Manuel Gonçalves Gomes (born 29 May 1951), commonly known asProfessor Neca, is a Portuguesefootball manager and former player who played as amidfielder.
His entire playing career saw him compete for several lower league clubs between 1975 and 1981, in which he played forU.S.C. Paredes,G.D. Prado andAD Os Limianos. He began his coaching career in 1979 whilst at Prado where he had aplayer-coach role.[1]
His first ten years as manager saw him progress from the lower leagues to the top tier of Portuguese football. In the first phase of his managerial career, he managedC.A. Valdevez,C.D. Aves,A.D. Fafe,FC Felgueiras andF.C. Tirsense. Following his three-year spell with Tirsense, his next few years of his managerial career would prove to be his most successful as he would go on to manageVitória de Setúbal,F.C. Famalicão,F.C. Paços de Ferreira andS.C. Braga. His stay with Braga, would be short lived as he would only manage Braga for ten games where they narrowly avoided relegation in the 1993–94 season.[citation needed]
In the summer of 1994, Neca was appointed as an assistant manager atS.L. Benfica byArtur Jorge for the1994–95 season. Benfica's season proved to be a disappointing one as they finished behindFC Porto andSporting CP.[citation needed] Despite Artur Jorge's departure midway through the1995–96 season, Neca would remain with Benfica under the management ofMário Wilson. Benfica would go on to finish second in the league behind Porto and also capture theTaça de Portugal.[citation needed]
In 1996, he left his assistant managerial role at Benfica and accepted an offer by theAngolan Football Federation to coach theAngola national team. As manager of Angola, he guided the team to the1998 African Cup of Nations. Angola was drawn againstIvory Coast,Namibia andSouth Africa. Angola would exit the tournament in the first round of the competition, following a third-place finish in the group phase after two draws and one loss.[citation needed]
He departed the Angolan national side following the African Cup of Nations where he would go on to manage several different sides in Portugal and abroad of which included C.D. Aves,Imortal DC andF.C. Penafiel.[2] In 2003, Neca accepted an invitation to coach theMaldives national team. His spell would be unsuccessful after he failed to guide the side to the2004 AFC Asian Cup.[citation needed]
He also spent a portion of the 2003 season in North America in theCanadian Professional Soccer League initially as a technical coordinator withToronto Croatia.[3] Midway through the 2003 season, he was named the head coach forHamilton Thunder in early July.[4] In his debut season in Canada, he secured the Western Conference title for Hamilton which also included a postseason berth.[5] Hamilton was eliminated in the preliminary round of the playoffs toVaughan Sun Devils.[6]
After a year in charge he would leave the national side and would return to Portugal to manage Aves for the fourth time in his career. In his fourth spell in charge, he guided the side to a second-place finish in the2005–06 Liga de Honra thus gaining promotion to thePrimeira Liga. His next season proved to be a very difficult one as Aves finished bottom of the2006–07 Primeira Liga with only twenty two points.[citation needed] Neca left the club following their relegation. The next three seasons would see him manage four different clubs among those includedAl-Salmiya SC,Gil Vicente,Liga Muçulmana andG.D. Estoril Praia.[7]
In June 2011, he signed a deal to coachI-League sideChurchill Brothers S.C.[8] His start as manager of Churchill Brothers proved to be successful as they captured the2011 Durand Cup for the third team in their history in October 2011.[9] In February 2012, following a dip in form where the club fell into fifth place, Neca was sacked as manager. He would later be replaced by Brazilian coachCarlos Roberto Pereira. In July 2012, he returned to Portugal to manageC.D. Trofense of theLiga de Honra.[10] In December 2012, after one win in eight games, Neca was sacked as manager where he left the club in nineteenth place in the league.[11]
In February 2013, he became the new manager ofDesportivo das Aves until the end of the season.[12]
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