Ricardo Sá Pinto

Ricardo Sá Pinto

Personal information
Full name	Ricardo Manuel Andrade S. Sá Pinto
Date of birth	October 10, 1972 (1972-10-10)
Place of birth	Porto, Portugal
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position	Forward
Club information
Current club	Sporting CP (coach)
Youth career
1986–1987	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)
National team
1994–2001	Portugal	45	(9)
Teams managed
2010–2011	União Leiria (assistant)
2011–2012	Sporting CP (juniors)
2012–	Sporting CP
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

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

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.

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 Football Championship final.

In 1994–95, Pinto joined first division powerhouse Sporting Clube de Portugal. After some solid performances, he attracted the attention of La Liga side Real Sociedad. He scored in his first match 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 seasons, troubled by many injuries, although he eventually gained club captaincy. In 2006–07, he joined fellow Portuguese international Sérgio Conceição at Standard Liège (with Jorge Costa having retired at the club in the summer) in the Belgian first division, 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 União de 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.

International career

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

On 26 March 1997, Sá Pinto assaulted then 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.

Pinto's last game 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

Club

• Portuguese League: 2001–02
• Portuguese Cup: 1994–95, 2001–02
• Portuguese Supercup: 2000, 2002

Country

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

External links

• Stats and profile at Zerozero
• Stats at ForaDeJogo (Portuguese)
• Stats at Liga de Fútbol Profesional (Spanish)
• BDFutbol profile
• Ricardo Sá Pinto at National-Football-Teams.com