 Hélder as a coach ofBenfica B in 2015 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Hélder Marino Rodrigues Cristóvão[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1971-03-21)21 March 1971 (age 54)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Luanda,Angola | ||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)[1] | ||
| Position | Centre-back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1984–1987 | Desportivo Monte Real | ||
| 1987–1988 | Tires | ||
| 1988–1989 | Estoril | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1989–1992 | Estoril | 79 | (5) |
| 1992–1996 | Benfica | 125 | (12) |
| 1997–2002 | Deportivo La Coruña | 67 | (1) |
| 1999–2000 | →Newcastle United (loan) | 8 | (1) |
| 2002–2004 | Benfica | 39 | (2) |
| 2004–2005 | Paris Saint-Germain | 16 | (1) |
| 2005–2006 | AEL | 9 | (0) |
| Total | 343 | (22) | |
| International career | |||
| 1991–1992 | Portugal U21 | 10 | (2) |
| 1992–2001 | Portugal | 35 | (3) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2009 | Estoril | ||
| 2011 | Portimonense (assistant) | ||
| 2013–2018 | Benfica B | ||
| 2018–2019 | Al Nassr (assistant) | ||
| 2018–2019 | Al Nassr (caretaker) | ||
| 2019 | Al-Ettifaq | ||
| 2020 | Dunajská Streda | ||
| 2021 | Al-Hazem | ||
| 2023–2025 | Penafiel | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Hélder Marino Rodrigues Cristóvão (born 21 March 1971), known simply asHélder as a player, is a Portuguese former professionalfootballer who played as acentral defender, currently amanager.
He amassedPrimeira Liga totals of 197 matches and 16 goals over eight seasons, mostly withBenfica. He also competed professionally in Spain, England, France and Greece, representing mainlyDeportivo.
Hélder appeared forPortugal atEuro 1996. In 2009, he started working as a manager, going on to spend several years withBenfica's reserves.
Born inLuanda,Portuguese Angola, Hélder first attracted attention as aEstoril player, moving toBenfica for the1992–93 season where he would stay the following four and a half years, mainly as a starter. In December 1996, he signed forDeportivo de La Coruña, playing 22La Liga matches in only six months as the clubfinished in third position.[2]
In November 1999, Hélder joinedNewcastle United of thePremier League on loan for a fee of£500,000,[3] making 12 official appearances and scoring in a 2–2 away draw againstSunderland in theTyne–Wear derby the following 6 February.[4] Inthat season, the Spaniards went on to conquer their first league title, with the player failing to contribute in that competition; he subsequently returned toDepor, appearing very rarely in hislast year, which ended inconquest of theCopa del Rey.[5]
For the2002–03 campaign, aged 31, Hélder returned to Benfica,[6] playing there two more years (winning theTaça de Portugal in2004)[2] and joiningParis Saint-Germain the following season, where he teamed up with compatriotPauleta.[7] He spent his last year atAEL in2005–06, appearing rarely in theSuper League Greece and retiring subsequently.[2]
Hélder earned 35caps for thePortugal national team, scoring three goals.[8][9] His first was on 12 February 1992 in a 2–0 win over theNetherlands in anexhibition game, and his last a 4–0 loss toFrance in Paris on 25 April 2001, in another friendly.[2]
Hélder represented the nation atUEFA Euro 1996,[10] appearing in all four matches for the quarter-finalists as he started alongsideFernando Couto.[11]
Cristóvão began working as a manager in the summer of 2009, precisely with his first club Estoril (in theSegunda Liga). On 28 September, merely two months after being appointed, he was fired.[12]
On 3 July 2013, Cristóvão returned to Benfica as manager of thereserve team, replacingLuís Norton de Matos. In the2014–15 season, he led them to their second best position in the second tier, a sixth place (fifth in2013–14), as the highest scoring team with 81 goals.[13][14]
Benfica B only managed to stave off relegation in the2015–16 campaign in the last matchday, defeatingFreamunde 5–0 at home and also benefitting from a 1–1 draw betweenMafra andAves.[15][16][17][18] Cristóvão's team collected more losses (21) than wins (15), conceding 64 times whilst scoring 59;[19] additionally, on 15 March 2016, he was suspended for 30 days after beingsent off againstCovilhã, which ended with a 2–2 home draw.[20]
On 5 April 2018, Cristóvão announced he would leave Benfica at the end ofthe season.[21] In August that year, he was hired asdirector of football and academy director atAl Nassr in theSaudi Professional League.[22] He becamecaretaker manager in November after the exit ofJosé Daniel Carreño, and relinquished that role when compatriotRui Vitória was appointed the following January.[23] Three months later, he was given a new job in the same league atAl-Ettifaq who had two games remaining to avoid relegation,[24] which wasfinally achieved.
Cristóvão was named manager ofDunajská Streda on 6 January 2020, taking charge of the third-placed team of theSlovak Super Liga on a deal until 31 May.[25] On 15 May, however, the club decided not to renew his contract.[26]
On 7 June 2021, Cristóvão was appointed at newly promotedAl-Hazem in the Saudi top division.[27] He was removed from the bottom-placed side on 27 November and replaced byConstantin Gâlcă.[28]
Cristóvão was hired byIsmaily, placed last in theEgyptian Premier League, on 13 September 2022. His contract was terminated hours later, allegedly due to misinformation presented on hiscurriculum vitae by hisagent.[29]
On 30 January 2023, Hélder returned to his country's second tier, replacingFiló at 12th-placedPenafiel.[30] Having finishedthe season in the same position, he signed for another year.[31]
Cristóvão's son, Flávio, also became a professional footballer in the same position.[32]
| Team | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | |||
| Estoril | July 2009 | 28 September 2009 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 12 | −3 | 012.50 |
| Benfica B | 3 July 2013 | 30 June 2018 | 224 | 93 | 49 | 82 | 340 | 309 | +31 | 041.52 |
| Al Nassr (caretaker) | 10 November 2018 | 10 January 2019 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 8 | +6 | 050.00 |
| Al-Ettifaq | 19 April 2019 | 17 May 2019 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | −6 | 000.00 |
| Dunajská Streda | 6 January 2020 | 15 May 2020 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 020.00 |
| Al-Hazem | 7 June 2021 | 27 November 2021 | 13 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 16 | −7 | 015.38 |
| Penafiel | 31 January 2023 | 30 June 2025 | 89 | 30 | 21 | 38 | 107 | 118 | −11 | 033.71 |
| Total | 349 | 131 | 86 | 132 | 483 | 472 | +11 | 037.54 | ||
Benfica
Deportivo
