Marco Paulo (footballer, born 1973)

Marco Paulo Faria de Lemos (born 28 May 1973), known as Marco Paulo, is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as a central midfielder. He was also a manager.

Marco Paulo
Personal information
Full name Marco Paulo Faria de Lemos[1]
Date of birth (1973-05-28) 28 May 1973 (age 51)[1]
Place of birth Sintra, Portugal[1]
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1984–1985 Benfica
1985–1987 Dramático Cascais
1987–1988 Sintrense
1988–1991 Estoril
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1991–1999 Estoril 186 (10)
1991–1992O Elvas (loan) 31 (4)
1999–2001 Paços Ferreira 64 (2)
2001–2005 Belenenses 110 (5)
2005–2006 Estoril 33 (0)
2006–2009 Estrela Amadora 48 (1)
2009–2010 Mafra 21 (0)
Total 493 (22)
International career
1993–1994 Portugal U21 10 (0)
Managerial career
2005–2006 Estoril (interim)
2012 Belenenses
2013 Belenenses (youth)
2013–2014 Belenenses
2018 1º Dezembro
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

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Born in Sintra, Lisbon metropolitan area, Marco Paulo spent seven of his first eight years as a senior with local G.D. Estoril Praia, playing his first two seasons in the Primeira Liga and a further five in the Segunda Liga. After two years with F.C. Paços de Ferreira, one in each major level, he returned to the capital and joined C.F. Os Belenenses.[2]

Marco Paulo was regularly used in his four-season spell at the Estádio do Restelo,[3] inclusively serving as team captain. Aged 32, he returned to the second division and Estoril,[4] acting as interim player-coach for five games and achieving only one draw, after which he returned to the top flight with C.F. Estrela da Amadora.

After 21 league appearances in his debut campaign, veteran Marco Paulo was sparingly used the following two, with Estrela also being relegated in 2009 due to financial irregularities.[5] He closed out his career at 37 after one year with another club in the Lisbon area, C.D. Mafra,[6] amassing top-tier totals of 244 matches and nine goals.

Coaching career

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Marco Paulo was appointed director of football at his former side Belenenses in early April 2010.[7] On 17 February 2012, with the side ranking 11th in division two, he replaced José Mota as head coach,[8] eventually leading them to fifth position.[9]

With the club again in the top flight, Marco Paulo replaced Mitchell van der Gaag after the latter stepped down early in the season due to health problems. He was relieved of his duties in March 2014, due to poor results.[10]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Marco Paulo at WorldFootball.net
  2. ^ "Marco Paulo: Gosto de jogar no meio-campo" [Marco Paulo: I like to play in midfield]. Correio da Manhã (in Portuguese). 2 September 2002. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  3. ^ "Wilson e Marco Paulo de saída" [Wilson and Marco Paulo leaving]. Record (in Portuguese). 24 May 2005. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  4. ^ Caetano, Filipe (6 January 2006). "Jogadores do Estoril decidem jogar com o Desp. Aves" [Estoril players decide to play with Desp. Aves] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  5. ^ Almeida, Isaura (11 July 2020). "O Estrela da Amadora está de volta" [Estrela da Amadora is back]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  6. ^ "Estrela punido, Mafra segue em frente" [Estrela punished, Mafra go through] (in Portuguese). SAPO. 13 October 2009. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  7. ^ "Marco Paulo é o novo diretor-desportivo" [Marco Paulo is the new sporting director]. Record (in Portuguese). 9 April 2010. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  8. ^ "Marco Paulo, de diretor desportivo a treinador" [Marco Paulo, from sporting director to manager] (in Portuguese). SAPO. 17 February 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  9. ^ "Marco Paulo: "Chegar ao 5.º lugar"" [Marco Paulo: "To reach 5th place"]. Record (in Portuguese). 13 May 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  10. ^ "Marco Paulo deixa o comando do Belenenses" [Marco Paulo no longer at the helm of Belenenses] (in Portuguese). SAPO. 18 March 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
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