Paulo Sousa facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Paulo Sousa

Sousa in 2014
Personal information
Full name	Paulo Manuel Carvalho de Sousa
Date of birth	(1970-08-30) 30 August 1970 (age 54)
Place of birth	Viseu, Portugal
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team	Shabab Al Ahli (manager)
Youth career
1984–1986	Repesenses
1986–1989	Benfica
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1989–1993	Benfica	86	(1)
1993–1994	Sporting CP	31	(2)
1994–1996	Juventus	54	(1)
1996–1997	Borussia Dortmund	27	(1)
1998–2000	Inter Milan	31	(0)
2000	→ Parma (loan)	8	(0)
2000–2001	Panathinaikos	10	(0)
2002	Espanyol	9	(0)
Total		256	(5)
International career
1987	Portugal U16	8	(0)
1987–1988	Portugal U18	4	(0)
1989	Portugal U20	2	(0)
1989–1991	Portugal U21	9	(1)
1991–2002	Portugal	51	(0)
Managerial career
2005–2008	Portugal U16
2008–2009	Queens Park Rangers
2009–2010	Swansea City
2010	Leicester City
2011–2013	Videoton
2013–2014	Maccabi Tel Aviv
2014–2015	Basel
2015–2017	Fiorentina
2017–2018	Tianjin Quanjian
2019–2020	Bordeaux
2021	Poland
2021–2022	Flamengo
2023	Salernitana
2024–	Shabab Al Ahli
Medal record Men's football Representing  Portugal UEFA European Championship Bronze 2000 Belgium-Netherlands FIFA U-20 World Cup Winner 1989 Saudi Arabia
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Paulo Manuel Carvalho de Sousa is a famous Portuguese football manager and former player. He was born on August 30, 1970. Paulo Sousa played as a defensive midfielder, a player who helps protect the defense. Today, he is the manager of UAE Pro League club Shabab Al Ahli.

Paulo Sousa started his playing career at Benfica in Portugal. He also played for Sporting CP in his home country. Later, he moved to play in Italy and Germany. He won the UEFA Champions League with two different teams: Juventus and Borussia Dortmund. He also won the Intercontinental Cup with Borussia Dortmund. Unfortunately, injuries affected his career later on.

Sousa was part of Portugal's "Golden Generation" of footballers. He played for the national team in the 2002 World Cup and two European Championships. After retiring as a player, he became a coach. He has managed clubs in many countries and won national championships with Maccabi Tel Aviv, Basel, and Shabab Al Ahli. He also coached the Poland national team at Euro 2020.

Playing Career Highlights

Starting in Portugal

Paulo Sousa began his professional football journey with Benfica. He quickly became a regular player for the team. He helped Benfica win the Primeira Liga championship in the 1990–91 season. Two years later, his team also won the Taça de Portugal, which is Portugal's main cup competition.

In 1993, Sousa moved to Lisbon to play for Sporting CP, another big club. He played alongside famous players like Luís Figo and Krasimir Balakov in the midfield.

Success in Italy and Germany

In 1994, Paulo Sousa joined Juventus in Italy. In his first year there, he won the Serie A title, which is Italy's top league. He also won the Italian Cup and the Italian Supercup. The next year, he was part of the team that won the UEFA Champions League, one of the biggest club competitions in Europe.

After his time at Juventus, Sousa moved to Germany in 1996 to play for Borussia Dortmund. He achieved something amazing by winning the Champions League again in the next season. This made him one of the few players to win the Champions League two years in a row with different teams. The final game was even against his old club, Juventus!

Later Career and Retirement

After his time in Germany, Sousa went back to Italy to play for Inter Milan. He later had short periods playing for Parma, Panathinaikos in Greece, and Espanyol in Spain. He retired from playing football at the age of 31.

International Appearances

Playing for Portugal

Paulo Sousa was part of the Portugal team that won the 1989 FIFA World Youth Championship. This was a big achievement for young players. He then played 51 games for the senior national team. His first game for Portugal was in 1991 against Spain.

He represented his country in major tournaments like UEFA Euro 1996 and Euro 2000. He was also part of the squad for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, though he did not play in any matches during that tournament.

Playing Style

Paulo Sousa was known as a very hard-working and smart player on the field. He was good at both attacking and defending. He could predict what would happen in the game and was good at winning the ball. Even though he was a defensive midfielder, he also had great vision and control of the ball. He could make accurate passes and help his team control the game's speed. His style of play was sometimes compared to another famous player, Paulo Roberto Falcão. Besides his skills, Sousa was also known for being a strong leader on the team.

Coaching Journey

Starting with Portugal's Youth Teams

Paulo Sousa began his coaching career by working with the Portugal national team. He first coached the under-16 team. In 2008, he became an assistant coach for the main Portugal national team.

Managing Clubs in England

In November 2008, Sousa became the head coach of Championship team Queens Park Rangers in England. He later moved to manage Swansea City in June 2009. He helped Swansea achieve their highest league finish in 27 years, placing seventh in the league.

Paulo Sousa managing Leicester City in 2010

In July 2010, he took over as manager of Leicester City. However, after a difficult start to the season, he left the club in October 2010.

Coaching Across Europe and Asia

After England, Sousa managed Videoton in Hungary from 2011 to 2013. He helped them win the Ligakupa and the Szuperkupa twice. He then moved to Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel in 2013, where he won the Israeli Premier League title in his first season.

In 2014, he became the manager of Basel in Switzerland and won the Swiss Super League championship. He then coached Serie A side Fiorentina in Italy from 2015 to 2017. Later, he managed Tianjin Quanjian in the Chinese Super League and Bordeaux in France.

National Team and Recent Roles

In January 2021, Paulo Sousa was appointed as the head coach of the Poland national team. He led them in the Euro 2020 tournament. After leaving Poland, he became the manager of Flamengo in Brazil in December 2021. He was later dismissed from Flamengo in June 2022.

In February 2023, Sousa returned to Italy to coach Salernitana. He helped the team avoid relegation from Serie A that season. He left Salernitana in October 2023.

As of July 2025, Paulo Sousa is the manager of Shabab Al Ahli in the UAE. In his first season there, he helped them win four titles, including the national championship.

Career statistics

Club

International

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Benfica

• Primeira Divisão: 1990–91
• Taça de Portugal: 1992–93
• Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 1989

Sousa (left) and Alessandro Del Piero celebrate Juventus winning the Champions League in 1996.

Juventus

• Serie A: 1994–95
• Coppa Italia: 1994–95
• Supercoppa Italiana: 1995
• UEFA Champions League: 1995–96

Sousa's star on Borussia Dortmund's Walk of Fame.

Borussia Dortmund

• DFB-Supercup: 1996
• UEFA Champions League: 1996–97
• Intercontinental Cup: 1997

Portugal U20

• FIFA U-20 World Cup: 1989

Portugal

• UEFA European Championship third place: 2000

Individual

• Guerin d'Oro: 1995

Manager

Videoton

• Ligakupa: 2011–12
• Szuperkupa: 2011, 2012

Maccabi Tel Aviv

• Israeli Premier League: 2013–14

Basel

• Swiss Super League: 2014–15

Shabab Al-Ahli

• UAE Pro League: 2024–25
• UAE President's Cup: 2024–25
• UAE Super Cup: 2024

See also

In Spanish: Paulo Sousa para niños