António Sousa
Encyclopedia
António Augusto Gomes de Sousa (ɐ̃ˈtɔniu ˈsowzɐ; born 28 April 1957) is a retired Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 footballer who played as a central midfielder, and a current manager
Coach (sport)
In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...

.

During his career he played, among others, for F.C. Porto and Sporting Clube de Portugal. Subsequently, he worked as a manager for several clubs.

Gaining nearly 30 caps
Cap (sport)
In sports, a cap is a metaphorical term for a player's appearance on a select team, such as a national team. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of association football...

 for Portugal
Portugal national football team
The Portugal national football team represents Portugal in association football and is controlled by the Portuguese Football Federation, the governing body for football in Portugal. Portugal's home ground is Estádio Nacional in Oeiras, and their head coach is Paulo Bento...

 during the 80's, Sousa represented the nation in one World Cup
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...

 and another European Championship
UEFA European Football Championship
The UEFA European Football Championship is the main football competition of the men's national football teams governed by UEFA . Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the UEFA European Nations Cup, changing to the current...

, scoring in both tournaments.

Club career

Born in São João da Madeira
São João da Madeira
São João da Madeira , in English St. John's Wood, is a municipality in northwestern Portugal. Its part of Porto Metropolitan Area, the second largest of Portugal. It has a land area of 8.11 km² and a total population of 21 685 inhabitants...

, Sousa started professionally as a 16-year old at local A.D. Sanjoanense
A.D. Sanjoanense
Associação Desportiva Sanjoanense is a Portuguese football club based in São João da Madeira. Founded in 1924, it currently plays in the Portuguese Second Division , playing home games at the Estádio Conde Dias Garcia....

, by then in the second division
Liga de Honra
The Liga de Honra , known for sponsorship reasons as the Liga Orangina, is the Portuguese second level football league. It was formerly called Segunda Divisão and Segunda Divisão de Honra . When the LPFP took control of the two nationwide levels, it was renamed Segunda Liga, before renaming it...

. In 1975, he signed with S.C. Beira-Mar, scoring a career-best 15 goals in his third year, as the Aveiro club returned to the top flight (three of his four seasons there were spent in the main division).

Sousa was then bought by national powerhouse F.C. Porto, where he remained an undisputed starter; he won the league championship and the cup
Taça de Portugal
The Taça de Portugal is the main Portuguese national football knock-out competition. The tournament has been officially known as the Taça de Portugal Millennium since 2008, due to its sponsorship by Portuguese private bank Millennium BCP. It has occurred on a yearly basis since 1938 and is...

 several times, also scoring against Juventus FC
Juventus F.C.
Juventus Football Club S.p.A. , commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve , are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont...

 in the 1984 European Cup Winners' Cup Final, lost 1–2 in Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...

.

In the 1984 summer, Sousa and longtime Porto central midfield partner Jaime Pacheco
Jaime Pacheco
Jaime Moreira Pacheco is a retired Portuguese footballer who played as a central midfielder, and a current manager.During his career he played, among others, for F.C. Porto and Sporting Clube de Portugal...

 signed with Sporting Clube de Portugal – as part of the deal that sent 17-year old prodigy Paulo Futre
Paulo Futre
Paulo Jorge dos Santos Futre is a retired Portuguese professional footballer who played mostly as a left winger.After exploding at Sporting Clube de Portugal well before his 20th birthday, he soon moved to Futebol Clube do Porto, after which he embarked in an extensive career - until 1998 - having...

 in the opposite direction – with the pair returning after two seasons. He then proceeded to win the European Cup
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

, the Intercontinental Cup
Intercontinental Cup (football)
The European/South American Cup, commonly referred to as the World Club Championship, Intercontinental Cup or Toyota Cup, was a football competition endorsed by UEFA and CONMEBOL, contested between the winners of the European Cup and the South American Copa Libertadores...

 and the UEFA Super Cup with the northern
Porto
Porto , also known as Oporto in English, is the second largest city in Portugal and one of the major urban areas in the Iberian Peninsula. Its administrative limits include a population of 237,559 inhabitants distributed within 15 civil parishes...

 side, continuing to appear regularly.

Sousa retired in 1996 at 39, as player-coach
Player-coach
A player-coach, in sports, is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. The term can be used to refer to both players who serve as head coaches, or as assistant coaches....

 of first club Sanjoanense. He then dedicated himself exclusively to coaching, his main team being another former club as a player, Beira-Mar, where he remained for seven 1/2 years, with four consecutive first division seasons. In 1999, he led the latter to its biggest achievement, the Portuguese Cup
Taça de Portugal
The Taça de Portugal is the main Portuguese national football knock-out competition. The tournament has been officially known as the Taça de Portugal Millennium since 2008, due to its sponsorship by Portuguese private bank Millennium BCP. It has occurred on a yearly basis since 1938 and is...

, after defeating S.C. Campomaiorense
S.C. Campomaiorense
Sporting Clube Campomaiorense is a Portuguese football club, founded in 1926, and based in Campo Maior.The club had a professional football section that played five seasons at the top level of Portuguese football and reached the Cup of Portugal final in 1999.Campomaiorense was first promoted to the...

 1–0.

International career

Sousa received 27 caps
Cap (sport)
In sports, a cap is a metaphorical term for a player's appearance on a select team, such as a national team. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of association football...

 for the Portuguese national team
Portugal national football team
The Portugal national football team represents Portugal in association football and is controlled by the Portuguese Football Federation, the governing body for football in Portugal. Portugal's home ground is Estádio Nacional in Oeiras, and their head coach is Paulo Bento...

, from 1981 to 1989, playing at UEFA Euro 1984, where he scored the goal in the tie against Spain
Spain national football team
The Spain national football team represents Spain in international association football and is controlled by the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Spain. The current head coach is Vicente del Bosque...

 (1–1), and at the 1986 FIFA World Cup
1986 FIFA World Cup
The 1986 FIFA World Cup, the 13th FIFA World Cup, was held in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia had been originally chosen to host the competition by FIFA but, largely due to economic reasons, was not able to do so and officially...

.

Personal

Sousa's son, Ricardo
Ricardo Sousa
Ricardo André de Pinho Sousa is a Portuguese footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder.-Club career:...

, is also a professional footballer, also in midfield. He was a youth graduate, albeit with no success, at Porto, and represented several teams in different countries, mainly playing for Boavista FC and Beira-Mar, with the pair sharing teams at the latter in three different spells (1998–99, 2000–01, 2002–03).

External links

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