on 25 November, in a 4–1 win against Gençlerbirliği. In December 2012, Meireles was handed an eleven-match ban by the Turkish Football Federation for spitting at a referee. The alleged actions were followed by accusations of homophobic remarks after he received a second yellow card in the second half of a 1–2 away defeat to rivals Galatasaray SK. However, the ban was reduced on appeal to four games after it was ruled that he could not have spat at the referee, being only guilty of verbal abuse. Meireles scored once from 20 appearances in 2013–14, helping his team win the national championship after a three-year wait. During his spell in Istanbul, he shared teams with compatriots Bruno Alves, Nani and Vítor Pereira. International career Youth Meireles represented the Portuguese under-16 team at the 2000 UEFA European Championship, which was won in Israel after a 2–1 defeat of the Czech Republic. He subsequently participated in the 2001 Meridian Cup with the under-17s, starting three times in an eventual third-place finish. In November 2001, Meireles was named in the under-19 squad for the 2003 European Championship qualifying tournament, scoring in a 1–2 loss to Belarus but helping his country qualify. On 2 June 2003, he was selected by the under-20 side for the Toulon Tournament, winning the competition and being voted its second-best player. Meireles featured regularly in the qualifying phase for the 2004 European Under-21 Championship, including a play-off tie against France where the played the full 90 minutes in a 4–1 penalty shootout victory. He was then selected by coach José Romão for the finals, appearing in four of five games to help the country qualify for the Summer Olympics– he missed the semi-finals against Italy due to suspension; in the ensuing Olympic tournament in Athens, he started twice and appeared as a second-half substitute against Iraq, as Portugal exited in the group stage with three points. Senior Meireles' first game for the Portuguese senior team took place on 15 November 2006, when he played the entire 3–0 win over Kazakhstan for the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers. He was picked for the final stages in Austria and Switzerland, marking his debut in a major international competition with a goal in the 2–0 group stage victory against Turkey (also his first), after entering the pitch in the 83rd minute. He then started alongside several reserve players in the final group clash,