Diogo Matos

Diogo Maria de Sousa Franco de Matos (born 15 November 1975), known simply as Diogo, is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.

This name uses Portuguese naming customs: the first or maternal family name is Sousa Franco and the second or paternal family name is Matos.
Diogo
Personal information
Full name Diogo Maria de Sousa Franco de Matos
Date of birth (1975-11-15) 15 November 1975
Place of birth Lisbon, Portugal
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Youth career
1985–1988 Dramático Cascais
1988–1989 Estoril
1989–1994 Sporting CP
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1994–1995 Alverca
1995–1996 Académica 15 (0)
1996–2001 Alverca 103 (4)
2001–2004 Sporting CP 4 (0)
2002–2003 → Las Palmas (loan) 3 (0)
2003–2004 → Alverca (loan) 20 (0)
Total 145 (4)
National team
1995 Portugal U20 9 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Born in Lisbon, Diogo finished his football formation with local Sporting Clube de Portugal, but left the club at the age of 18, making his professional debuts with F.C. Alverca in the third division. In the 1995 summer he moved to Académica de Coimbra in the second level and, one year later, returned to Alverca who now was in the same tier, promoting to the Primeira Liga at the end of his second season.

From 1999 to 2001, Diogo appeared in 48 top division games (44 starts) and scored three goals, helping Alverca finish in midtable on both occasions. He was then rebought by Sporting, but was nothing more than a fringe player for the Laszlo Bölöni-led side, who went on to win the 2002 national championship; during his contract, he was also loaned to UD Las Palmas in Spain[1] and former club Alverca,[2] and retired from football in June 2004, aged only 28.

International career

Diogo played all the matches but one for the Portugal under-20 team that finished third in the 1995 FIFA World Youth Championship, held in Qatar.[3]

Honours

References
  1. "Relatório e contas 2002/03" [Annual report 2002/03] (PDF) (in Portuguese). Sporting CP. 2 December 2003. Retrieved 25 November 2010.
  2. "Relatório e contas 2003/04" [Annual report 2003/04] (PDF) (in Portuguese). Sporting CP. 28 October 2004. Retrieved 24 November 2010.
  3. Diogo – FIFA competition record
  4. "Vila Real-Sporting, 0–4: Tudo fácil pelo profissionalismo" [Vila Real-Sporting, 0–4: Everything made easier through professionalism]. Record (in Portuguese). 17 January 2002. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
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