João Vieira Pinto
Pinto in 2013
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | João Manuel Vieira Pinto | ||
| Date of birth | 19 August 1971 | ||
| Place of birth | Porto, Portugal | ||
| Height | 1.71 m (5 ft 7 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1982–1983 | Águias da Areosa | ||
| 1983–1988 | Boavista | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1988–1989 | Boavista | 17 | (4) |
| 1990–1991 | Atlético Madrileño | 30 | (9) |
| 1991–1992 | Boavista | 34 | (8) |
| 1992–2000 | Benfica | 220 | (64) |
| 2000–2004 | Sporting CP | 115 | (28) |
| 2004–2006 | Boavista | 57 | (11) |
| 2006–2008 | Braga | 33 | (3) |
| Total | 506 | (127) | |
| National team | |||
| 1987–1988 | Portugal U16 | 15 | (5) |
| 1988–1989 | Portugal U18 | 22 | (11) |
| 1989–1991 | Portugal U20 | 18 | (3) |
| 1991–1994 | Portugal U21 | 16 | (5) |
| 1991–2002 | Portugal | 81 | (23) |
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* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
João Manuel Vieira Pinto, CvIH (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈʒwɐ̃w̃ ˈpĩtu]; born 19 August 1971) is a retired Portuguese professional footballer who played mostly as a forward.
Blessed with formidable playmaker skills and scoring ability, he made his name mostly at a domestic level and as a key figure in the Portuguese national team's "Golden Generation", collecting 138 caps and scoring 35 goals all categories comprised (81/23 for the senior team alone) and representing the country in one World Cup and two European Championships.
At the club level, Pinto started his career with Boavista, but it was mainly associated with two of the biggest clubs in the country, Benfica and Sporting, with which he won one Primeira Liga each for a total of six major titles combined. Over the course of 19 first division seasons, he played in 450 games and netted 112 goals.
As a youth, Pinto played for Bairro do Falcão (where he was born, in Campanhã, Porto's east side) and Águias da Areosa FC, and once tried to join FC Porto's youth system – refused, he moved to Boavista F.C. instead. As a child, he impressed with his speed and ball control, and was subsequently one of the brightest stars in Portugal's wins in the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Riyadh and Lisbon, being the only player ever to have been on the winning side in this competition twice (along with goalkeeper Fernando Brassard, whom however did not play in the first tournament). Additionally, he made his Primeira Liga debut at only 17.
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