Hélio Pinto

Hélio José Ribeiro Pinto (born 29 February 1984) is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. He is now the manager of Olhanense.

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Ribeiro and the second or paternal family name is Pinto.
Hélio Pinto
Pinto playing for APOEL in 2011
Personal information
Full name Hélio José Ribeiro Pinto[1]
Date of birth (1984-02-29) 29 February 1984[1]
Place of birth Portimão, Portugal[1]
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Position(s) Central midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Olhanense (manager)
Youth career
1994–1999 Portimonense
1999–2002 Benfica
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2004 Benfica B
2003–2004 Benfica 2 (0)
2004–2006 Sevilla B 18 (0)
2005–2006 → Apollon Limassol (loan) 25 (2)
2006–2013 APOEL 190 (16)
2013–2015 Legia Warsaw 43 (7)
2015–2016 Al-Mesaimeer 15 (0)
2016 Anorthosis 0 (0)
2016–2017 Kongsvinger 11 (0)
2017 Trikala 3 (0)
2017 Kongsvinger 10 (0)
2018 NorthEast United 3 (0)
2018–2021 Louletano 59 (0)
Total 379 (25)
International career
2002 Portugal U18 2 (1)
2002–2003 Portugal U19 14 (0)
2004 Portugal U20 1 (0)
Managerial career
2022– Olhanense
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

A youth product of Benfica, he spent most of his career with APOEL in Cyprus, appearing in 276 competitive matches and winning eight major titles. He also played in Spain, Cyprus, Poland, Qatar, Norway, Greece and India.

Club career

Pinto was born in Portimão, Algarve. A product of S.L. Benfica's youth system, he could never break into the first team, tottalling just five minutes in the Primeira Liga under José Antonio Camacho. His next stop was in Spain with Sevilla FC, where he only appeared for the reserves.[2]

Still owned by Sevilla, Pinto spent the 2005–06 season in Cyprus with Apollon Limassol FC. Being released the summer, his career settled with another team in the country, APOEL FC.[2]

During his spell with APOEL, Pinto was an important member as the club won the Cypriot First Division on four occasions, adding amongst other trophies the domestic cup in 2007–08. He also appeared in all six group-stage games in their first participation in the UEFA Champions League.

Pinto played eight matches in the 2011–12 Champions League, as the Nicosia-based side surprisingly reached the quarter-finals of the competition.[3][4] On 5 June 2013, he signed a three-year contract extension[5] but, later that month, announced he was leaving after seven years.[6]

On 21 June 2013, Pinto agreed to a two-year deal (with an option for another season) with Legia Warsaw from Poland.[7] He was released two years later,[8] moving to the Qatar Stars League with Al-Mesaimeer Sports Club shortly after.[9]

On 2 February 2016, Pinto returned to Cyprus and joined Anorthosis Famagusta FC.[10] The following 28 January, he signed with Greek club Trikala F.C. from Norway's Kongsvinger IL Toppfotball.[11]

Following a stint with Indian Super League franchise NorthEast United FC, Pinto returned to Portugal after 14 years and agreed to a contract at third-tier Louletano D.C. on 15 June 2018.[12]

International career

Pinto gained Cypriot nationality on 27 July 2012, and the Cyprus Football Association subsequently waited for FIFA approval on whether could play for the national team.[13] The governing body eventually ruled he could not represent his adopted nation, after having appeared for Portugal at under-18, under-19 and under-20 levels.[2]

Managerial career

After starting his coaching career in charge of Louletano's reserves, Pinto was named manager of Campeonato de Portugal bottom club S.C. Olhanense on 8 November 2022.[14] His first season resulted in unprecedented relegation to the fifth-tier district leagues, nine years after being a top-flight club.[15]

Career statistics
As of 28 April 2019[16]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Benfica 2002–03[17] Primeira Liga 000000—00
2003–04[17] Primeira Liga 20201[lower-alpha 1]0—50
Total 202010—50
Sevilla B 2004–05[17] Segunda División B 180———180
Apollon Limassol (loan) 2005–06[17] Cypriot First Division 252——252
APOEL 2006–07[17] Cypriot First Division 234813000345
2007–08[17][18] Cypriot First Division 282802[lower-alpha 2]01[lower-alpha 3]1393
2008–09[17][18] Cypriot First Division 272515[lower-alpha 1]21[lower-alpha 3]0385
2009–10[17][18] Cypriot First Division 2517212[lower-alpha 2]01[lower-alpha 3]0453
2010–11[17][18] Cypriot First Division 261206[lower-alpha 4]1—342
2011–12[17][18] Cypriot First Division 3213014[lower-alpha 2]01[lower-alpha 3]0501
2012–13[17][18] Cypriot First Division 295106[lower-alpha 4]1—366
Total 190163444844127625
Legia Warsaw 2013–14[18] Ekstraklasa 256217[lower-alpha 5]0—347
2014–15[18] Ekstraklasa 181202[lower-alpha 2]000221
Total 437419000568
Al-Mesaimeer 2015–16[18] Qatar Stars League 15000——150
Kongsvinger 2016[18] 1. divisjon 11130——141
Trikala 2016–17[18] Football League 3000——30
Kongsvinger 2017[18] 1. divisjon 10000——100
NorthEast United 2017–18[18] Indian Super League 3000——30
Louletano 2018–19[18] Campeonato de Portugal 24020——260
Career total 344264555844145136
  1. Appearance in UEFA Cup
  2. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  3. Appearances in Cypriot Super Cup
  4. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  5. Appearances in UEFA Europa League and UEFA Champions League

Honours

Apollon Limassol

APOEL

Legia Warsaw

References
  1. "Helio Pinto" (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  2. Simões de Abreu, Alexandra (25 November 2018). ""Acho que foi Deus que me enviou para jogar na Polónia. A minha filha nasceu com o esófago cortado ao meio e os especialistas estavam lá"" ["I think it was God that sent me to play in Poland. My daughter was born with her esophagus split in half and the specialists were there"]. Expresso (in Portuguese). Retrieved 16 September 2022.
  3. Haslam, Andrew (7 March 2012). "Lyon stunned as APOEL fairy tale continues". UEFA. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
  4. Machado, Catarina (8 March 2012). "APOEL nos quartos da Champions: sim, é verdade" [APOEL in the Champions' last-eight: yes, it's true] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
  5. "Pinto Δεκαετίας!" [Decade of Pinto!] (in Greek). APOEL FC. 5 June 2013. Archived from the original on 17 May 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  6. "Helio Pinto Σ' ευχαριστούμε" [Helio Pinto thank you] (in Greek). APOEL FC. 20 June 2013. Archived from the original on 24 June 2013. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  7. "Helio Pinto i Łukasz Broź w Legii" [Helio Pinto and Łukasz Broź to Legia] (in Polish). Legia Warsaw. 21 June 2013. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  8. "Helio Pinto odchodzi z Legii" [Helio Pinto leaves Legia] (in Polish). Legia Warsaw. 9 June 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  9. Pereira, Sérgio (22 June 2015). "Hélio Pinto apresentado no Al-Mesaimeer do Qatar" [Hélio Pinto presented at Qatar's Al-Mesaimeer] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  10. Hajiloizis, Mario (2 February 2016). "Anorthosis Famagusta announce Hélio Pinto signing". Sigma TV. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  11. Tempelis, Vassilis (28 January 2017). Πήραν και Έλιο Πίντο τα Τρίκαλα [And Trikala got Hélio Pinto] (in Greek). Sport 24. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  12. Alves, Armando (15 June 2018). "Hélio Pinto reforça Louletano" [Hélio Pinto reinforces Louletano]. Record (in Portuguese). Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  13. Κύπριοι υπήκοοι οι Πίντο, Τζούνιορ και Λαμπάν [Pinto, Junior and Laban Cypriot nationals] (in Greek). Cyprus Football Association. 27 July 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  14. Alves, Armando (8 November 2022). "Hélio Pinto é o novo treinador do Olhanense" [Hélio Pinto is the new manager of Olhanense]. Record (in Portuguese). Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  15. Lemos, Pedro (13 March 2023). "Histórico Olhanense desce aos distritais" [Historic Olhanense go down to the district leagues] (in Portuguese). Sul Informação. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  16. Hélio Pinto at FootballDatabase.eu
  17. Hélio Pinto at ForaDeJogo (archived)
  18. "Hélio Pinto". Soccerway. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
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