Cláudio Zélito da Fonseca Fernandes Aguiar (born 3 February 1975), known as Lito, is a Cape Verdean retired

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 le ...

who played mainly as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. He amassed

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

totals of 224 matches and 41 goals over eight seasons, representing in the competition

Moreirense Moreirense Futebol Clube is a Portuguese professional football club based in Moreira de Cónegos, Guimarães Municipality, in Minho. Founded on 1 November 1938, it plays in the Liga Portugal 2, holding home games at Parque de Jogos Comendador Joa ...

Naval A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

, Académica and

Portimonense Portimonense Sporting Clube is a Portuguese sports club based in Portimão. Founded on 14 August 1914, it is most notable for its professional football team, which currently plays in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. It al ...

Club career

Born in

Pedra Badejo Pedra Badejo is a cityCabo Verde, Statistical Yearbook 201 ...

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

, Lito spent his entire football career in

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 ...

, playing at nearly every level. He started out with Grupo Desportivo Águias de Camarate in the regional leagues of

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

, going on to represent

AD Fafe Associação Desportiva de Fafe (abbreviated as AD Fafe) is a Portuguese football club based in Fafe in the district of Braga in northern Portugal. Background AD Fafe currently plays in the Campeonato Nacional de Seniores – Série A whi ...

, S.C. Espinho,

Imortal D.C. Imortal Desportivo Clube ''(abbreviated as Imortal DC and colloquially known as Imortal de Albufeira)'' is a Portugal, Portuguese sports club centered around a Association football, football club based in the city of Albufeira, in the Portuguese ...

and

F.C. Maia Futebol Clube da Maia is a Portuguese football club based in Maia, Greater Metropolitan Area of Porto. Founded on 4 April 1954, it currently plays in the Porto Regional League, holding home matches at the Estádio Professor Doutor Vieira de Carv ...

. In the 2003–04 season, at the age of 28, Lito made his

debut, with

Moreirense FC Moreirense Futebol Clube is a Portuguese professional football club based in Moreira de Cónegos, Guimarães Municipality, in Minho. Founded on 1 November 1938, it plays in the Liga Portugal 2, holding home games at Parque de Jogos Comendador Joa ...

. After suffering relegation in his second year he stayed in that level, signing for

Associação Naval 1º de Maio Associação Naval 1º de Maio or Associação Naval 1893, commonly known as Naval, is a Portuguese football club based in Figueira da Foz, Coimbra District. Founded on 1 May 1893, it plays in the Division of Honour in the Coimbra Football Associ ...

. Aged 32, Lito joined Académica de Coimbra, enjoying his best seasons in his first two years (a combined 17 league goals, including a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in a 3–3 home draw against C.F. Estrela da Amadora on 4 November 2007). After still being an important attacking unit in the 2009–10 campaign, again helping the ''Students'' retain their top division status, he moved to freshly promoted club

Portimonense S.C. Portimonense Sporting Clube is a Portuguese sports club based in Portimão. Founded on 14 August 1914, it is most notable for its professional association football, football team, which currently plays in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portu ...

for an undisclosed fee. Lito retired in 2014, after one-season spells with

F.C. Arouca Futebol Clube de Arouca () is a football club based in Arouca, Porto Metropolitan Area, Portugal. Founded in 1951, the club plays in the Primeira Liga, holding home games at Estádio Municipal de Arouca, with a 5,000-seat capacity. History Founde ...

Atlético Clube de Portugal Atlético Clube de Portugal is a Portuguese club, located in the city of Lisbon, more precisely in the parish of Alcântara. It was founded on 18 September 1942 due to the merger of two clubs of Alcântara (Carcavelinhos Football Club) and Santo ...

(both in the Segunda Liga) and

C.D. Pinhalnovense Clube Desportivo Pinhalnovense is a Portugal, Portuguese Association football, football club based in the town of Pinhal Novo, Palmela, Setúbal District. Founded in 1948, it currently plays in AF Setúbal 2ª Divisão, holding home games at ''Ca ...

( third tier). He later worked as a

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 o ...

, with

Sporting Clube da Praia Sporting Clube da Praia, short form: Sporting Praia ( Capeverdean Crioulo, ALUPEC or ALUPEK as well as Badiu: ''Sporting Klubi di Praia'') is a professional football club that plays in the Santiago South Premier Division in Cape Verde. It is bas ...

in his native island.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lito 1975 births Living people People from Santiago, Cape Verde Portuguese people of Cape Verdean descent Cape Verdean footballers Association football forwards Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players AD Fafe players S.C. Espinho players Imortal D.C. players F.C. Maia players Moreirense F.C. players Associação Naval 1º de Maio players Associação Académica de Coimbra – O.A.F. players Portimonense S.C. players F.C. Arouca players Atlético Clube de Portugal players C.D. Pinhalnovense players Cape Verde international footballers Cape Verdean expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Portugal Cape Verdean expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Cape Verdean football managers Sporting Clube da Praia football managers