• Joined Sporting aged 14 and enjoyed an impressive debut season in the Portuguese top flight, which ended with a Portuguese Cup win and his participation at the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Netherlands, where he was the team's top scorer with two goals in three games.

• Called up to the senior national side in August 2007 and made his debut two months later in a UEFA EURO 2008 qualifier against Azerbaijan, eventually claiming his place in Luiz Felipe Scolari's finals squad, where he made one appearance − in a 2-0 defeat by Switzerland.

• Key man for Sporting in 2007/08 as the club played in the UEFA Champions League, reached the UEFA Cup quarter-finals, finished second in the Liga and retained the Portuguese Cup.

• Went off the boil in 2008/09 but returned to form the following season and ended it with a couple of substitute appearances for Portugal at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, after which he left Sporting for Genoa CFC.

• Impressive Serie A form in his second season at Genoa earned him a national team recall and he played from start to finish in both UEFA EURO 2012 play-off matches against Bosnia and Herzegovina, scoring in the 6-2 second-leg win in Lisbon.

UEFA honours
UEFA European Under-17 Championship: winner 2003