Rui Vitória facts for kids
Vitória managing Spartak Moscow in 2021
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Rui Carlos Pinho da Vitória | ||
| Date of birth | 16 April 1970 | ||
| Place of birth | Alverca do Ribatejo, Portugal | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
|
Current team
|
Panathinaikos (manager) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1986–1988 | Alverca | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1988–1990 | Fanhões | ||
| 1990–1996 | Vilafranquense | ||
| 1996–1997 | Alverca | 18 | (1) |
| 1997–1999 | Vilafranquense | ||
| 1999–2001 | Seixal | 26 | (0) |
| 2001–2002 | Casa Pia | 11 | (1) |
| 2002–2003 | Alcochetense | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| 2002–2004 | Vilafranquense | ||
| 2004–2006 | Juniores do Benfica | ||
| 2006–2010 | Fátima | ||
| 2010–2011 | Paços Ferreira | ||
| 2011–2015 | Vitória Guimarães | ||
| 2015–2019 | Benfica | ||
| 2019–2020 | Al Nassr | ||
| 2021 | Spartak Moscow | ||
| 2022–2024 | Egypt | ||
| 2024– | Panathinaikos | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Rui Carlos Pinho da Vitória (born on April 16, 1970) is a Portuguese football manager. He used to be a player who played as a midfielder. Today, he is the manager for the Greek club Panathinaikos.
As a manager, Rui Vitória is best known for his time with Benfica in Portugal. He led them to win seven big trophies. These included two league titles in a row. After Benfica, he managed teams like Al Nassr, Spartak Moscow, and the Egyptian national team. He became the manager of Panathinaikos in October 2024.
Contents
Playing Career
Rui Vitória was born in Alverca do Ribatejo, Portugal. During his time as a player, he played for five different clubs. He never played in the top two divisions of Portuguese football. He spent most of his playing career in the third and fourth divisions. He mainly played for U.D. Vilafranquense near Lisbon.
Rui Vitória was a midfielder. He stopped playing football in 2003 when he was 32 years old.
Managerial Career
Early Years and Fátima
Rui Vitória started his coaching career with his old team, Vilafranquense. In 2004, he moved to Benfica. He spent two seasons coaching their junior teams.
In 2006, Vitória joined Fátima. In his first year, he helped the club get promoted to the second division. They were relegated back down the next season. But in 2008–09, he led them to win the league again, promoting them back to the second division.
Paços de Ferreira
On June 2, 2010, Rui Vitória became the manager of Paços de Ferreira. In his first season in the top league, he guided the team to seventh place. They also reached the final of the League Cup, but lost 2–1 to Benfica.
Vitória de Guimarães
In August 2011, Vitória took over as manager of Vitória de Guimarães. In his second year, he led the club to win the Portuguese Cup. They beat Benfica 2–1 in the final. This was the first time Vitória de Guimarães had won this cup. Later, in August 2013, they were runners-up in the Super Cup, losing 3–0 to Porto.
Benfica
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On June 15, 2015, Benfica, the Portuguese champions, announced that Rui Vitória had signed a three-year contract. He started the season by losing the Super Cup 1–0 to their rivals Sporting. Even with a tough start, Benfica won their third league title in a row. They secured their 35th overall title with a 4–1 win over Nacional. They set a new Portuguese league record with 88 points in 34 matches.
Vitória also set a Benfica record of 11 away wins in a row across all competitions. He led the team to the Champions League quarter-finals. They also won their seventh League Cup trophy, beating Marítimo 6–2. That season, he received the award for the Best Coach in the Primeira Liga.
Vitória started the 2016–17 season by winning his first Portuguese Super Cup. They beat Braga 3–0. This meant he had won all four major trophies in Portugal. In October 2016, he broke a 43-year-old record by winning 16 league away games in a row. Benfica beat Belenenses 2–0 away. In April 2017, he signed a new contract for two more seasons. He finished the season by winning the Primeira Liga, the Portuguese Cup, and the Super Cup. This was Benfica's second "treble" (winning three major trophies in one season) in history. By winning two league titles in a row, Vitória became the first Benfica manager to achieve the "tetra" (four league titles in a row for the club).
In the next season, Vitória won the domestic Super Cup again. Benfica finished second in the Primeira Liga. However, they had their worst Champions League campaign ever. They lost 5–0 to Basel, which was their biggest loss in the competition.
On January 4, 2019, Benfica ended Vitória's contract. This happened after a series of bad results. Benfica had lost to Portimonense for the first time ever.
Al-Nassr
Within a week of leaving Benfica, Vitória was hired by the Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr. He signed an 18-month contract. His first match was a big 5–0 win in the King Cup. The club from Riyadh went on to win the league title that season. He also led Al-Nassr to the semi-finals of the 2020 AFC Champions League. They lost on penalties to Persepolis.
On December 27, 2020, Vitória left Al-Nassr by agreement. When he left, Al-Nassr was in 15th place in the league.
Spartak Moscow
On May 24, 2021, Vitória joined the Russian club Spartak Moscow. He signed a two-year contract. His time at the club had mixed results. He led them to win their Europa League group. They finished ahead of strong teams like Leicester City and Napoli. Spartak even beat Napoli both at home and away. This made him popular with the fans. However, the team was in ninth place in the Russian league. A low point was a 7–1 loss to Zenit Saint Petersburg. Vitória's contract with Spartak ended by agreement on December 15, 2021.
Egypt National Team
On July 12, 2022, Rui Vitória became the manager of the Egyptian national team. He signed a four-year contract. On February 4, 2024, he was removed from his position. This happened after Egypt was knocked out of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations. They did not win any games during the tournament.
Panathinaikos
On October 31, 2024, Rui Vitória signed a deal to become the head coach of the Greek club Panathinaikos. His contract is set to last until the end of the 2026 season.
Managerial Statistics
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | |||||
| Vilafranquense |  |
22 October 2002 | 17 May 2004 | 75 | 33 | 11 | 31 | 106 | 102 | +4 | 44.00 | |
| Fátima | |
10 May 2006 | 1 June 2010 | 140 | 63 | 42 | 35 | 202 | 143 | +59 | 45.00 | |
| Paços Ferreira | |
2 June 2010 | 30 August 2011 | 42 | 17 | 13 | 12 | 57 | 59 | −2 | 40.48 | |
| Vitória Guimarães | |
30 August 2011 | 11 June 2015 | 154 | 61 | 33 | 60 | 197 | 191 | +6 | 39.61 | |
| Benfica | |
11 June 2015 | 4 January 2019 | 184 | 125 | 28 | 31 | 389 | 162 | +227 | 67.93 | |
| Al Nassr |  |
10 January 2019 | 27 December 2020 | 86 | 53 | 15 | 18 | 183 | 87 | +96 | 61.63 | |
| Spartak Moscow |  |
24 May 2021 | 15 December 2021 | 26 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 30 | 39 | −9 | 34.62 | |
| Egypt |  |
12 July 2022 | 4 February 2024 | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 40 | 13 | +27 | 66.67 | |
| Panathinaikos |  |
31 October 2024 | present | 36 | 21 | 5 | 10 | 54 | 40 | +14 | 58.33 | |
| Career totals | 761 | 394 | 158 | 209 | 1,258 | 836 | +422 | 51.77 | ||||
Honours
Managerial
Fátima
- Third Division: 2008–09
Vitória Guimarães
- Taça de Portugal: 2012–13
Benfica
- Primeira Liga: 2015–16, 2016–17
- Taça de Portugal: 2016–17
- Taça da Liga: 2015–16
- Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 2016, 2017
Al-Nassr
- Saudi Professional League: 2018–19
- Saudi Super Cup: 2019
Individual
- Primeira Liga – Best Coach: 2015–16, 2016–17
- Saudi Professional League Manager of the Month: March 2019, October 2019, August 2020
See also
In Spanish: Rui Vitória para niños
