Minervino Pietra

This name uses Portuguese naming customs. The first or maternal family name is Lopes and the second or paternal family name is Pietra.

Minervino Pietra

Personal information
Full name	Minervino José Lopes Pietra
Date of birth	(1954-03-01) 1 March 1954
Place of birth	Lisbon, Portugal
Height
Position(s)	Right back
Team information
Current team	Benfica (assistant)
Youth career
	Belenenses
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1971–1976	Belenenses	99	(10)
1976–1987	Benfica	227	(19)
Total		326	(29)
International career
1973–1983	Portugal	28	(1)
Managerial career
1989–1990	Boavista (assistant)
1990–1992	Alverca
1992–1993	Juventude Evóra
1994	Boavista (assistant)
1994–1996	Belenenses (assistant)
1996	Boavista (assistant)
1997–1998	Alverca (assistant)
1998–1999	Estoril (assistant)
1999–2000	Estoril
2000–2001	Barreirense
2009–	Benfica (assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Minervino José Lopes Pietra (born 1 March 1954) is a retired Portuguese footballer who played as a right back, and a current assistant coach of S.L. Benfica.

He appeared in 326 Primeira Liga games over the course of 16 seasons, with Belenenses and Benfica (29 goals scored). Subsequently he became a manager, working mainly as an assistant and having spells with both clubs.

Club career

Born in Lisbon, Pietra started his professional career with local C.F. Os Belenenses, collecting nearly 150 official appearances with the first team in his five-year top division spell and scoring ten league goals. In 1976 the 22-year-old moved to S.L. Benfica, where he would remain until his retirement.

With the Eagles, Pietra won, always as an important defensive unit, the league in 1977, 1981, 1983 and 1984, adding five domestic cups. In 11 seasons he appeared in more than 300 games all competitions comprised, netting on more than 20 occasions; he also helped the club to the 1982–83 UEFA Cup final, lost to Belgium's R.S.C. Anderlecht (0–1 abroad, 1–1 at home).

In the mid-1990s Pietra began working as a manager, successively with Boavista FC, Belenenses, Benfica, F.C. Alverca (under former Benfica teammate António Veloso, his fullback counterpart), F.C. Barreirense and G.D. Estoril Praia, the latter two as head coach. After nearly one decade out of the game he returned to Benfica in 2007, acting as match scout for two years then joining Jorge Jesus' coaching staff two years later, remaining with the side for several seasons in the latter capacity.

International career

Pietra gained 28 caps for Portugal, his first game being on 14 November 1973 in a 1–1 draw against Northern Ireland for the 1974 FIFA World Cup qualfiers, at the age of only 19.

He appeared regularly during the following years, but did not attend any major international tournament. Pietra's last match was on 21 September 1983 in a 5–0 win over Finland for the UEFA Euro 1984 qualification stages; Portugal did make it to the finals in France, but he was overlooked for the squad that eventually finished third.

Minervino Pietra: International goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	14 October 1981	Estádio da Luz (1954), Lisbon, Portugal	Sweden	1–1	1–2	1982 World Cup qualification

Honours

Benfica

• Primeira Divisão (4)
• Taça de Portugal (5)
• Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (2)
• Taça de Honra (2)

External links

• Minervino Pietra at footballzz.co.uk
• Minervino Pietra profile at ForaDeJogo
• Minervino Pietra at National-Football-Teams.com
• Minervino Pietra – FIFA competition record
• Portugal stats at Eu-Football