体坛英语新闻：Hannover signs Valencia's defender Joao Pereira

BERLIN, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Hannover reinforce their squad with the signing of defender Joao Pereira, the Bundesliga side confirmed on Thursday.

The Portuguese international joined from Spanish side Valencia by putting pen to paper on a contract until 2015 with the Lower Saxony side.

"We wanted to sign an additional right back for the second half of the campaign. Joao Pereira is an experienced player with great skills who can help us at short notice," Hannover's coach Tayfun Korkut said.

The 30 year old right back, whose full name is Joao Pedro da Silva Pereira, played two years at Valencia to make 54 appearances. He made besides that 40 international caps for Portugal.

"His international experience speaks for himself. Joao Pereira was part of Portugal's squad at the 2014 World Cup and the EURO 2012, he played in the Champions League and in the Europa League, plus, he made overall 230 appearances in Portugal's and Spain's top flight," Hannover's manager Dirk Dufner said.

Hannover sit currently on the 8th position of the Bundesliga standings. They face Schalke for their restart of the season.