| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Vasco Miguel Lopes de Matos[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1980-10-10)10 October 1980 (age 44)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Brandoa, Portugal | ||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Winger | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Santa Clara (manager) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1989–1993 | Estrela Amadora | ||
| 1993–1999 | Sporting CP | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1999–2002 | Sporting CP B | 33 | (6) |
| 1999–2000 | →Lourinhanense (loan) | 31 | (2) |
| 2001–2002 | →Campomaiorense (loan) | 15 | (1) |
| 2002–2003 | Vitória Setúbal | 5 | (0) |
| 2003–2004 | Felgueiras | 33 | (0) |
| 2004–2006 | Olhanense | 61 | (0) |
| 2006–2008 | Beira-Mar | 31 | (5) |
| 2008 | Rapid București | 4 | (0) |
| 2008–2010 | Portimonense | 50 | (2) |
| 2010–2014 | Aves | 98 | (9) |
| 2014–2015 | Benfica Castelo Branco | 20 | (0) |
| 2015–2016 | Vilafranquense | 24 | (0) |
| Total | 405 | (25) | |
| International career | |||
| 1996 | Portugal U15 | 5 | (0) |
| 1997 | Portugal U17 | 3 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2016 | Leixões (assistant) | ||
| 2017 | Vilafranquense (assistant) | ||
| 2017–2019 | Vilafranquense | ||
| 2019 | Alverca | ||
| 2020–2023 | Casa Pia (assistant) | ||
| 2023– | Santa Clara | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Vasco Miguel Lopes de Matos (born 10 October 1980) is a Portuguese retired professionalfootballer who played as awinger, currentlymanager ofPrimeira Liga clubSanta Clara.
He spent most of his career in hiscountry's second tier, making 272 appearances and scoring 14 goals for six clubs. InPrimeira Liga, he played 21 games and scored three times forVitória de Setúbal andBeira-Mar.
Born inBrandoa inAmadora,Lisbon District, Matos began playing atC.F. Estrela da Amadora at the age of eight before choosingSporting CP overS.L. Benfica four years later. He never made a first-team appearance for the Lions, instead playing forfarm teamS.C. Lourinhanense and thereserve team in thethird division.[2]
In 2001, Matos was loaned toS.C. Campomaiorense of thesecond tier for his first professional experience, and the club's last season at that level. He left forVitória F.C. where he would make hisPrimeira Liga debut in2002–03, albeit in a relegation.The following campaign he played in a cash-strappedF.C. Felgueiras team where he went for five months without pay.[2]
After representingS.C. Olhanense andS.C. Beira-Mar – the latter being relegated from the top-flight in2006–07 – Matos had his only experience abroad in February 2008, withFC Rapid București in Romania'sLiga I.[3] That 15 August, he returned to his country's division two withPortimonense S.C. on a two-year deal.[4]
Matos played four seasons withC.D. Aves again in the second tier, and one each at third-divisionSport Benfica e Castelo Branco andU.D. Vilafranquense of theLisbon Football Association's first district league before retiring in 2016.[5]
Matos assisted Filipe Coelho atLeixões S.C. and Vilafranquense, and became manager of the third-tier latter side in December 2017 when his mentor moved abroad.[6][7] He debuted on 10 December with a 2–0 away win againstGS Loures,[8] and finishedthe season as runners-up toC.D. Mafra before elimination in the play-off semi-finals byS.C. Farense (4–1 aggregate).[9]
On 6 March 2019, Matos was replaced in his job by Filipe Moreira.[10] Three months later, he was appointed at nearbyF.C. Alverca in the same league.[11] On 17 October, he led them to a 2–0 home victory over Sporting in thethird round of theTaça de Portugal, only the second time that the opposition had been eliminated by a third-division club.[12] He left by mutual consent on 27 December.[13]
Matos returned to the game on 5 July 2020 atCasa Pia AC, who had been kept in division two on a court decision.[14] He left his post still during pre-season, but remained with the team as an assistant manager.[15]
On 20 June 2023, Matos departed this role at the now top-flightLisbon club, to take the helm at newly relegatedC.D. Santa Clara.[16] He won promotion in hisdebut campaign as champions,[17] with a record point tally of 73, no matches lost away from home and the best defence in the top ten European leagues at only 19 goals conceded.[18][19][20]
Matos and his team started2024–25 on a high note.[21] On 30 November, he oversaw a 1–0 win over Sporting, theAzoreans' first at theEstádio José Alvalade in history.[22][23]
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | Ref | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | |||||
| Vilafranquense |  | 4 December 2017 | 6 March 2019 | 49 | 27 | 14 | 8 | 70 | 31 | +39 | 055.10 | [25] |
| Alverca | | 13 June 2019 | 27 December 2019 | 19 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 37 | 16 | +21 | 063.16 | [26] |
| Casa Pia | | 5 July 2020 | 1 September 2020 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | !— | [27] |
| Santa Clara | | 20 June 2023 | Present | 71 | 39 | 17 | 15 | 87 | 53 | +34 | 054.93 | [28] |
| Total | 139 | 78 | 34 | 27 | 194 | 100 | +94 | 056.12 | — | |||
Santa Clara
