Paulinho Santos
 |
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | João Paulo Maio dos Santos | ||
| Date of birth | 21 November 1970 | ||
| Place of birth | Vila do Conde, Portugal | ||
| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
|
Current team
|
Porto (assistant) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Caxineiros Unidos | |||
| 1982–1985 | Varzim | ||
| 1986–1989 | Rio Ave | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1989–1992 | Rio Ave | 82 | (1) |
| 1992–2003 | Porto | 205 | (7) |
| Total | 287 | (8) | |
| National team | |||
| 1994–1999 | Portugal | 30 | (2) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 2011– | Porto (assistant) | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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João Paulo Maio dos Santos (born 21 November 1970), commonly known as Paulinho Santos, is a Portuguese retired footballer who played mainly as a defensive midfielder.
He spent 11 years of his professional career with Porto, playing in several positions and winning 19 major titles whilst appearing in more than 300 official games for the club.
Santos represented Portugal at Euro 1996.
Born in Vila do Conde, Santos started playing with hometown's Rio Ave FC, competing two seasons in the second division and one in the third. He moved in 1992 to FC Porto, helping the latter (often in an instrumental role) to seven Primeira Liga titles and five domestic cups, having taken over from the player he idolized while growing up, António André – who had also played in his first club.
In Porto, Santos and four others became the only players in the history of Portuguese football to win five consecutive league titles from 1994 to 1999. Upon winning the 2003 edition of the UEFA Cup, he was already second-fiddle – five games in his last two seasons combined – and retired at the end of that campaign.
A player of aggressive approach, Santos often scuffled with S.L. Benfica's João Vieira Pinto during his career: As a symbolic gesture, however, they exchanged shirts before Santos' last match, against Sporting Clube de Portugal (where Pinto was playing), at Estádio das Antas, in June 2003.
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