 In spite of a short height his first sport was basketball, but Óscar Marques, a scout from Leixões SC, discovered him and took him to the club.He made his debut in the first-team – and the Primeira Liga, a competition in which he would spend 15 of his 17 years as a professional – at the age of 18, contributing with ten games as the Matosinhos side barely avoided relegation.Frasco eventually imposed himself in the first team, as a starter, as Leixões suffered relegation in 1977.