João Manuel Pinto


João Manuel Pinto Tomé Santos, known as João Pinto or João Manuel Pinto, is a Portuguese retired professional footballer who played as a central defender, and the current manager of S.C. Vila Real.

Playing career

Pinto was born in Carcavelos, Cascais. During his career he represented Clube Oriental de Lisboa, S.C. Campomaiorense, C.F. Os Belenenses, FC Porto and S.L. Benfica, retiring in 2007 after abroad stints with Ciudad de Murcia and FC Sion. In his country's Primeira Liga, he amassed totals of 191 games and 20 goals over the course of ten seasons.
Used often as a last-minute centre forward when his teams were trailing– scored more than ten overall goals for Porto – Pinto appeared once for the Portugal national football team, coming on at half-time during the 1–1 friendly draw with England at Villa Park, on 7 September 2002.

Coaching career

Pinto kickstarted his coaching career in the summer of 2013, going on to be in charge of CD Cinfães in the third level for only three months. On 23 December 2015, he was appointed academy director of Brazilian club Associação Portuguesa de Desportos.

Honours

Porto
Sion