Silvino de Almeida Louro, known simply as Silvino in his playing days, is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Having ended his professional career in his 40s – playing in 21 Primeira Liga seasons and totalling 408 appearances – he went on to have another extensive spell as a goalkeeper or first-team coach, under José Mourinho.
Club career
Born in Setúbal, Silvino started his professional career with hometown's Vitória de Setúbal in 1977, moving to Vitória S.C. after five years at the club. He was signed by S.L. Benfica for 1984–85, but did not appear once in that year's Primeira Liga, barred by legendary Manuel Bento. After a loan to newly promoted C.D. Aves in the following campaign Silvino returned, going on to have an interesting battle for first-choice status with Neno for several seasons and helping the team win four league titles. He played in the European Cup finals in 1988 and 1990, having captained the side in the latter. Leaving Benfica in 1994 Silvino rejoined Vitória Setúbal, then moved to FC Porto for the 1995–96 season: despite not having to face Vítor Baía in his second year he appeared very rarely in his stint, and closed out his career at northern neighbours S.C. Salgueiros, retiring in June 2000 after three years. Subsequently, Louro began a career as a goalkeeping coach, successively at Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Manchester United, always under countryman José Mourinho. Several of the goalkeepers he worked directly with went on to win the Best Goalkeeper award, given by UEFA.
International career
Silvino made his debut for Portugal as a Vitória Guimarães player, in a 0–0 draw with Hungary on 13 April 1983. He won a total of 23 caps in a career spanning 14 years, but was left out of the nation's UEFA Euro 1984 squad. Silvino returned to the national team on 12 October 1988, and played a major part in their 1990 FIFA World Cupqualifying campaign. He lost the number one shirt in January 1991 to young Baía, as a result of having lost his Benfica job to Neno, and spent the vast remainder of his international career on the substitutes' bench. However, after Porto's Baía suffered an injury, Silvino played the last two games of the 1998 World Cup qualifiers; his final appearance came in the 1–0 win over Northern Ireland on 11 October 1997 – aged 38 – as he equalised Vítor Damas' record as the oldest player to represent Portugal. From 2000 to 2002, prior to his Porto appointment, Louro was the goalkeeper coach for the national team.
