Luis Fernando da Graça Loureiro (born 4 December 1976) is a Portuguese former

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

defensive 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 boundari ...

, currently 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 ...

. He amassed Primeira Liga totals of 142 matches and 15 goals over seven seasons, representing mainly

Gil Vicente Gil Vicente (; c. 1465c. 1536), called the Trobadour, was a Portuguese playwright and poet who acted in and directed his own plays. Considered the chief dramatist of Portugal he is sometimes called the "Portuguese Plautus," often ref ...

. He also competed professionally in Russia and Cyprus. In 2011, Loureiro started working as a coach.

Playing career

Club

Loureiro was born in

Sintra Sintra (, ) is a town and municipality in the Greater Lisbon region of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera. The population of the municipality in 2011 was 377,835, in an area of . Sintra is one of the most urbanized and densely populat ...

Lisbon Region Lisbon Region ( pt, Região de Lisboa, ) is one of the seven NUTS II designated regions of Portugal, which coincides with the NUTS III subregion Lisbon Metropolitan Area. The region covers an area of 3001.95 km2 (the smallest region on main ...

. Having started his footballing career with his hometown club

S.U. Sintrense Sport União Sintrense is a Portuguese football club based in Sintra Sintra (, ) is a town and municipality in the Greater Lisbon region of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera. The population of the municipality in 2011 was 377,835 ...

, he went on to represent

Portimonense SC 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 a ...

, C.D. Nacional, Gil Vicente FC (making his Primeira Liga debut in the 2001–02 season),

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 ...

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

and C.F. Estrela da Amadora, also having uneventful abroad stints with

FC Dynamo Moscow FC Dynamo Moscow (''FC Dynamo Moskva'', russian: Дина́мо Москва́ ) is a Russian football club based in Moscow. Dynamo returned to the Russian Premier League for the 2017–18 season after one season in the second-tier Russian Foot ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

(February–July 2005) and

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

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 ...

(August–December 2007). Arguably, Loureiro's biggest career moment came with Sporting: a spectacular goal, topping a great performance in a 2–1 home win against

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 ...

during the 2005–06 campaign. However, he was never more than a utility player at the

Estádio José Alvalade Estádio José Alvalade is a football stadium in Lisbon, Portugal, home of Sporting Clube de Portugal. It was built adjacent to the site of the older stadium. The stadium is named after José Alvalade (1885–1918), the founder and first club ...

, making only 14 appearances in all competitions and leaving by mutual consent. Loureiro left Anorthosis in December 2007 after having arrived in the summer, following some injury problems and a serious run-in with manager Temuri Ketsbaia. The former returned to Portugal the following month, signing until the end of the season with Boavista FC. In August 2008, after Boavista's top-flight relegation, Loureiro also dropped down a level, returning to

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 ...

's Portimonense and being released at the end of the campaign. After one year out of football he re-joined his first professional team Sintrense, in the fourth division.

International

Loureiro earned six

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 ...

, all in 2003 and as a Gil Vicente player. His first came in the 1–0 loss to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

on 12 February in a friendly, and he last played in a 4–0 win over Bolivia on 10 June, in another exhibition game.

Coaching career

Starting in 2011, Loureiro managed Sintrense, C.D. Fatima, S.U. 1º Dezembro and Casa Pia AC, all in the third tier. He was appointed at the last of them in February 2019, and won

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

on the away goals rule against S.C. Praiense before taking the championship title on 23 June with a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

win over

U.D. Vilafranquense União Desportiva Vilafranquense is a Portuguese football club from Vila Franca de Xira, Lisbon District. It currently plays in the Liga Portugal 2, the second tier of the Portuguese football league system, following its promotion in 2019. The oth ...

at the

Estádio Nacional The Estádio Nacional (English: National Stadium), also known as National Stadium Sports Complex ( pt, Complexo Desportivo do Estádio Nacional) and as ''Jamor Sports Complex'' ( pt, Complexo Desportivo do Jamor), is a national football stadium ...

; in between, he spent 2017–18 at the helm of

US Lusitanos Saint-Maur Union Sportive Luistanos Saint-Maur or US Lusitanos Saint-Maur is a French football club based in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, Val-de-Marne, the southeastern suburbs of Paris. The club was founded in 1966 by Portuguese immigrants who worked in a fa ...

in the French

Championnat National 2 The Championnat National 2, commonly known as National 2 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur (CFA), is a football league competition. The league serves as the fourth tier of the French football league system behind Ligue 1, Ligu ...

. For ending Casa Pia's 55-year absence from the LigaPro, Loureiro was given another year on his contract. In his first match managing in the competition, on 10 August 2019, the team lost 3–1 at S.C. Farense. He was dismissed on 24 September with the side second from bottom, just after winning for the first time in the season. Loureiro continued working in division three the following years, with S.C.U. Torreense, Real S.C. and

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 ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Loureiro, Luis 1976 births Living people Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Sintra Men's association football midfielders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players S.U. Sintrense players Portimonense S.C. players C.D. Nacional players Gil Vicente F.C. players S.C. Braga players Sporting CP footballers C.F. Estrela da Amadora players Boavista F.C. players Russian Premier League players FC Dynamo Moscow players Cypriot First Division players Anorthosis Famagusta FC players Portugal men's B international footballers Portugal men's international footballers Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Russia Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Portuguese football managers Liga Portugal 2 managers S.U. Sintrense managers C.D. Fátima managers Casa Pia A.C. managers Vitória F.C. managers Portuguese expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in France Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in France