Nélson Veríssimo


Nélson Alexandre da Silva Veríssimo is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as a central defender, and the current manager of Primeira Liga club Benfica.

Playing career

Veríssimo was born in Vila Franca de Xira, Lisbon District. During his professional career, the youth graduate at S.L. Benfica represented F.C. Alverca – the first of his spells being while they acted as the former's farm team– Académica de Coimbra, Vitória de Setúbal, C.D. Fátima and C.D. Mafra.
In the Primeira Liga alone, Veríssimo amassed totals of 221 matches and two goals, mostly for Alverca and Setúbal, adding 149 games and three goals in the Segunda Liga. He earned 19 caps for the Portugal under-21 team.

Coaching career

Veríssimo rejoined Benfica immediately after retiring, being appointed assistant coach with the reserves in the second division, first under Luís Norton de Matos, then former teammate at the club Hélder Cristóvão. In January 2019, as Bruno Lage was named caretaker manager at the main squad, he assumed the same position in the secondary team; he returned to the latter's technical staff shortly after, now permanently in charge of the main squad.
When Lage resigned in July 2020, after Benfica fell into second place behind FC Porto in the closing stages of the season, Veríssimo took charge of the first team; he won 3–1 at home to Boavista F.C. on his debut.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Vitória Setúbal
Fátima