Minervino José Lopes Pietra (1 March 1954 – 7 March 2024) was a Portuguese

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 as a

right-back 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 ...

. He appeared in 323

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, ...

games over the course of 16 seasons, with

Belenenses Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses, commonly known as Os Belenenses (), is a Portuguese sports club best known for its football team. Founded in 1919, it is one of the oldest Portuguese sports clubs. It is based in the 25,000-seat Estádio do Reste ...

and Benfica (28 goals scored). Subsequently, he became a manager, working mainly as an assistant and having spells with both clubs. Pietra was a

Portugal international The Portugal Open in badminton is an international open held annually in Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Sou ...

in the 70s and 80s.

Club career

Born in

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 ...

, Pietra started his professional career with local

C.F. Os Belenenses Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses, commonly known as Os Belenenses (), is a Portuguese sports club best known for its football team. Founded in 1919, it is one of the oldest Portuguese sports clubs. It is based in the 25,000-seat Estádio do Rest ...

, making nearly 150 official appearances with the first team in his five-year

spell and scoring nine goals. In 1976 the 22-year-old signed for S.L. Benfica, where he would remain until his retirement. With Benfica, Pietra won, always as an important defensive unit, the league in 1977, 1981, 1983 and 1984, adding five Taça de Portugal trophies. In 11 seasons he appeared in 320 games in all competitions, netting on 25 occasions; he also helped the club to the

1982–83 UEFA Cup The 1982–83 UEFA Cup was the 12th edition of the UEFA Cup. It was won by Belgian club Anderlecht on 2–1 aggregate over Portuguese club Benfica. Association team allocation A total of 64 teams from 31 UEFA member associations participate in ...

final, lost to

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

R.S.C. Anderlecht ; french: Les Mauves et Blancs) , short name = R.S.C.A. , founded = , ground = Constant Vanden Stock Stadium , capacity = 22,500 , owntitle = Chairman , owner = Wouter Vandenhaute , manager = Brian Riemer , ...

( 1–0 abroad, 1–1 at home). In the mid-1990s, Pietra began working as a manager, successively with

Boavista FC Boavista Futebol Clube, commonly known as Boavista (), is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Porto. Founded on 1 August 1903 by British entrepreneurs and Portuguese textile workers (thus the "FC" being appended – the British way as oppos ...

, Belenenses, Benfica,

F.C. Alverca Futebol Clube de Alverca is a Portuguese Association football, football club based in Alverca do Ribatejo, Vila Franca de Xira. It currently plays in the Portuguese 3rd Division. History F.C. Alverca was founded on 1 September 1939. After many ...

(under his former Benfica teammate

António Veloso António Augusto da Silva Veloso (born 31 January 1957) is a Portuguese former footballer who played most of his professional career with Benfica. A gritty defender who could appear in the flanks and on occasion in the middle, he played fo ...

, his fullback counterpart), F.C. Barreirense and

G.D. Estoril Praia Grupo Desportivo Estoril Praia (), commonly known as Estoril, is a Portuguese sports club from Estoril, Cascais, Lisbon. Founded on 17 May 1939, its football team currently plays in Primeira Liga and hold home games at the Estádio António Coimb ...

, the latter two as head coach. After nearly one decade out of the game he returned to Benfica in 2007, acting as match scout for two years then joining

Jorge Jesus Jorge Fernando Pinheiro de Jesus (; born 24 July 1954) is a Portuguese professional football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe. He started his career with Sporting CP, going on to play for 12 ...

' coaching staff two years later, remaining with the side for several seasons in the latter capacity.

International career

Pietra earned 28 caps 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 first game being on 14 November 1973 in a 1–1 draw against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

for the

1974 FIFA World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the tenth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the first time that the ...

qualifiers, at the age of only 19. He appeared regularly the following years, but did not attend any major international tournament. Pietra's last match was on 21 September 1983 in a 5–0 win over

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

for the

UEFA Euro 1984 The 1984 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in France from 12 to 27 June 1984. It was the seventh UEFA European Championship, a competition held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. At the time, only eight countries ...

qualification stages. Portugal reached the finals in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, but he was overlooked for the squad that eventually finished third.

Death

Pietra died on 7 March 2024, shortly after celebrating his 70th birthday.

Honours

Benfica *

Primeira Divisão 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, ...

: 1976–77, 1980–81, 1982–83, 1983–84 * Taça de Portugal (5) * Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (2) *

Taça de Honra Taça de Honra (Honour Cup) is a Portuguese friendly football tournament played between teams of the Lisbon Football Association (AFL). It is the third oldest competition in Portugal after the championships of Lisbon and Porto. The format has ...

(2)

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pietra, Minervino 1954 births 2024 deaths Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Lisbon Men's association football fullbacks Primeira Liga players C.F. Os Belenenses players S.L. Benfica footballers Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portugal men's international footballers Portuguese football managers Juventude Sport Clube managers G.D. Estoril Praia managers S.L. Benfica non-playing staff