Ricardo Sá Pinto

Ricardo Sá Pinto

Pinto with Sporting in 2012
Personal information
Full name	Ricardo Manuel Andrade e Silva Sá Pinto
Date of birth	(1972-10-10) 10 October 1972
Place of birth	Porto, Portugal
Height
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
1982–1987	Porto
1987–1991	Salgueiros
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1991–1994	Salgueiros	57	(17)
1994–1997	Sporting CP	77	(20)
1997–2000	Real Sociedad	70	(6)
2000–2006	Sporting CP	97	(14)
2006–2007	Standard Liège	21	(2)
Total		322	(59)
International career
1992–1994	Portugal U21	10	(0)
1994–2001	Portugal	45	(9)
Managerial career
2010–2011	União Leiria (assistant)
2012	Sporting CP
2013	Red Star
2013–2014	OFI Crete
2014–2015	Atromitos
2015	Belenenses
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ricardo Manuel Andrade e Silva Sá Pinto (born 10 October 1972) is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as a forward, and a current manager.

He was known for his fighting spirit, best displayed in his Sporting stints – he was dubbed by the club's fans "Ricardo Lion Heart". In a career which was cut short by injury and suspension, he appeared in 230 Portuguese top division games (scoring 51 goals), also playing abroad in Spain for two years.

Sá Pinto appeared with the Portuguese national team in two European Championships, finishing third at Euro 2000. In 2012, he started working as a manager.

Club career

Born in Porto, Sá Pinto made is professional debuts with local S.C. Salgueiros and soon represented the Portuguese under-21s, helping the side reach the 1994 UEFA European Championship final. He made his Primeira Liga debut with the former on 30 August 1992, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 0–2 away loss against S.C. Farense.

In the 1994–95 season, Sá Pinto joined Sporting Clube de Portugal. After some solid performances he attracted the attention of La Liga's Real Sociedad, scoring in his first official game for his new club, a 3–3 home draw against Real Oviedo on 30 August 1998.

After 70 matches and six goals (only two seasons of action due to international suspension) in Spain, Sá Pinto returned to Sporting where he played six further years, troubled by many injuries, although he eventually gained team captaincy. In the 2006–07 campaign he joined fellow Portuguese international Sérgio Conceição at Standard Liège – with Jorge Costa having retired at the club in the summer – in the Belgian top level, and retired at almost 35.

In early November 2009 Sá Pinto returned to Sporting, replacing former teammate Pedro Barbosa as director of football as coach Paulo Bento was sacked following a string of poor performances/results. On 21 January 2010, following a physical confrontation with club player Liédson in the team's locker room after the 4–3 home win against C.D. Mafra for the season's Portuguese Cup, he immediately presented his resignation.

In 2010 Sá Pinto had his first coaching experience, being named assistant manager at U.D. Leiria, under Pedro Caixinha. On 13 February 2012, after a spell with Sporting's juniors, he was appointed first-team manager, replacing fired Domingos Paciência.

On 25 May 2012, even though Sporting could only rank fourth in the league and lost the domestic cup final, Sá Pinto signed a new two-year contract with the Lions. On 4 October, however, following a 0–3 away loss against Videoton FC – led by former national teammate Paulo Sousa – for the season's UEFA Europa League, he was relieved of his duties.

Sá Pinto was appointed at Serbian giants Red Star Belgrade on 18 March 2013, winning the first eight SuperLiga matches in charge of the club but resigining his post on 19 June, in disagreement with its board of directors. From October 2013 to February 2015 he worked in the Superleague Greece, with OFI Crete and Atromitos FC.

Sá Pinto returned to Portugal and its capital in June 2015, after agreeing to become C.F. Os Belenenses manager in replacement of Lito Vidigal whilst signing a two-year contract. On 15 December, however, after a 3–4 away loss against Académica de Coimbra and failure to qualify from the Europa League group stage, he resigned from his position.

International career

Sá Pinto received 45 caps for Portugal, 25 with Sporting and 20 for Real Sociedad, scoring nine times. His first game was on 7 September 1994 in a 2–1 win over Northern Ireland in Belfast, in which he netted the second goal; he played at UEFA Euro 1996, netting the equalizer against Denmark (1–1) in the group stage opener, and Euro 2000.

On 26 March 1997 Sá Pinto assaulted national team coach Artur Jorge, upon hearing the news of not having been picked up for a match. The player travelled to Estádio Nacional in Lisbon where the team was practicing, and punched Jorge in the face, being banned for one year from all national and international competitions.

Sá Pinto's last appearance was in the 6–0 win over Cyprus on 6 June 2001. An injury prevented him from being present at the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals.

Sá Pinto: International goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	9 June 1996	Hillsborough Stadium, Sheffield, England	Denmark	1–1	1–1	UEFA Euro 1996
2	6 September 1998	Puskás Ferenc Stadium, Budapest, Hungary	Hungary	1–1	1–3	Euro 2000 qualifying
3	6 September 1998	Puskás Ferenc Stadium, Budapest, Hungary	Hungary	1–2	1–3	Euro 2000 qualifying
4	26 March 1999	Estádio D. Afonso Henriques (1965), Guimarães, Portugal	Azerbaijan	1–0	7–0	Euro 2000 qualifying
5	9 June 1999	Estádio Cidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal	Liechtenstein	1–0	8–0	Euro 2000 qualifying
6	9 June 1999	Estádio Cidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal	Liechtenstein	3–0	8–0	Euro 2000 qualifying
7	23 February 2000	Stade du Pays de Charleroi, Charleroi, Belgium	Belgium	1–1	1–1	Friendly
8	2 June 2000	Estádio Municipal de Chaves, Chaves, Portugal	Wales	2–0	3–0	Friendly
9	3 September 2000	Kadrioru Stadium, Tallinn, Estonia	Estonia	0–3	1–3	2002 World Cup qualification

Honours

Player

Club

Sporting

• Primeira Liga: 2001–02
• Taça de Portugal: 1994–95, 2001–02
• Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 2000, 2002
• UEFA Cup: Runner-up 2004–05

Country

• UEFA European Under-21 Championship: Runner-up 1994

Manager

Sporting

• Taça de Portugal: Runner-up 2011–12

External links

• Ricardo Sá Pinto at footballzz.co.uk
• Ricardo Sá Pinto profile at ForaDeJogo
• Stats at Liga de Fútbol Profesional (Spanish)
• Ricardo Sá Pinto profile at BDFutbol
• Ricardo Sá Pinto at National-Football-Teams.com
• Ricardo Sá Pinto – FIFA competition record