João Manuel Pinto

João Manuel Pinto Tomé Santos (born 26 May 1973), known as João Pinto or João Manuel Pinto, is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a central defender. He is currently a manager.

Playing career Pinto was born in Carcavelos, Cascais. During his career he represented Clube Oriental de Lisboa, S.C. Campomaiorense, C.F. Os Belenenses, FC Porto and S.L. Benfica, retiring in 2007 after abroad stints with Ciudad de Murcia (Spanish Segunda División) and FC Sion (Swiss Super League). In his country's Primeira Liga, he amassed totals of 191 games and 20 goals over the course of ten seasons.

Used often as a last-minute centre-forward when his teams were trailing – he scored 12 competitive goals for Porto – Pinto appeared once for the Portugal national side, coming on at half-time in the 1–1 friendly draw against England at Villa Park, on 7 September 2002.

Coaching career Pinto started his managerial career in the summer of 2013, going on to be in charge of C.D. Cinfães in the third tier for only three months. On 23 December 2015, he was appointed academy director of Brazilian club Associação Portuguesa de Desportos.

In the following seasons, Pinto led several teams in the Portuguese lower leagues. On 16 October 2022, his A.D. Machico ousted top-flight Boavista F.C. from the Taça de Portugal with a 1–0 home win in the third round.

On 12 January 2023, Pinto signed for Romanian Liga III side AFC Dacia Unirea Brăila, leaving in March for 'personal reasons' without having coached a single match. In July, he took charge of Portuguese amateurs Atlético Reguengos.

Honours Porto Primeira Liga: 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99

Sion Swiss Cup: 2005–06