Rui Vitória

Rui Carlos Pinho da Vitória (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈʁuj viˈtɔɾjɐ]; born 16 April 1970) is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as a midfielder, and was most recently the manager of Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr.

This name uses Portuguese naming customs: the first or maternal family name is Pinho and the second or paternal family name is Vitória.
Rui Vitória
Vitória managing Benfica in 2016
Personal information
Full name Rui Carlos Pinho da Vitória
Date of birth (1970-04-16) 16 April 1970
Place of birth Alverca do Ribatejo, Portugal
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1986–1988 Alverca
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1988–1990 Fanhões
1990–1996 Vilafranquense
1996–1997 Alverca 18 (1)
1997–1999 Vilafranquense
1999–2001 Seixal 26 (0)
2001–2002 Casa Pia 11 (1)
2002–2003 Alcochetense
Teams managed
2002–2004 Vilafranquense
2004–2006 Benfica (youth)
2006–2010 Fátima
2010–2011 Paços Ferreira
2011–2015 Vitória Guimarães
2015–2019 Benfica
2019–2020 Al-Nassr
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

He most notably spent three and a half years with Benfica in Portugal, winning seven major trophies, which included two consecutive Primeira Liga titles.

Playing career

Vitória was born in Alverca do Ribatejo, Vila Franca de Xira.[1] During his career, in which he played for five clubs, he never competed in higher than the third division (four seasons), also spending eleven years in the fourth. He mainly represented U.D. Vilafranquense, in the Lisbon area.[1]

A midfielder, Vitória retired as a player in 2003, aged 32.[1]

Managerial career

Early years and Fátima

After starting as a manager with his main team Vilafranquense, Vitória moved in 2004 to Benfica, spending two seasons with its junior side.[1]

In 2006, Vitória signed for Fátima, helping the club promote to the second level in his first season, followed by immediate relegation back. In 2008–09, again as champion, he again led the side to division two.[1]

Paços de Ferreira

On 2 June 2010, Vitória replaced Ulisses Morais at the helm of Paços de Ferreira.[2] In his first season in the top division, he guided the team to the seventh position in the league, also achieving runner-up honours in the domestic League Cup, which was won by Benfica (2–1).[1]

Vitória de Guimarães

In late August 2011, Vitória replaced fired Manuel Machado as the manager of Vitória de Guimarães.[3] In his second year, he led the club to the conquest of the Portuguese Cup against Benfica (2–1), in a first-ever for the Minho Province side.[4] Later, on 10 August 2013, he was runner-up in the Supertaça, losing 3–0 to Porto.

Benfica

On 15 June 2015, Portuguese champions Benfica announced that Vitória had signed a three-year contract with the club.[5] He started the season by losing the Supertaça 1–0 to Lisbon rivals Sporting.[6] Despite a troubled start, Benfica secured a third Primeira Liga title in a row and 35th overall with a 4–1 win over Nacional at the Estádio da Luz on the final matchday, establishing a Portuguese league record of 88 points in 34 matches.[7] Also, with a 1–0 league win at Boavista, Vitória set a Benfica record of 11 consecutive away triumphs in all competitions.[8] Moreover, he also managed the team to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League and to their seventh Taça da Liga trophy, beating Marítimo 6–2. Later that season, he received Primeira Liga's award for Best Coach.[9]

Vitória started the 2016–17 season by winning his first Portuguese Super Cup on his third attempt, with a 3–0 win over Braga; therefore, he succeeded in winning all four major trophies in Portugal.[10] On 23 October 2016, he surpassed Jimmy Hagan's 43-year-old record of 15 consecutive away wins in the league, achieving the 16th as Benfica defeated Belenenses 2–0 away.[11] Later, on 7 April 2017, he renewed his contract for a further two seasons[12] before ending the season with victories in Primeira Liga, Taça de Portugal and Supertaça, therefore, clinching Benfica's second treble in history after Lajos Baróti's in 1980–81. In addition to that, by winning two of four league titles in a row, Vitória became the first Benfica manager to reach the tetra.

The next season, Vitória won the domestic Super Cup[13] and guided Benfica to a second place in Primeira Liga and to the worst Portuguese campaign in the Champions League,[14] which included the club's biggest loss ever in the competition, 5–0 to Basel.[15]

On 4 January 2019, following a string of bad results during the 2018–19 season, resulting in Benfica's first-ever loss to Portimonense,[16] Vitória's contract was terminated by the club.[17]

Al-Nassr

Within a week of his departure from Benfica, Vitória was hired on an 18-month contract at Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr FC, ranked second in the Saudi Professional League.[18] His first match was a 5–0 win over second-tier Al-Ansar F.C. in the last 32 of the King Cup on 14 January 2019.[19] The club from Riyadh finished the season as champions.[20] He later led Al-Nassr to reach the 2020 AFC Champions League semi-finals, where they only lost to Persepolis on penalties.[21]

On 27 December 2020, Vitória left the club by mutual consent.[22] At the time of his departure, Al-Nassr were 15th in the table with only 8 points in 10 matches.

Managerial statistics
As of match played 26 December 2020[23][24]
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team Nat From To Record
G W D L Win %
Vilafranquense 22 October 2002 17 May 2004 75 32 11 32 042.67
Fátima 10 May 2006 1 June 2010 140 63 42 35 045.00
Paços Ferreira 2 June 2010 30 August 2011 42 17 13 12 040.48
Vitória Guimarães 30 August 2011 11 June 2015 154 61 33 60 039.61
Benfica 11 June 2015 4 January 2019 184 125 28 31 067.93
Al-Nassr 10 January 2019 27 December 2020 86 53 15 18 061.63
Career totals 681 351 142 188 051.54

Honours

Managerial

Fátima[1]

Guimarães[25]

Benfica[25]

Al-Nassr[25]

Individual

References

Notes

    Citations

    1. "Rui Vitória: 14 anos de carreira sem ser despedido e uma Taça" [Rui Vitória: 14 years of career without being sacked and one Cup]. Maisfutebol (in Portuguese). 11 June 2015. Retrieved 11 June 2015. Um percurso como médio que terminou aos 32 anos
    2. P. Ferreira: Rui Vitória confirmado como novo treinador (P. Ferreira: Rui Vitória confirmed as new coach); Maisfutebol, 2 June 2010 (Portuguese)
    3. "V. Guimarães: Rui Vitória assina até final da época" [V. Guimarães: Rui Vitória signs until end of season]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). 30 August 2011. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
    4. "Guimarães claim famous cup win". PortuGOAL. 26 May 2013. Archived from the original on 25 September 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
    5. "Comunicado" [Announcement] (PDF). S.L. Benfica (in Portuguese). CMVM. 15 June 2015.
    6. "No reencontro com o "Judas", Benfica perde a Supercopa para o Sporting" [In the re-encounter with "Judas", Benfica lose Super Cup to Sporting]. Globo Esporte (in Portuguese). 9 August 2015. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
    7. Piedade, Luís (15 May 2016). "Benfica secure 35th Portuguese crown". UEFA. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
    8. Rui Vitória entra na história do Benfica O Jogo (in Portuguese)
    9. ""Nós treinadores não vivemos de prémios individuais mas estou muito orgulhoso" - Rui Vitória" ["We coaches do not live off individual awards but I am very proud" - Rui Vitória]. A Bola (in Portuguese). 15 July 2016. Archived from the original on 15 July 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
    10. "Rui Vitória faz o pleno de títulos internos" [Rui Vitória wins all internal titles] (in Portuguese). Maisfutebol. 8 August 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
    11. Rui Vitória fez cair recorde com 43 anos SAPO Desporto (in Portuguese)
    12. "Rui Vitória renova contrato até 2019/2020" [Rui Vitória renewed his contract until 2019/2020]. S.L. Benfica (in Portuguese). 7 April 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
    13. "Só o PSG tem mais títulos do que o Benfica desde 2013" [Only PSG have more titles than Benfica since 2013]. SAPO Desporto (in Portuguese). 7 August 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
    14. Simões, Luís Miroto (5 December 2018). "Águia confirma cenário negro: pior prestação lusa de sempre na Champions" [Eagle confirms dark scenario: worst Portuguese performance ever in Champions]. Record (in Portuguese). Retrieved 5 May 2018.
    15. Holyman, Ian; Machado, Carlos (5 December 2017). "UEFA Champions League - Basel–Benfica". UEFA. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
    16. Sampaio, Inês Braga; Freitas, Marília (4 January 2019). "Os números que explicam a saída de Rui Vitória do Benfica" [The numbers that explain Rui Vitória's departure from Benfica]. Rádio Renascença (in Portuguese). Retrieved 7 January 2019.
    17. "Comunicado" [Announcement] (PDF). CMVM. 4 January 2019.
    18. "Rui Vitória confirmado no Al Nassr" [Rui Vitória confirmed at Al Nassr]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). 10 January 2019. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
    19. "Rui Vitória estreia-se no Al Nassr com goleada" [Rui Vitória debuts at Al-Nassr with a thrashing]. Maisfutebol (in Portuguese). 15 January 2019. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
    20. Correia, Francisco (16 May 2019). "Al-Nassr de Rui Vitória sagra-se campeão da Arábia Saudita" [Rui Vitória's Al-Nassr crowned champions of Saudi Arabia]. Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 12 November 2019.
    21. "Vitoria confident bright future awaits Al Nassr after AFC Champions League run". AFC. 4 October 2020.
    22. "فيتوريا يفتح باب الإقالات في الدوري". arriyadiyah.com (in Arabic). 28 December 2020.
    23. Rui Vitória coach profile at Soccerway
    24. "Rui Vitória". ForaDeJogo. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
    25. Rui Vitória coach profile at Soccerway
    26. "Melhor treinador da Liga 2016/2017 é Rui Vitória" [Best coach of 2016–2017 league is Rui Vitória]. SAPO Desporto (in Portuguese). 7 July 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
    27. "Vitória, Hamdallah pick up the best awards of March". Retrieved 4 April 2019.
    28. "فيتوريا وجونز وإدواردو يحصدون جوائز الأفضلية لشهر أكتوبر".
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