 Baía in 2016 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Vítor Manuel Martins Baía[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1969-10-15)15 October 1969 (age 56)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal | ||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[1] | ||
| Position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Académico Leça | |||
| 1983–1988 | Porto | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1988–1996 | Porto | 246 | (0) |
| 1996–1999 | Barcelona | 39 | (0) |
| 1999 | →Porto (loan) | 16 | (0) |
| 1999–2007 | Porto | 144 | (0) |
| 2001 | Porto B | 2 | (0) |
| Total | 447 | (0) | |
| International career | |||
| 1989–1990 | Portugal U21 | 8 | (0) |
| 1990–2002 | Portugal | 80 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Vítor Manuel Martins Baía,OIH (Portuguese pronunciation:[ˈvitɔɾβɐˈiɐ]; born 15 October 1969) is a Portuguese former professionalfootballer who played as agoalkeeper.
One of the most decorated goalkeepers of all time,[2][3] his career was intimately connected withPorto, which he started representing still in his teens, helping it to 26 titles and eventually remaining with the club in an ambassadorial role.
Also having played forBarcelona, Baía appeared with thePortugal national team in twoEuropean Championships and the2002 World Cup.
Born inVila Nova de Gaia,Porto District, Baía joinedFC Porto's youth ranks at 13 from also northern clubLeça FC.[4] In early 1989, he renounced to appear at theFIFA World Youth Championship, as he had relegated PoleJózef Młynarczyk to the bench and his club was still chasing thePrimeira Liga title, which eventually eluded them (second place).[5]
Baía made his first-team debut in a game againstVítoria de Guimarães, and did not lose his starting place for the following seven seasons, winning five leagues and twoTaça de Portugal and conceding only 116 goals (16,5 goals per year).[6][7] It was between 1994 and 1996 that he made his name as a world-class goalkeeper, being voted for the "ESM Team of the Year" after the1994–95 season and being named in the "IFFHS' World's Best Goalkeeper of the Year 1995" list, finishing sixth in the voting[8] and improving to fifth in the following year;[9] consequently, he was named in the Portugal squad forEuro 1996, being transferred after this tournament to Spain'sFC Barcelona for the highest amount paid for a player in the position in the world.[6][7]
While he only missed oneLa Liga match in hisfirst season, as Barcelona finished second toReal Madrid, addingthat campaign'sUEFA Cup Winners' Cup, Baía also suffered from knee problems during his two-and-a-half-year spell.[10]
Additionally, whenLouis van Gaal took over at Barcelona fromBobby Robson, he was dropped from the team in favour of the manager's compatriotRuud Hesp,[11] being subsequently loaned in mid-season back to Porto, filling the position some said he had "haunted" since his departure.
In my opinion, no country can afford not to call the best European goalkeeper to its team, but that happened to me.
In January 1999, Baía returned to Porto to find the No. 1 jersey unavailable, so he chose No. 99 instead, with the sales of that number being a success as well as the club's game attendances, highly related to the player's return.[4] When his career seemed back on track, he was injured again during the1999–2000 season, needing a corrective surgery on his knee.[12]
Baía returned to Barcelona in the summer of 2000, being immediately released and signing with Porto.[13] After one year on the sidelines due to injury, he made his comeback in the2001–02 campaign in a reserves match againstS.C. Vila Real, on 26 November 2001.[14] Sixteen days later, he made his competitive debut againstC.D. Santa Clara inthe cup;[15] after a full recovery, he was included in the list for the2002 World Cup.[16]
Baía was in great shape again in2002–03, helping his team to win the league title, the cup and theUEFA Cup, appearing in 11 of 13 matches in thelatter competition, including the semi-finals againstSS Lazio where he saved apenalty kick,[17] andthe final againstCeltic.[18][19] It would not be until thefollowing campaign when he regained full fitness again, and he would have one of the most impressive years of his career,winning theUEFA Champions League and his seventh league trophy – in the former competition, he played all games and minutes as Porto beatAS Monaco FC inthe final (3–0)[19] and, consequently, he was selected as the "UEFA Club Best Goalkeeper of the Year",[20] being the first Portuguese goalkeeper to win this individual title. This was not, however, good enough forEuro 2004 selection, withSporting CP'sRicardo being controversially preferred.[21] Later, in 2007, in aFIFA.com interview, Baía said: "(...) It's kind of strange because I was voted as being the best goalkeeper in Europe in the 2003/04 season and a few days before the squad for UEFA EURO 2004 was announced I'd won the Portuguese championship and the UEFA Champions League and even then I wasn't called up";[4] at the end of the season he was named in the list for "IFFHS' World's Best Goalkeeper of the Year 2004", finishing eighth in the voting while Ricardo ranked 19th.[22]
At the start of2005–06, under Dutch coachCo Adriaanse, Baía initially started the season but lost his status midway through it, being replaced by BrazilianHelton.[23] Although he was a part of the squad that won Porto's second league in a row thefollowing season the player, in the last year of his contract, made only one league start, on the final league matchday, a 4–1 home win againstC.D. Aves which would be his 700th official appearance; upon retiring at nearly 38, on 14 June 2007,[24] he became director ofpublic relations with his main club,[4] leaving the post in late July 2010. He and ItalianStefano Tacconi are the only goalkeepers in history to have won thethree main UEFA club competitions.[25]
Baía made hisPortugal senior debut on 19 December 1990 in a 1–0 friendly win over theUnited States, at the age of 21. He went on to make 80appearances for the national team until 2002, playing all the games atUEFA Euro 1996[26] and2000 (except one in the latter, as they were already qualified) and in the2002 FIFA World Cup.[27] In Euro 2000, he stoppedArif Erdem'spenalty in the 2–0 defeat ofTurkey in the quarter-finals.[28]
After the failure in the 2002 World Cup, coachAntónio Oliveira was sacked when he refused to quit.Luiz Felipe Scolari was hired as his replacement and Baía, a stalwart for the past ten years with a record of caps in his position, was ditched.[29]
In 2004, Baía founded a charity with his wife Alexandra Rodrigues de Almeida, which would bear his own name and would be dedicated to helping underprivileged children and troubled teens.[30][31][4] Also that year, he would donate a pair of his autographed gloves to be included in the UEFA Jubilee time capsule, a collection of UEFA memorabilia that was sealed underground in September, only opened 50 years hence.[32]
Baía published his autobiography entitled99 – Vítor Baía in 2005. On 10 June 2008, he was made an Officer of theOrdem do Infante Dom Henrique by thepresident of Portugal,Aníbal Cavaco Silva.[33]
In August 2015,EA Sports announced Baía as part of theirFIFA 16 Ultimate Team Legends, along with eight other former footballers.[34]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Other[a] | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Porto | 1987–88 | Primeira Liga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1988–89 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | ||
| 1989–90 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 0 | ||
| 1990–91 | 38 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 47 | 0 | ||
| 1991–92 | 34 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 41 | 0 | ||
| 1992–93 | 34 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 48 | 0 | ||
| 1993–94 | 32 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 48 | 0 | ||
| 1994–95 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 42 | 0 | ||
| 1995–96 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 33 | 0 | ||
| Total | 246 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 49 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 315 | 0 | ||
| Barcelona | 1996–97 | La Liga | 37 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 47 | 0 |
| 1997–98 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Total | 39 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 50 | 0 | ||
| Porto | 1998–99 | Primeira Liga | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| 1999–2000 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 27 | 0 | ||
| 2000–01 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2001–02 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 0 | ||
| 2002–03 | 25 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 0 | ||
| 2003–04 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 45 | 0 | ||
| 2004–05 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 40 | 0 | ||
| 2005–06 | 24 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 0 | ||
| 2006–07 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Total | 160 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 47 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 210 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 445 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 105 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 575 | 0 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portugal | 1990 | 1 | 0 |
| 1991 | 9 | 0 | |
| 1992 | 7 | 0 | |
| 1993 | 10 | 0 | |
| 1994 | 5 | 0 | |
| 1995 | 6 | 0 | |
| 1996 | 12 | 0 | |
| 1997 | 4 | 0 | |
| 1998 | 6 | 0 | |
| 1999 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2000 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2001 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2002 | 5 | 0 | |
| Total | 80 | 0 | |
Porto
Barcelona
Individual
Orders
Officer of theOrder of Prince Henry[43]
Portugal squads | |||||||||||||
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Awards | |||||
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