António Oliveira (footballer, born 1952)

António Oliveira
Personal information
Full name	António Luís Alves Ribeiro de Oliveira
Date of birth	10 June 1952 (age 72)
Place of birth	Penafiel, Portugal
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 7+1⁄2 in)
Position(s)	Attacking midfielder
Youth career
1968–1971	Porto
Senior career*
Years	Team
1971–1979	Porto
1979	Betis
1980	Porto
1980–1981	Penafiel
1981–1985	Sporting CP
1985–1986	Marítimo
Total
International career
1974–1983	Portugal
Managerial career
1980–1981	Penafiel (player-coach)
1982–1983	Sporting CP (player-coach)
1985–1986	Marítimo (player-coach)
1987–1988	Vitória Guimarães
1988	Académica
1991–1992	Gil Vicente
1993–1994	Braga
1994–1996	Portugal
1996–1998	Porto
1998	Betis
2000–2002	Portugal
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

António Luís Alves Ribeiro de Oliveira (born 10 June 1952) is a Portuguese former football attacking midfielder and manager.

As a player, he notably represented two of the Big Three in his country, Porto and Sporting, amassing totals of 267 matches and 99 Primeira Liga goals between the two and also later managing the former club with great success.

Also an international player, Oliveira had two coaching spells with the Portugal national team, leading them in one World Cup and one European Championship.

Playing career

Born in Penafiel, Porto District, Oliveira made his senior debut with FC Porto, first appearing in the Primeira Liga at the age of 18. From 1974 onwards, with the exception of one year, he always scored in double digits, netting a career-best 19 in the 1977–78 season as the northerners won the national championship after a 19-year drought.

In the summer of 1979, 27-year-old Oliveira moved to La Liga with Real Betis. He returned to Porto the following transfer window due to homesickness, being an important first-team element as the latter side finished second in the league, two points behind Sporting CP.^[1]

After helping hometown's F.C. Penafiel retain top-flight status – he left Porto alongside club director Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa and coach José Maria Pedroto following internal disputes^[2]– Oliveira signed with Sporting, helping them to the double in 1981–82.^[3] In 1985, aged 33, he moved to C.S. Marítimo, retiring at the end of the campaign with Portuguese top division totals of 296 matches and 109 goals; at both Penafiel and Marítimo, he acted as player-coach.^[1]

Oliveira earned 24 caps for Portugal over a nine-year spell, which included his player-manager career at Penafiel. He did not take part, however, in any major international tournament.

**António Oliveira: International goals**
No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition^[4]
1	15 April 1981	Estádio das Antas, Porto, Portugal	Bulgaria	1–1	1–1	Friendly
2	16 December 1981	Haskovo Stadium, Haskovo, Bulgaria	Bulgaria	0–1	5–2	Friendly
3	16 December 1981	Haskovo Stadium, Haskovo, Bulgaria	Bulgaria	5–2	5–2	Friendly
4	20 January 1982	Nikos Goumas Stadium, Athens, Greece	Greece	1–1	1–2	Friendly
5	20 January 1982	Nikos Goumas Stadium, Athens, Greece	Greece	1–2	1–2	Friendly
6	22 September 1982	Olympic Stadium (Helsinki), Helsinki, Finland	Finland	0–2	0–2	Euro 1984 qualifying
7	21 September 1983	Estádio José Alvalade (1956), Lisbon, Portugal	Finland	5–0	5–0	Euro 1984 qualifying

Coaching career

Oliveira started managing while still an active player. Exclusively a coach from 1987 onwards, his only full season in his beginnings was 1991–92, when he led modest Gil Vicente F.C. to the 13th position in the top flight.

After helping Portugal to the quarter-finals in UEFA Euro 1996,^[5] Oliveira signed for former club Porto, leading it to back-to-back national championships with the addition of one Portuguese Cup, won against S.C. Braga. His first season started with a 5–0 demolition of S.L. Benfica in the domestic Supercup, as the team went on to win the league with 85 points – a record which would last until the 2002–03 campaign, broken by José Mourinho's team^[6]– also reaching the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League and being eliminated by Manchester United.^[7]

In summer 1998, Oliveira was appointed at another former club, Betis, but left the Andalusians before the season started.^[8] He returned to the national side two years later,^[9] qualifying to the 2002 FIFA World Cup, the first time in 16 years.

Several problems occurred during the preparation for the tournament in Japan and South Korea, and the competition itself: Vítor Baía replaced in-form Ricardo in goalkeeper, Beto played out of position at right back, Luís Figo was in very poor physical condition and Hugo Viana was called as a last-minute replacement for Daniel Kenedy, who tested positive in a doping control test;^[10]^[11]^[12] after one win and two losses in the group stage, Portugal were eliminated and the manager was fired.^[13]

Afterwards, Oliveira was elected chairman of Penafiel Futebol Clube.^[14] He also majored in law, at the age of 54.^[1]

Honours

Player

Porto

Sporting CP

Individual

Portuguese Footballer of the Year: 1978, 1981, 1982

Manager

Sporting CP

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 1982

Porto

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "O jogador era o analfabeto que não comia com talheres" ("The footballer was that illiterate who did not use cuttlery to eat"); Expresso, 21 March 2015 (in Portuguese)
^ FC Porto. O Verão quente de 1980, que esfriou a relação no futebol (FC Porto. 1980's hot summer, when football relations turned cold) Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine; i, 6 August 2010 (in Portuguese)
^ Nº36: António Luís Alves Ribeiro Oliveira; Craques e Flops Leoninos, 20 June 2009 (in Portuguese)
^ "Oliveira". European Football. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
^ Antonio Oliveira; BBC Sport, 9 April 2002
^ Mais um clássico (Another classic); Record, 1 June 2003 (in Portuguese)
^ Porto 0–0 Man. United; UEFA, 19 March 1997
^ Javier Clemente, entrenador del Betis (Javier Clemente, Betis manager); El País, 26 October 1998 (in Portuguese)
^ Oliveira returns to Portugal job; The Independent, 1 August 2000
^ É oficial, Hugo Viana substitui Kenedy no Mundial (It's official, Hugo Viana replaces Kenedy in the World Cup); Mais Futebol, 22 May 2002 (in Portuguese)
^ Jogadores em baixa (Players on the fall); Correio da Manhã, 15 June 2002 (in Portuguese)
^ Mundial 2002 ou a história de um plano que afinal não era perfeito (2002 World Cup or the story of a plan which turned out not to be perfect); SAPO, 5 June 2018 (in Portuguese)
^ Portugal sack Oliveira; BBC Sport, 25 June 2002
^ António Oliveira eleito presidente do Penafiel (António Oliveira elected president of Penafiel); Público, 1 July 2003 (in Portuguese)

External links

António Oliveira at ForaDeJogo (archived)
António Oliveira manager stats at ForaDeJogo (archived)
António Oliveira at BDFutbol
António Oliveira at National-Football-Teams.com

[EXPRESSO-1] "O jogador era o analfabeto que não comia com talheres" ("The footballer was that illiterate who did not use cuttlery to eat"); Expresso, 21 March 2015 (in Portuguese)

[2] FC Porto. O Verão quente de 1980, que esfriou a relação no futebol (FC Porto. 1980's hot summer, when football relations turned cold) Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine; i, 6 August 2010 (in Portuguese)

[3] Nº36: António Luís Alves Ribeiro Oliveira; Craques e Flops Leoninos, 20 June 2009 (in Portuguese)

[4] "Oliveira". European Football. Retrieved 28 December 2015.

[5] Antonio Oliveira; BBC Sport, 9 April 2002

[6] Mais um clássico (Another classic); Record, 1 June 2003 (in Portuguese)

[7] Porto 0–0 Man. United; UEFA, 19 March 1997

[8] Javier Clemente, entrenador del Betis (Javier Clemente, Betis manager); El País, 26 October 1998 (in Portuguese)

[9] Oliveira returns to Portugal job; The Independent, 1 August 2000

[10] É oficial, Hugo Viana substitui Kenedy no Mundial (It's official, Hugo Viana replaces Kenedy in the World Cup); Mais Futebol, 22 May 2002 (in Portuguese)

[11] Jogadores em baixa (Players on the fall); Correio da Manhã, 15 June 2002 (in Portuguese)

[12] Mundial 2002 ou a história de um plano que afinal não era perfeito (2002 World Cup or the story of a plan which turned out not to be perfect); SAPO, 5 June 2018 (in Portuguese)

[13] Portugal sack Oliveira; BBC Sport, 25 June 2002

[14] António Oliveira eleito presidente do Penafiel (António Oliveira elected president of Penafiel); Público, 1 July 2003 (in Portuguese)

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