João Dias

João Dias is a defender of Académica. He was born on 23 December 1986 in Braga, Portugal.

In 2001 Dias entered the academy of Braga which is rightfully considered to be one of the best in Portugal. He was a product of this academy for two years, before he caught the eye of the Lisbon side Porto. In 2003 João officially joined the academy of this club where he finished his football formation.

In 2005 Dias signed his first professional agreement with Porto. He was sent to Porto B where he made 21 appearances in the starting XI for a season. In the summer 2006 João was sold to Prato for which he played during one season and a half rarely coming on the pitch.

In January 2008 Dias moved to another Portuguese outfit Infesta where he spent the 2nd half of the 2007/2008 season netting once in 10 games. In the summer 2008 João Dias officially joined Santa Clara where he spent two best years in his career. During this time Dias enjoyed absolute confidence of the head coach who included the defender into the starting eleven in 59 matches where João managed to score 1 goal.

In the summer 2010 the footballer moved to Trofense signing another contract in his career. He found the net once in 27 games for one season with this Portuguese team. In 2011 he was invited to join Académica which offered him an advantageous offer. Dias agreed without hesitations and sealed a deal with Académica in the summer 2011.

From 2002 to 2009 João Dias was called up 34 times to the Portugal U-17, U-19, U-20 and U-23 national teams.