Ricardo Manuel Andrade e Silva Sá Pinto (born 10 October 1972) is a Portuguese former professional
footballer who played as a
forward, currently a
manager.
He was known for his fighting spirit, best displayed in his stints at
Sporting CP, where he was dubbed "Ricardo
Lionheart" by the club's fans.[2] In a career cut short by injury and suspension, he appeared in 230
Primeira Liga games (scoring 51 goals), also playing for
Real Sociedad in Spain for two years.
Sá Pinto represented the
Portugal national team in two
European Championships, reaching the semi-finals at
Euro 2000. He started working as a manager with Sporting in 2012, and also worked in nine foreign countries.
In the
1994–95 season, Sá Pinto joined
Sporting CP. After some solid performances he attracted the attention of
La Liga's
Real Sociedad, signing a four-year contract in July 1997 for a fee of 400 million
pesetas, but was issued with a year-long worldwide suspension before making his debut.[3][4] He scored in his first official game for his new club, a 3–3 home draw with
Real Oviedo on 30 August 1998.[5]
After 70 matches and six goals in Spain, Sá Pinto returned to Sporting where he played six further years, troubled by many injuries,[6][7] although he eventually gained
team captaincy. In the
2006–07 campaign he joined fellow Portuguese international
Sérgio Conceição at
Standard Liège – with
Jorge Costa having retired at the club in the summer – in the
Belgian Pro League,[8] and retired at almost 35.[9]
On 26 March 1997, Sá Pinto assaulted national team coach
Artur Jorge upon hearing the news of not having been picked up for a match. The player travelled to the
Estádio Nacional in
Lisbon where the team was practicing, and punched the manager in the face, being banned for one year from all national and international competitions.[15]
Sá Pinto's last appearance was in the 6–0 victory over
Cyprus for the
2002 FIFA World Cupqualifiers, on 6 June 2001.[16] An injury prevented him from being present at the finals.[17]
Coaching career
Early years (2009–2012)
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
Mafra in the
Taça de Portugal, he immediately presented his resignation.[18]
Sá Pinto was appointed at Serbian giants
Red Star Belgrade on 18 March 2013,[23] winning the first eight
SuperLiga matches in charge of the club but resigning his post on 19 June, in disagreement with its board of directors.[24] From October 2013 to February 2015, he worked in the
Super League Greece with
OFI and
Atromitos.[25][26]
Sá Pinto returned to Portugal and its capital in June 2015, after agreeing to become
Belenenses manager in replacement of
Lito Vidigal, signing a two-year contract.[27] On 15 December, however, after a 4–3 away defeat against
Académica de Coimbra and failure to qualify from the
Europa League group stage, he resigned from his position.[28]
In August 2018, Sá Pinto was announced as the new manager of
Legia Warsaw after signing a three-year contract with the
Ekstraklasa club.[39] He was sacked the following April with the team in second, five points off
Lechia Gdańsk with three games remaining.[40]
Return to Portugal (2019–2022)
On 3 July 2019, Sá Pinto returned to his country for the first time in four years, taking over
Braga on a two-year deal.[41] He was dismissed on 23 December with the team eighth in the league, despite
winning their Europa League group.[42]
On 20 January 2021, Sá Pinto agreed to a two-and-a-half-year deal at
Gaziantep of the Turkish
Süper Lig.[45] He left in May at the end of his
first campaign, criticising his players, the club president and his predecessor
Marius Șumudică.[46][47]
Sá Pinto became
Moreirense's third coach of
the season on 7 January 2022, following the dismissals of
João Henriques and Vidigal.[48] He led the team to 16th place after a 4–1 win over
Vizela on the final day sent
Tondela down instead,[49] but was relegated in the
promotion/relegation play-offs after a 2–1 aggregate loss to
Chaves.[50] He missed the play-offs after being issued with a 15-day suspension and €2,805 fine for provoking opposing fans after the Vizela game, and then called for his club's supporters to revolt against the local
National Republican Guard captain;[51] the force initiated criminal proceedings against him for this declaration.[52] Days later, his contract was allowed to expire.[53]
Esteghlal
On 21 June 2022, Sá Pinto was appointed coach of Iranian club
Esteghlal, signing a two-year contract.[54] He
won the
domestic Supercup on 2 November after beating
Nassaji Mazandaran 1–0, and dedicated the conquest to the "country's women and men who are suffering".[55]
On 8 June 2023, Sá Pinto was confirmed as manager of
APOEL in the
Cypriot First Division; his assistants were
José Dominguez (who worked with him at Gaziantep) and
Nuno Morais (who played for over a decade at the
Nicosia club).[58] He won the national championship in his
only season, with his team recording the best attack at 63 goals scored and defence at 24 conceded.[59]
^Santos, João Carlos (21 January 2010).
"Sá Pinto, "coração de leão"" [Sá Pinto, "lion heart"]. Expresso (in Portuguese).
Archived from the original on 15 August 2018. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
^"Sá Pinto oficializado no Restelo" [Sá Pinto made official at the Restelo]. Record (in Portuguese). 9 June 2015.
Archived from the original on 15 February 2018. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
^Correia Azevedo, Marta (15 December 2015).
"Sá Pinto deixa Restelo" [Sá Pinto leaves the Restelo]. Record (in Portuguese).
Archived from the original on 18 December 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
^"Nota oficial" [Official note] (in Portuguese). CR Vasco da Gama. 29 December 2020.
Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
^"Sumudica rahat durmuyor" [Șumudică doesn't hold back] (in Turkish). Olay Medya. 17 May 2021.
Archived from the original on 11 June 2021. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
^"ساپینتو سرمربى استقلال شد" [Sá Pinto became Esteghlal's manager / Blues welcomed Portuguese man + photo] (in Persian).
Fars News Agency. 21 June 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
^Da Cunha, Pedro Jorge (29 June 2015).
"Seleção Sub-21: (pre)destinados à glória" [Under-21 national team: (pre)destined to glory] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol.
Archived from the original on 3 November 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2022.