Born in Massarelos, Porto, Moreira preferred to play as an attacking midfielder in his early years but, following the advice of his father José, soon changed his position and took trials for S.C.

The latter made the best bid to Salgueiros and won the race to sign him, but it was later decided it was best to keep him at the club for two more years; when he arrived to the Estádio da Luz he was called for a mini-tour with the main squad in the Azores, going on to make his unofficial senior debut.

[2] In 1999, Moreira was selected by Portugal under–18 coach Agostinho Oliveira for the UEFA European Championship in Sweden, with the national team winning the title.

[3] Subsequently, he returned to Benfica, being called by Jupp Heynckes to join the pre-season tour in Austria; at the time, two of the three senior goalkeepers were not available (Carlos Bossio was in Argentina and Nuno Santos was injured, leaving Robert Enke as the only available keeper).

[4][5] He was an unused substitute in several matches during August/December 1999, but would only play two years later in a home game against Vitória de Guimarães, replacing the injured Enke after 24 minutes and delivering a clean sheet in a 0–0 draw.

[20] In June 2010, as his contract was not renewed, he was on the verge of leaving after 12 years,[21] with speculation arising that he would join Lisbon neighbours Sporting;[22] after Quim was released, however, he put pen to paper a new three-year deal.

[27] He only made one competitive appearance during the season, a 3–1 away loss to Shrewsbury Town in the second round of the Football League Cup, and his contract was terminated by mutual consent on 17 May 2012.

[2] He was picked by senior team manager Luiz Felipe Scolari alongside Ricardo and Quim for UEFA Euro 2004 which was contested on home soil, but did not take any part in the tournament.

[37][38] On 12 August 2009, five years after his Euro 2004 selection, Moreira finally made his full debut, playing 30 minutes in a friendly win in Liechtenstein (3–0).