Hélio José Ribeiro Pinto (born 29 February 1984) is a Portuguese former professional
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
who played as a
central midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
.
A youth product of
Benfica, he spent most of his career with
APOEL
APOEL FC ( el, ΑΠΟΕΛ; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', literally "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") ...
in Cyprus, appearing in 276 competitive matches and winning eight major titles.
Club career
Pinto was born in
Portimão
Portimão () is a city and a municipality in the district of Faro, in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. The population in 2011 was 55,614, in an area of 182.06 km2. It was formerly known as Vila Nova de Portimão (). In 1924, it was ...
,
Algarve
The Algarve (, , ; from ) is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities ( ''concelhos'' or ''municípios'' in Portuguese).
The region has it ...
. A product of
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 ...
's youth system, he could never break into the first team, tottalling just five minutes in the
Primeira Liga under
José Antonio Camacho
José Antonio Camacho Alfaro (; born 8 June 1955) is a Spanish former football left-back and manager.
He spent 15 professional years at Real Madrid, appearing in more than 500 official matches with the team and helping win 19 major titles, inc ...
. His next stop was in Spain with
Sevilla FC
Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville, the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It plays in Spanish football's top flight, La Liga. Sevilla have won the UEFA E ...
, where he only appeared for
the reserves.
Still owned by Sevilla, Pinto spent the
2005–06 season in Cyprus with
Apollon Limassol FC
Apollon Limassol FC ( el, Απόλλων Λεμεσού, ''Apollon Lemesou'') is a Cypriot sports club, based in Limassol. It has football, basketball and volleyball teams. Founded in 1954, Apollon FC currently plays in the Cypriot First Divis ...
. Being released the summer, his career settled with another team in the country,
APOEL FC
APOEL FC ( el, ΑΠΟΕΛ; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', literally "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") ...
.
[
During his spell with APOEL, Pinto was an important member as the club won the ]Cypriot First Division
The Cypriot First Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and is thus officially ...
on four occasions, adding amongst other trophies the domestic cup in 2007–08. He also appeared in all six group-stage games in their first participation in the UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
.
Pinto played eight matches in the 2011–12 Champions League, as the Nicosia-based side surprisingly reached the quarter-finals of the competition. On 5 June 2013, he signed a three-year contract extension but, later that month, announced he was leaving after seven years.
On 21 June 2013, Pinto agreed to a two-year deal (with an option for another season) with Legia Warsaw from Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
. He was released two years later, moving to the Qatar Stars League with Al-Mesaimeer Sports Club
Al-Mesaimeer Sports Club ( ar, نادي المسيمير الرياضي) is a Qatari multi-sports club based in Mesaimeer. Its football department plays in the Qatari Second Division. It was previously known as ''Al-Nahda Sports Club'', then ''A ...
shortly after.
On 2 February 2016, Pinto returned to Cyprus and joined Anorthosis Famagusta FC
Anorthosis Famagusta ( el, Ανόρθωση Αμμοχώστου, translit=Anorthosi Ammochostou), commonly known as Anorthosis in English or Anorthosi in Greek, is a Cypriot football club, part of the Anorthosis Famagusta multi-sport club fo ...
. The following 28 January, he signed with Greek club Trikala F.C. from Norway's Kongsvinger IL Toppfotball
Kongsvinger IL Toppfotball is a Norwegian football club from the town of Kongsvinger in Innlandet, founded in 1892. Its home ground is Gjemselund Stadion. It is part of sporting association, Kongsvinger IL.
Honours
*Norwegian top flight
**Runne ...
.
Following a stint with Indian Super League
The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...
franchise NorthEast United FC
NorthEast United FC is an Indian professional football club based in Guwahati, Assam that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded on 13 April 2014 during the inaugural season of Indian Sup ...
, Pinto returned to Portugal after 14 years and agreed to a contract at third-tier Louletano D.C. on 15 June 2018.
International career
Pinto gained Cypriot nationality on 27 July 2012, and the Cyprus Football Association
The Cyprus Football Association (CFA; el, Κυπριακή Ομοσπονδία Ποδοσφαίρου (ΚΟΠ), Kypriakí Omospondía Podosfaírou (KOP)) is the governing body of football (soccer), football in Cyprus and is based in Nicosia. It ...
subsequently waited for FIFA approval on whether could play for the national team
A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport.
The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...
. The governing body eventually ruled he could not represent his adopted nation, after having appeared 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 ...
at under-18, under-19 and under-20 levels.[
]
Career statistics
Honours
Apollon Limassol
*Cypriot First Division
The Cypriot First Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and is thus officially ...
: 2005–06[
APOEL
*Cypriot First Division: 2006–07, 2008–09, ]2010–11
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...
, 2012–13
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
[
*]Cypriot Cup
The Cypriot Cup () is the main cup competition in Cypriot football, run by the Cyprus Football Association (CFA). It began in 1934, the same season with the Cypriot Championship. It is the second most important competition for Cypriot club team ...
: 2007–08[
*]Cypriot Super Cup
The Cypriot Super Cup is a Cypriot football trophy, contested in an annual match between the previous season's Cypriot First Division champions, and the Cypriot Cup winners. The match is contested at the beginning of the football season, and is u ...
: 2008, 2009, 2011[
Legia Warsaw
*]Ekstraklasa
Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams.
Contested by 18 ...
: 2013–14[
*]Polish Cup
The Polish Cup in football ( pl, Puchar Polski w piłce nożnej ) is an elimination tournament for Polish football clubs, held continuously from 1950, and is the second most important national title in Polish football after the Ekstraklasa title. ...
: 2014–15[
]
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pinto, Helio
1984 births
Living people
People from Portimão
Sportspeople from Faro District
Portuguese footballers
Association football midfielders
Primeira Liga players
Segunda Divisão players
S.L. Benfica B players
S.L. Benfica footballers
Louletano D.C. players
Segunda División B players
Sevilla Atlético players
Cypriot First Division players
Apollon Limassol FC players
APOEL FC players
Anorthosis Famagusta F.C. players
Ekstraklasa players
Legia Warsaw players
Qatar Stars League players
Mesaimeer SC players
Norwegian First Division players
Kongsvinger IL Toppfotball players
Football League (Greece) players
Trikala F.C. players
Indian Super League players
NorthEast United FC players
Portugal youth international footballers
Portuguese expatriate footballers
Expatriate footballers in Spain
Expatriate footballers in Cyprus
Expatriate footballers in Poland
Expatriate footballers in Qatar
Expatriate footballers in Norway
Expatriate footballers in Greece
Expatriate footballers in India
Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain
Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus
Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Poland
Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Qatar
Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Norway
Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Greece
Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in India