João Alves (footballer, born 1952)

For the other Portuguese footballer, see João Alves.

João Alves

Personal information
Full name	João António Ferreira Resende Alves
Date of birth	(1952-12-05) 5 December 1952
Place of birth	Albergaria-a-Velha, Portugal
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
1968–1969	Sanjoanense
1969–1972	Benfica
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1972–1973	Benfica	0	(0)
1972–1973	→ Varzim (loan)
1973–1974	Montijo	30	(2)
1974–1976	Boavista	59	(26)
1976–1978	Salamanca	64	(10)
1978–1979	Benfica	26	(11)
1979–1980	Paris Saint-Germain	19	(0)
1980–1983	Benfica	71	(17)
1983–1985	Boavista	47	(3)
Total		316	(69)
International career
1974–1983	Portugal	36	(3)
Managerial career
1984–1986	Boavista
1988–1990	Estrela Amadora
1990	Boavista
1991–1992	Vitória Guimarães
1992–1994	Estrela Amadora
1994–1996	Belenenses
1996–1997	Boavista
1997	Salamanca
1997–1998	Campomaiorense
1998–2000	Farense
2000–2002	Académica
2002–2003	Estrela Amadora
2003–2004	Leixões
2009–2011	Servette
2012	Servette
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

João António Ferreira Resende Alves (born 5 December 1952) is a former Portuguese footballer, and a coach.

A skilled attacking midfielder, he was considered one of the best Portuguese players from his generation, and earned the nickname Luvas Pretas from the black gloves he used to wear while playing.

During his career he represented mainly, with equal individual and team success, Benfica and Boavista, also coaching the latter in three separate occasions.

Playing career

Club

Born in Albergaria-a-Velha, Alves started playing at youth level for A.D. Sanjoanense, being recruited in 1969 by S.L. Benfica. His first professional team was Varzim S.C. in the 1972–73 season followed by C.D. Montijo, the latter being his Primeira Liga experience.

Alves moved to his first major club, Boavista FC, for the 1974–75 campaign, where he first showed more of his talent, earning him a transfer to Spain's UD Salamanca where he remained two more years. He then returned to Portugal and Benfica, only to move after one year to Paris Saint-Germain FC.

Failing to impress, Alves immediately moved back to the Estádio da Luz, where he would play for the next three seasons. He then re-joined Boavista, ending his career during 1984–85 at the age of 32 to become team coach.

Alves won two national championships for Benfica (1981 and 1983) and four Portuguese Cups (two for Boavista, in 1975 and 1976, and two with the former side, in 1981 and 1983). He also played for them in the 1982–83 UEFA Cup final, losing on aggregate to R.S.C. Anderlecht of Belgium.

International

Alves won 36 caps for Portugal (11 for Boavista, two for Salamanca and 17 for Benfica), scoring three goals. His debut took place on 13 November 1974 in a 0–3 friendly loss to Switzerland, and his final match was on 27 April 1983, in a 0–5 loss against the Soviet Union for the UEFA Euro 1984 qualifiers.

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref.
1	3 December 1975	Estádio do Bonfim, Setúbal, Portugal	Cyprus	1–0	1–0	Euro 1976 qualifying
2	30 March 1977	Estádio dos Barreiros, Funchal, Portugal	Switzerland	1–0	1–0	Friendly
3	9 May 1979	Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway	Norway	0–1	0–1	Euro 1980 qualifying Coaching career Alves became a coach after finishing his player career, managing Boavista on three separate occasions, C.F. Estrela da Amadora (leading the Amadora team to an historical 1990 Cup of Portugal triumph), Vitória de Guimarães, C.F. Os Belenenses, Salamanca, S.C. Campomaiorense, S.C. Farense, Académica de Coimbra and Leixões SC. In 1996–97, he led former side Salamanca to a La Liga return. After three years out of coaching, he returned to Benfica in 2007, to be in charge of its under-18 team. Two years later he returned to senior football, signing with Switzerland's Servette FC and achieving promotion to the Super League in his second season. On 28 November 2011, following Swiss Cup elimination at the hands of FC Biel-Bienne (0–3 away loss), Alves was relieved of his duties. However, following poor results achieved by his successor and the club's takeover by Hugh Quennec, he was reinstated as manager in April 2012: in the final five games of the season results improved, with the team achieving four wins and one draw – this included a 2–1 win over eventual champions FC Basel, which ended Servette's streak of 17 consecutive defeats against that opponent as well as ending their 26 match unbeaten run – and the side eventually qualified for the UEFA Europa League. Managerial statistics Team From To Record G W D L GF GA GD Win % Boavista August 1990 November 1990 66 28 16 22 86 69 +17 042.42 Estrela da Amadora July 1988 June 1990 85 31 25 29 92 83 +9 036.47 Boavista August 1990 November 1990 12 6 2 4 15 13 +2 050.00 Vitória de Guimarães January 1991 May 1992 56 24 15 17 67 61 +6 042.86 Estrela da Amadora July 1993 May 1994 39 13 15 11 51 41 +10 033.33 Belenenses October 1994 May 1996 66 25 15 26 81 67 +14 037.88 Salamanca July 1996 September 1996 2 0 1 1 2 3 −1 000.00 Boavista November 1996 12 January 1997 7 2 2 3 13 9 +4 028.57 Campomaiorense October 1997 29 November 1998 41 12 8 21 62 73 −11 029.27 Farense February 1999 January 2000 28 7 10 11 35 46 −11 025.00 Académica de Coimbra December 2000 3 December 2002 70 30 20 20 116 100 +16 042.86 Estrela da Amadora 6 March 2003 11 November 2003 20 6 5 9 16 31 −15 030.00 Leixões 5 November 2003 12 January 2004 7 1 3 3 7 15 −8 014.29 Servette 7 October 2009 28 November 2011 77 45 13 19 156 84 +72 058.44 Servette 25 April 2012 4 September 2012 17 6 5 6 17 19 −2 035.29 Career totals 593 236 155 202 827 714 +113 039.80 Source: Honours Player Boavista Taça de Portugal: 1974–75, 1975–76 Benfica Primeira Liga: 1980–81, 1982–83 Taça de Portugal: 1980–81, 1982–83 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 1980 Manager Estrela da Amadora Taça de Portugal: 1989–90 Segunda Liga: 1992–93 Individual Portuguese Footballer of the Year: 1975 References External links Template:Zerozero João Alves at ForaDeJogo (archived) João Alves manager stats at ForaDeJogo (archived) João Alves at BDFutbol João Alves manager profile at BDFutbol National team data Template:Pt icon Alves.html João Alves at National-Football-Teams.com Portugal stats at Eu-Football