Paulo Figueiredo

Paulo Figueiredo

Personal information
Full name	Paulo José Lopes Figueiredo
Date of birth	(1972-11-28) November 28, 1972
Place of birth	Malanje, Angola
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1992–1993	Belenenses	?	(?)
1993–1994	União Tomar	?	(?)
1994–1995	Belenenses	0	(0)
1995–1996	Camacha	?	(?)
1996–2004	Santa Clara	249	(27)
2004	Dragões Sandinenses	17	(4)
2005	Lusitânia	9	(0)
2005–2006	Varzim	26	(3)
2006–2007	Östers IF	31	(1)
2007	Ceahlăul	0	(0)
2008	Olivais Moscavide	8	(0)
2008–2009	Libolo
National team
2003–2008	Angola	30	(4)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Paulo José Lopes de Figueiredo (Portuguese pronunciation: [fiɡɐjˈɾedu]; born 28 November 1972) is an Angolan retired footballer who played as a central midfielder.

He spent the bulk of his 17-year professional career with Santa Clara, amassing Portuguese top division totals of 97 games and eight goals over the course of three seasons (eight in total with the club).

Club career

Figueiredo was born in Malanje, Portuguese Angola to Portuguese settlers, moving to the land of his parents at the age of three. From 1992–96 he played for three clubs, including two spells at C.F. Os Belenenses, for which he failed to appear in the top division in the 1994–95 season.

In the 1996 summer Figueiredo signed for C.D. Santa Clara in the second level, scoring five goals in 33 games in his third season as the club promoted to the top flight for the first time ever. He made his debut in the competition on 22 August 1999 in a 2–2 home draw against Sporting Clube de Portugal, and appeared in 31 league matches during the 1999–2000 campaign, but the Azores outfit was immediately relegated back.

After four more seasons with Santa Clara (two in the main division) and nearly 300 official games, Figueiredo moved to the Portuguese lower leagues, splitting 2004–05 with Sport Clube Dragões Sandinenses and S.C. Lusitânia. He then moved to Sweden with Östers IF, being relegated in his first and only season in the Allsvenskan.

Figueiredo spent the 2007–08 season with FC Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț in Romania and C.D. Olivais e Moscavide in Portugal, without any official appearances for the former team. Subsequently, he closed out his career in his homeland after two years with C.R.D. Libolo.

International career

In 2003, aged almost 31, Figueiredo was invited to play for Angola, and returned for the first time in almost 30 years to the country of his birth.

After featuring heavily during the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign (ten games, one goal against Nigeria on 18 June 2005, in a 1–1 away draw), he was selected to the final stages in Germany, playing in all three group stage matches as the Palancas Negras managed two draws in their first participation ever.

External links

• Stats and profile at Zerozero
• Stats at ForaDeJogo
• Paulo Figueiredo at National-Football-Teams.com
• Paulo Figueiredo – FIFA competition record
• Official site (Portuguese)