José Dominguez

José Dominguez

Personal information
Full name	José Manuel Martins Dominguez
Date of birth	(1974-02-16) 16 February 1974
Place of birth	Lisbon, Portugal
Height	1.62 m (5 ft 4 in)
Position(s)	Winger
Team information
Current team	União Leiria (coach)
Youth career
1990–1992	Benfica
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1992–1994	Benfica	0	(0)
1992–1993	→ Sintrense (loan)	?	(?)
1993–1994	→ Fafe (loan)	?	(?)
1994–1995	Birmingham City	35	(3)
1995–1997	Sporting CP	62	(4)
1997–2000	Tottenham Hotspur	45	(4)
2001–2004	1. FC Kaiserslautern	56	(5)
2004	Al Ahli SC	?	(?)
2005	Vasco da Gama	7	(0)
International career
1994–1995	Portugal U21	8	(0)
1995–1996	Portugal	3	(0)
Managerial career
2010–2012	União Leiria (youth)
2012–	União Leiria
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

José Manuel Martins Dominguez (born 16 February 1974) is a Portuguese retired professional footballer who played as a winger.

A diminutive player with above-average technical skills and speed, he started playing professional football not in his own country but in England with Birmingham City; he also had spells abroad in Germany, Qatar and Brazil.

Dominguez is reported to be the shortest player to have ever played in the Premier League.

Club career

Born in Lisbon, Dominguez had an unassuming youth spell at hometown club S.L. Benfica, then played for a year, also in the area, with amateurs S.U. Sintrense. After a few months at A.D. Fafe, he had his first taste of professional football, joining English second tier club Birmingham City in March 1994, but the club were relegated in his first season.

Following Luís Figo's departure to FC Barcelona, Sporting Clube de Portugal chose Dominguez as his replacement; he played two solid seasons at the club, albeit with no silverware. Tottenham Hotspur, coached by Gerry Francis, returned the player to England in August 1997, for £1.6m.

He made his Spurs debut in the Premier League against Derby County at the end of August, winning a penalty after coming on as a second-half substitute.

Despite being at White Hart Lane for over three years, his appearances for the first team were limited: he started regularly under Francis, but came more regularly off the bench during Christian Gross's tenure as manager. He won the League Cup with Spurs in 1999, as an unused substitute, before falling out of favour during the following season under George Graham, being demoted to the reserves (in 1999–2000, he only appeared in two League games for the first team, both as substitute).

Dominguez eventually left Tottenham and signed for Bundesliga club 1. FC Kaiserslautern in November 2000, for £250,000. He scored in only his second game, a 2–4 loss at Bayer 04 Leverkusen, but his performances were also irregular; in his last season he netted once in 26 matches, but the club finished just one place above relegation.

After a brief spell in Qatar with Al-Ahly Doha, Dominguez moved in 2005 to Brazilian outfit CR Vasco da Gama. Not being able to receive his playing licence from the Portuguese Football Association, he officially retired from the game in August, aged 31.

Domínguez spent two years coaching U.D. Leiria's youth sides. On 14 March 2012, he became the first team's fourth coach of the season, replacing the fired Manuel Cajuda.

International career

While at Sporting, Dominguez gained three caps for Portugal.

In a more important role, he helped the Olympic team finish fourth at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta; that team also included four other Sporting graduates – Emílio Peixe, Luís Andrade, Hugo Porfírio and Dani.

External links

• Stats and profile at Zerozero
• Stats at ForaDeJogo Template:Pt icon
• José Dominguez at Soccerbase
• José Dominguez at fussballdaten.de (in German)
• José Dominguez at National-Football-Teams.com
• José Dominguez – FIFA competition record (archived)