Crime studies on hold as Daniel De Lacerda makes his case with Finn Harps

Daniel de Lacerda holds a degree in criminology, but the Finn Harps defender wants to pursue his football career before getting his teeth sunk in.

It was during a spell in the United States, when he attended the Cleveland State University, that the Portuguese pursued his studies.

De Lacerda is well travelled and arrived at Finn Park as one of Kevin McHugh’s new recruits in pre-season.

In the US, he featured for both the Cleveland State Vikings and the Bowling Green Falcons in Ohio, his first side across the Atlantic.

“I always told my parents that I wanted to be a lawyer,” De Lacerda says.

“I got my degree in criminology. I didn't end up being a lawyer, but I ended up studying criminology; something that I would be interested in. 

“I’ve not yet done work yet. Maybe after my career is over, when I’m done playing, I would like to do something like that. It really interests me.”

De Lacerda, a 26-year-old defender was with Al Ittifaq in Dubai until July 2025 before being drafted by McHugh for a week-long trial at Harps during the winter.

“My agent just contacted me about this opportunity,” de Lacerda says. “He had been talking with Kevin about it. To be honest, as soon as he talked with me, I said: ‘yeah, I want to go’.

“I’ve been settling in good. Everybody's treating me well. The club provides everything we need, so they've been facilitating everything for us in terms of settling in, so it's been very good. 

“I find the Irish culture very similar to the Portuguese culture in some way, so it has been good. Just getting to know more of the people, it's a bit different, but not a big difference.”

The call might have come as a bit of a jolt, but de Lacerda was already strangely acquainted with Harps.

“Funny enough, I've known Finn Harps for a little bit,” he says. “One of my roommates from the United States used to play with Finn Harps on FIFA. Brilliant. So I was excited and this opportunity came up and I said, yeah.

“I came here for a week. I liked it. Kevin liked it, coaches liked it. We just found the agreement.”

De Lacerda was sent off on his Harps debut against Athlone Town, but is eligible to feature in this week’s game at Cobh Ramblers.

He has been impressed so far by the standard. 

“It’s a high standard,” he says. “Even in training, we all want to compete.

“We go every day to training, compete, work hard, because it's also what we want to do in the games. We want to compete, work hard, win as many games as possible.”

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De Lacerda is living in a house with some of Harps’ other new recruits. The days can feel long in between Harps’ evening training sessions, but the group go to the gym together at the Finn Valley Leisure Centre.

He says: “We wake up, get breakfast, go to the gym, come back, and then usually in those two hours, three hours maybe, before training, some guys just watch a TV show, a movie, or go to the town centre a little bit.”