Vítor Baía

Club career Porto Born in Vila Nova de Gaia, Porto District, Baía joined Porto's youth ranks at 13 from also northern club Leça. In early 1989, he renounced to appear at the FIFA World Youth Championship, as he had relegated Pole Józef Młynarczyk to the bench and his club was still chasing the Primeira Liga title, which eventually eluded them (second place).

Baía made his first-team debut in a game against Vítoria de Guimarães, and did not lose his starting place for the following seven seasons, winning five leagues and two Taça de Portugal and conceding only 116 goals (16,5 goals per year). It was between 1994 and 1996 that he made his name as a world-class goalkeeper, being voted for the ESM Team of the Year after the 1994–95 season and being named in the IFFHS' World's Best Goalkeeper of the Year 1995 list, finishing sixth in the voting and improving to fifth in the following year; consequently, he was named in the Portugal squad for Euro 1996, being transferred after this tournament to Spain's Barcelona for the highest amount paid for a player in the position in the world.

Additionally, when Louis van Gaal took over at Barcelona from Bobby Robson, he was dropped from the team in favour of the manager's compatriot Ruud Hesp, being subsequently loaned in mid-season back to Porto, filling the position some said he had "haunted" since his departure.

Porto return In my opinion, no country can afford not to call the best European goalkeeper to its team, but that happened to me. — Vítor Baía, 17 December 2007

Baía returned to Barcelona in the summer of 2000, being immediately released and signing with Porto. After one year on the sidelines due to injury, he made his comeback in the 2001–02 campaign in a reserves match against Vila Real, on 26 November 2001. Sixteen days later, he made his competitive debut against Santa Clara in the cup; after a full recovery, he was included in the list for the 2002 World Cup.

Baía was in great shape again in 2002–03, helping his team to win the league title, the cup and the UEFA Cup, appearing in 11 of 13 matches in the latter competition, including the semi-finals against Lazio where he saved a penalty kick, and the final against Celtic. It would not be until the following campaign when he regained full fitness again, and he would have one of the most impressive years of his career, winning the UEFA Champions League and his seventh league trophy – in the former competition, he played all games and minutes as Porto beat Monaco in the final (3–0) being the first Portuguese goalkeeper to win this individual title. This was not, however, good enough for Euro 2004 selection, with Sporting CP's Ricardo being controversially preferred. Later, in 2007, in a FIFA.com interview, Baía said: "(...) It's kind of strange because I was voted as being the best goalkeeper in Europe in the 2003/04 season and a few days before the squad for UEFA EURO 2004 was announced I'd won the Portuguese championship and the UEFA Champions League and even then I wasn't called up";

At the start of 2005–06, under Dutch coach Co Adriaanse, Baía initially started the season but lost his status midway through it, being replaced by Brazilian Helton. Although he was a part of the squad that won Porto's second league in a row the following season the player, in the last year of his contract, made only one league start, on the final league matchday, a 4–1 home win against Aves which would be his 700th official appearance; upon retiring at nearly 38, on 14 June 2007, he became director of public relations with his main club,

International career Baía made his Portugal senior debut on 19 December 1990 in a 1–0 friendly win over the United States, at the age of 21. He went on to make 80 appearances for the national team until 2002, playing all the games at UEFA Euro 1996 and 2000 (except one in the latter, as they were already qualified) and in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. In Euro 2000, he stopped Arif Erdem's penalty in the 2–0 defeat of Turkey in the quarter-finals.

After the failure in the 2002 World Cup, coach António Oliveira was sacked when he refused to quit. Luiz Felipe Scolari was hired as his replacement and Baía, a stalwart for the past ten years with a record of caps in his position, was ditched. There were several calls in the press for his return to the national team, but Scolari never called him back once again.

Personal life In 2004, Baía founded a charity with his wife Alexandra Rodrigues de Almeida, which would bear his own name and would be dedicated to helping underprivileged children and troubled teens.

Baía published his autobiography entitled 99 – Vítor Baía in 2005. On 10 June 2008, he was made an Officer of the Ordem do Infante Dom Henrique by the president of Portugal, Aníbal Cavaco Silva.

In August 2015, EA Sports announced Baía as part of their FIFA 16 Ultimate Team Legends, along with eight other former footballers.

Career statistics Club

Honours Porto Primeira Liga: 1989–90, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1998–99, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07 Taca de Portugal: 1990–91, 1993–94, 1999–2000, 2002–03, 2005–06 Copa del Rey: 1996–97, 1997–98 Portuguese Golden Ball: 1992 UEFA Club Best Goalkeeper of the Year: 2003–04 Best European Goalkeeper: 2004