Hélio (footballer)
Hong Kong footballer (born 1986)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hélio José de Souza Gonçalves (born 31 January 1986), simply 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 Eastern District. He is also the assistant coach of the club. Born in Brazil, he plays for the Hong Kong national team.
|
Hélio with Kitchee in 2023 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Hélio José de Souza Gonçalves | ||
| Date of birth | 31 January 1986 | ||
| Place of birth | Ribeirão Preto, Brazil | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Position | Centre back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Eastern District | ||
| 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) |
| 2014–2025 | Kitchee | 121 | (2) |
| 2025– | Eastern District | 21 | (1) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2016– | Hong Kong | 38 | (1) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2025– | Eastern District (assistant coach) | ||
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 16 May 2026 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 11 June 2024 | |||
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.[1] The injury left him out of action for 9 months until he returned on 16 December 2018 as a late substitute against Hoi King.[2]
On 25 May 2025, it was confirmed that Hélio would leave the club after 11 years.[3]
Eastern District
On 23 July 2025, Hélio joined Eastern District.[4]
International career
Born in Brazil, Hélio acquired his HKSAR passport on 31 October 2015 and is eligible to represent Hong Kong on the international level.[5]
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.[6]
Career statistics
Club
As of 22 May 2021[7]
| 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.
| 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
Citizen
Kitchee
- Hong Kong Premier League: 2014–15, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2022–23
- Hong Kong FA Cup: 2014–15, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2022–23
- Hong Kong Senior Shield: 2016–17, 2018–19, 2022–23, 2023–24
- Hong Kong Sapling Cup: 2017–18, 2019–20
- Hong Kong League Cup: 2014–15, 2015–16
- Hong Kong Community Cup: 2016–17, 2017–18
- AFC Cup Play-off: 2015–16