 Bento coachingSouth Korea at the2019 Asian Cup | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Paulo Jorge Gomes Bento[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1969-06-20)20 June 1969 (age 56)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Lisbon, Portugal[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Defensive midfielder | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1982–1987 | Académico Alvalade | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1987–1988 | Palmense | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1988–1989 | Futebol Benfica | 20 | (2) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1989–1991 | Estrela Amadora | 37 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1991–1994 | Vitória Guimarães | 95 | (13) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1994–1996 | Benfica | 49 | (2) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1996–2000 | Oviedo | 136 | (4) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2000–2004 | Sporting CP | 103 | (2) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 440 | (23) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1992–2002 | Portugal | 35 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004–2005 | Sporting CP (juniors) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005–2009 | Sporting CP | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2014 | Portugal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2016 | Cruzeiro | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | Olympiacos | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | Chongqing Lifan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2018–2022 | South Korea | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2023–2025 | United Arab Emirates | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Paulo Jorge Gomes Bento (Portuguese pronunciation:[ˈpawluˈbẽtu]; born 20 June 1969) is a Portuguesefootballmanager and former player.
Adefensive midfielder with tackling ability and workrate as his main assets,[2] he played for two of themajor three teams in his country, amassingPrimeira Liga totals of 284 matches and 16 goals over 11 seasons, and also spent four years in Spain withReal Oviedo. He represented thePortugal national team in the2002 World Cup andEuro 2000.
Bento took up a coaching career in 2005, managingSporting CP for four years and four months, with relative success, and won aSuper League Greece title withOlympiacos. He managed the national teams of his country andSouth Korea for four years apiece, taking each team to a World Cup and continental tournament. In 2023, he was appointed atUnited Arab Emirates.
Born inLisbon, Bento played professionally in his homeland forEstrela da Amadora,Vitória de Guimarães andBenfica, and had a four-year abroad spell withReal Oviedo,[3] helping the Spanish club always retain itsLa Liga status before moving toSporting CP, where he finished his career.[4] With the latter, he was part of the star-studded team that achievedthe double in2002 under the direction ofLaszlo Bölöni,[5] contributing 31 games and one goal in thePrimeira Liga and playing alongsideMário Jardel andJoão Pinto among others.[6]
Bento earned 35caps for thePortugal national team,[7] debuting on 15 January 1992 in a 0–0 draw withSpain and making his last appearance in the 1–0 loss toSouth Korea on 14 June 2002 in theFIFA World Cup.[8] He also played atUEFA Euro 2000 where, along with teammatesAbel Xavier – who played with him at Oviedo for two seasons – andNuno Gomes, he was suspended (in Bento's case for five months) due to bad behaviour, during the semi-final defeat againstFrance.[9]
After an emotional 2004 retirement, aged 35, Bento got the job of Sporting's youth team coach. He won the junior championship in 2005, and developed a base to the future. After the sacking ofJosé Peseiro midway through2005–06 season, he was promoted to first-team duties in spite of being relatively inexperienced.[10]
Despite a slow start, Bento managed an impressive turnaround of Sporting's fortunes in the second half of the campaign, as a series of ten consecutive wins placed them within distance of leaders and eventual league championsPorto, as the former went on to rank second in that and thefollowing seasons, achieving directqualification for theUEFA Champions League.[11] He was responsible for bringing youth productsNani,João Moutinho andMiguel Veloso into the spotlight.[12]
Bento signed a new two-year contract in June 2007.[13] His side had a turbulent pre-season in preparation for2007–08, with defense mainstaysRodrigo Tello andMarco Caneira leaving the club while Portuguese international goalkeeperRicardo was sold toReal Betis. With little resources to invest, the club broughtEastern promises –Marat Izmailov,Vladimir Stojković andSimon Vukčević – aboard.
After a very irregular season, Bento managed to lead the team to an unprecedented third consecutivequalification for the Champions League, with another second-place finish in spite of spending most of the year below third, pipping Guimarães and Benfica in the final matchday. He alsoretained theTaça de Portugal, beating Porto in the final (2–0 afterextra time)[14] after knocking-out eternal rivals Benfica in the last-four stage with a 5–3 win.[15]
Bento's team broke a number of long-standing club records, including the first season without home defeats since 1987, the first capture of back-to-back Portuguese cups since 1974 and the first time since 1962 that Sporting finished three consecutive campaigns in the top two league positions. At the age of 38, he also became only the sixth manager in the history of Portuguese football to win back-to-back Portuguese cups, alongside the likes ofJános Biri,John Mortimore orJosé Maria Pedroto.[16]
On 15 July 2008,The Sun andThe Daily Telegraph reported thatManchester United were planning to hire Bento (reportedlyCristiano Ronaldo's friend and former teammate) as managerAlex Ferguson's new assistant after the departure of previous number twoCarlos Queiroz to manage the Portugal national team.[17] He quickly denied any speculation, and reaffirmed his intention to stay put.[18]
On 16 August 2008, Bento managed Sporting to a2–0 victory in theSupertaça Cândido de Oliveira over champions Porto, at the opening of the new season.[19] One of the players that were kept in the team despite heavy criticism,Rui Patrício, was a key element and saved apenalty fromLucho González during the second half;[20] this win raised the manager's tally in cup finals against counterpartJesualdo Ferreira to 3–0 (2007 and 2008 Supercups, and the 2008 Portuguese Cup),[21] and it also marked the first ever capture of back-to-back Portuguese Supercups in theLions' history.[22]
Already the second-most successful coach in the history of the club in terms of trophies won, only surpassed byJózsef Szabó, Bento gained the nickname "Cup-Eater" as a consequence of the four pieces of silverware added to theEstádio José Alvalade cabinet under his command.[23] He led his team to a1–0 home defeat ofShakhtar Donetsk on 4 November 2008, therefore mathematically securing automatic qualification for the knockout stages of the Champions League for the first time in their history; in the process, they also broke the club's record number of points inUEFA's main competition (nine) and remarkably did so with two matches to spare, becoming the first team to qualify from the group phase (alongsideBarcelona, from the same group).[24][25]
Later, Bento and Sporting also broke the record for most goals suffered by a team in a Champions League knockout round, following a 12–1 aggregate elimination at the hands ofBayern Munich in theround of 16.[11] Inthe league, another second place to Porto befell, with the season also featuring the controversialTaça da Ligafinal loss against Benfica, onpenalties.[26]
That Champions League ousting marked the beginning of fan discontent towards Bento, especially regarding the team's playing style, which was perceived as becoming dull and unattractive,[27] as presidential elections were to be held. Supported by the winning candidateJosé Eduardo Bettencourt, he signed a two-year contract extension; in spite of maintaining the same base squad and adding the talent ofFelipe Caicedo orMatías Fernández, Sporting was unable to start thenew campaign brightly: knocked out in theChampions League playoff round byFiorentina on away goals,[28] the side's form slumped quickly and after nine matches they found themselves mired in seventh place, 12 points behind leadersBraga.[29]
After a 1–1 home draw in theEuropa League group stage againstVentspils on 5 November 2009, and facing considerable pressure to step down, Bento resigned.[30][31]
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On 20 September 2010, following Queiroz's dismissal after a poor start to theEuro 2012 qualifying campaign, Bento was named his successor, initially until the last match of that stage.[32] His first game in charge was on 8 October, a 3–1 win againstDenmark inPorto.[33]
On 17 November 2010, Portugal defeatedWorld Cup championsSpain 4–0 in Lisbon, imposing the largest loss to itsIberian neighbours since 13 June 1963 (6–2 againstScotland, in another friendly).[34] He led the national team to the Euro 2012 semi-finals inPoland andUkraine, where they narrowly lost to eventual champions Spain on penalties.[35]
Bento led Portugal to a 4–2 aggregate victory overSweden in the playoffs after a second-place finish in the2014 World Cup qualifiers, securing a spot at thefinals in Brazil.[36] On 9 April 2014, he extended his contract until afterEuro 2016,[37] but the national team exited in the World Cup's group stage in spite of a 2–1 win againstGhana in the last match, with theUnited States progressing ongoal difference instead.[38]
On 11 September 2014, after theEuro 2016 qualifying campaign began with a 0–1 home defeat toAlbania, thePortuguese Football Federation announced Bento had been fired.[39]
Bento moved abroad for the first time in his managerial career on 11 May 2016, taking the helm at Brazil'sCruzeiro.[40] His first game, ten days later, was a 2–2 draw at home toFigueirense which continued his side's winless start tothe season.[41]
On 25 July 2016, Bento resigned from the club following a 1–2 home loss againstSport Recife.[42][43]
On 11 August 2016, Bento became the head coach ofSuper League Greece title holdersOlympiacos.[44] He was sacked on 6 March 2017 with the team seven points clear at the top of the table and qualified for thesemi-finals of thedomestic cup andlast 16 of the Europa League,[45] mainly due to a string of poor performances in official competitions, a three-game losing streak in the league with no goals scored and various press conference comments targeting the "weakness" of certain squad members and the roster as a whole.[46]
On 11 December 2017, Bento was appointed manager atChongqing Dangdai Lifan.[47] The following 22 July, he was relieved of his duties due to poor results.[48]
On 17 August 2018, Bento was appointed manager of South Korea, with a contract to include the2022 World Cup;[49] he stated he would focus on 'proactive-style football' as his main strategy, emphasizing on Korea's longer communication of shorter passes and maintaining bigger possession and forwarding skills, which was considered a more unusual style of play as the team was previously used to playing defensively.[50] At the2019 AFC Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates, the side were eliminated 1–0 in the quarter-finals by eventual championsQatar.[51]
Bento led his team to the2019 EAFF E-1 Football Championship after a 1–0 defeat ofJapan. This marked the third time they wonthe tournament, this being the second consecutive victory over that opposition.[52]
On 1 February 2022, with a 2–0 away win overSyria, the Bento-led Taegeuk Warriorsqualified for that year's World Cup, the nation's tenth consecutive edition.[53] On 23 November, in the finals in Qatar, he was booked in the group-stage fixture againstUruguay for dissent near the end of the 0–0 draw.[54][55] In the next match, a 3–2 loss toGhana, he was shown a red card for arguing with refereeAnthony Taylor after the final whistle.[56] Having qualified for the round of 16 for the first time in 12 years with a 2–1 victory over his native Portugal, he lost 4–1 toBrazil, and left his post shortly after, stating he wanted to take a break and that the decision was made in September;[57] he added he was proud of the team's accomplishments, and felt the squad was one of the best groups he had worked with.[58]
On 9 July 2023, Bento replacedRodolfo Arruabarrena at the helm of theUnited Arab Emirates national side.[59][60] He won 4–1 on his debut on 12 September, afriendly againstCosta Rica inZagreb.[61]
Bento and his staff were dismissed by theUnited Arab Emirates Football Association on 26 March 2025, in spite of a 2–1 away defeat ofNorth Korea in theWorld Cup qualifiers.[62]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Other[a] | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Futebol Benfica | 1988–89 | 20 | 2 | — | 20 | 0 | |||||
| Estrela Amadora | 1989–90 | 12 | 0 | — | 12 | 0 | |||||
| 1990–91 | 25 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 31 | 0 | |||
| Total | 37 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 43 | 0 | |||
| Vitória Guimarães | 1991–92 | 32 | 3 | — | 32 | 3 | |||||
| 1992–93 | 31 | 5 | 3 | 0 | — | 34 | 4 | ||||
| 1993–94 | 32 | 5 | 2 | 0 | — | 34 | 5 | ||||
| Total | 95 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 100 | 13 | ||
| Benfica | 1994–95 | 20 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 28 | 0 |
| 1995–96 | 29 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 1 | — | 40 | 3 | ||
| Total | 49 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 68 | 3 | |
| Oviedo | 1996–97 | 30 | 2 | 4 | 1 | — | 34 | 3 | |||
| 1997–98 | 36 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 38 | 0 | ||||
| 1998–99 | 34 | 0 | — | 34 | 0 | ||||||
| 1999–00 | 36 | 2 | — | 36 | 2 | ||||||
| Total | 136 | 4 | 6 | 1 | — | 142 | 5 | ||||
| Sporting CP | 2000–01 | 32 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 37 | 0 |
| 2001–02 | 31 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 1 | — | 40 | 2 | ||
| 2002–03 | 29 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 34 | 1 | |
| 2003–04 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 14 | 0 | ||
| Total | 103 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 125 | 3 | |
| Career total | 440 | 23 | 28 | 1 | 23 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 498 | 26 | |
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | ||||
| Sporting CP |  | 21 October 2005[10] | 5 November 2009[30] | 194 | 117 | 46 | 31 | 311 | 152 | +159 | 060.31 |
| Portugal | | 21 September 2010[32] | 11 September 2014[39] | 47 | 26 | 12 | 9 | 91 | 49 | +42 | 055.32 |
| Cruzeiro |  | 11 May 2016[40] | 25 July 2016[42] | 17 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 23 | 28 | −5 | 035.29 |
| Olympiacos |  | 11 August 2016[44] | 6 March 2017 | 40 | 26 | 8 | 6 | 69 | 22 | +47 | 065.00 |
| Chongqing Lifan |  | 11 December 2017 | 22 July 2018 | 15 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 20 | 20 | +0 | 033.33 |
| South Korea |  | 17 August 2018 | 5 December 2022 | 57 | 35 | 13 | 9 | 100 | 46 | +54 | 061.40 |
| United Arab Emirates |  | 9 July 2023 | 26 March 2025 | 26 | 14 | 6 | 6 | 48 | 22 | +26 | 053.85 |
| Total | 396 | 229 | 90 | 77 | 662 | 339 | +323 | 057.83 | |||
Estrela Amadora
Benfica
Sporting CP
Sporting CP
Olympiacos
South Korea
Individual
International tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| International | |
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| National | |
