Eduardo José Gomes Cameselle Mendez (18 January 1962 – 3 September 2020), known as Dito, was a Portuguese football

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

Playing career

Club

Dito was born in Barcelos. He appeared in 358 Primeira Liga matches over 16 professional seasons, starting his career with

S.C. Braga Sporting Clube de Braga () (), commonly known as Sporting de Braga or just Braga, is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Braga. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese ...

for which he was already an important first-team member at the age of 18, and signing for

S.L. Benfica Sport Lisboa e Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. Founded on 28 February 1904 as ''Sport Lisboa'', Be ...

in 1986 after six years in Minho. In his two-season spell with Benfica, Dito played 27 league games in his

first year A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ar ...

as the Lisbon club won the double, then partnered

Carlos Mozer José Carlos Nepomuceno Mozer (born 19 September 1960) is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a central defender, and is a manager. In his career, he was mainly associated with Benfica in Portugal, which he represented in ...

the second ''The Second'' is the second studio album by Canadian-American rock band Steppenwolf, released in October 1968 on ABC Dunhill Records. The album contains one of Steppenwolf's most famous songs, " Magic Carpet Ride". The background of the orig ...

(no silverware won). He then moved to rivals and title holders FC Porto for one season, with Benfica regaining their domestic supremacy at the expense of precisely the northerners. From 1989 to 1994, always in the top division, Dito represented

Vitória de Setúbal Vitoria or Vitória may refer to : People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Steven Vitória ...

, S.C. Espinho and Gil Vicente FC. After a brief stint with A.D. Ovarense in the Segunda Liga, he retired from football aged 34.

International

Dito won 17

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, his debut arriving on 28 October 1981 at the age of 19 as he came on as a 46th-minute substitute for

Humberto Coelho Humberto Manuel de Jesus Coelho (born 20 April 1950) is a Portuguese retired Association football, footballer and Manager (association football), manager. In a career mainly associated with S.L. Benfica, Benfica, the Defender (association footba ...

in a 4–1 away loss against

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

for the 1982 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. He did not attend any major international tournament, however. On 23 February 1983, Dito scored the only goal in the friendly defeat of

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

in the Portuguese capital, which marked the first-ever victory over that opposition.

Coaching career

Dito's biggest achievement as a coach was managing S.C. Salgueiros over the course of three top-flight campaigns, being dismissed after the tenth round of 1999–2000 as the Paranhos team eventually retained their status. In 2009 he returned to his first club Braga, being appointed at the junior sides. In July 2011, after guiding Braga District to the

UEFA Regions' Cup The UEFA Regions' Cup is a football competition for amateur teams in Europe, run by UEFA. It was held for the first time in 1999 and has been played biennially since. The 2019 champions are the Lower Silesia team from Poland. The competition was ...

, Dito returned to the senior game with Varzim S.C. of the third tier. He fulfilled his aim of winning promotion, doing so as

champions A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, a ...

in his only season, but then quit due to disputes with the board including an alleged four-month backlog in wages. On 5 April 2017, Dito came back to the professional game after over a decade's hiatus, taking over F.C. Famalicão for the rest of the second division season. The following 22 January, he left by mutual consent. Dito was hired by

S.C. Covilhã Sporting Clube da Covilhã, commonly known as just Sporting da Covilhã, is Portuguese association football, football club from the city of Covilhã that plays in the second-tier Liga Portugal 2. The club was founded in 1923. Their nickname is the ...

of the same league on 27 May 2018. He left on 9 October, again by agreement between both parties, with the side second bottom. In the 2019 off-season, Dito was appointed

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

at hometown club Gil Vicente FC, recently returned to the top tier.

Personal life

Dito's father, Spaniard Eduardo Cameselle Mendez, played for Gil Vicente in the 1950s. His nephew, also named

Eduardo Eduardo is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the male given name Edward. Another version is Duarte. It may refer to: Association football * Eduardo Bonvallet, Chilean football player and sports commentator * Eduardo Carvalho, Portuguese footba ...

, was also a footballer. Dito died on 3 September 2020, aged 58.

Honours

Braga *

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 sea ...

runner-up: 1981–82 Benfica * Primeira Liga: 1986–87 *Taça de Portugal: 1986–87 *

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese football match played since 1979 between the winners of the Portuguese League (Primeira Liga) and Portuguese ...

runner-up: 1986, 1987 Porto *Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira runner-up: 1988

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dito 1962 births 2020 deaths People from Barcelos, Portugal Sportspeople from Braga District Portuguese footballers Men's association football defenders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players S.C. Braga players S.L. Benfica footballers FC Porto players Vitória F.C. players S.C. Espinho players Gil Vicente F.C. players S.C.U. Torreense players A.D. Ovarense players Portugal youth international footballers Portugal under-21 international footballers Portugal international footballers Portuguese football managers Primeira Liga managers Liga Portugal 2 managers G.D. Chaves managers Portimonense S.C. managers Moreirense F.C. managers Varzim S.C. managers F.C. Famalicão managers S.C. Covilhã managers