Paulo Jorge Rebelo Duarte (born 6 April 1969) is a Portuguese 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 lea ...

who played as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

, currently a

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. In a 17-year senior career, he amassed

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

totals of 238 matches and eight goals over 12 seasons, representing mainly

União de Leiria União Desportiva de Leiria (), commonly known as União de Leiria, is a Portuguese professional Association football, football club based in Leiria. Founded on 6 June 1966, it currently plays in the Liga Portugal 2, holding home matches at Está ...

. He became a manager in 2006, also working with that club and later being in charge of the

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

and Togo national teams.

Playing career

Duarte was born in

Massarelos Massarelos () is a former civil parish in the municipality of Porto, Portugal. In 2013, the parish merged into the new parish Lordelo do Ouro e Massarelos. The population in 2011 was 6,789, in an area of 1.94 km2.Porto District The Districts of Portugal, District of Porto ( ) is located on the north-west coast of Portugal. The district capital is the city of Porto, the second largest city in the country. It is bordered by the Aveiro (district), Aveiro and Viseu (distric ...

. After playing youth football for Boavista and starting out as a senior at

União de Coimbra União is the Portuguese word for Union. It may refer to: *the Brazilian federal government *União do Vegetal, a church known for its usage of Hoasca as tea * Brazilian frigate ''União'' (F45), a general-purpose ''Niterói'' class frigate launc ...

, he signed for

in 1988, also in the Segunda Liga. Duarte then spent two years apiece with Salgueiros and Marítimo, making his

debut with the former and totalling 84 league games for those clubs. Subsequently, he returned to Leiria who now competed in the Portuguese top flight, retiring after almost one decade at the age of 34 and being first-choice in four of those seasons (in 2001–02, as the team

qualified Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

for the

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

, he was managed by a young

José Mourinho José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix (; born 26 January 1963) is a Portuguese professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player, who is currently the head coach of Süper Lig club Fenerba ...

Coaching career

After his retirement, Duarte immediately began his managerial career, staying with his last club Leiria as an assistant. In the tenth round of 2006–07's top division, he was named coach of the first team after replacing

Domingos Paciência Domingos José Paciência Oliveira, known simply as Domingos as a player (; born 2 January 1969), is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a striker, currently a manager. He achieved success with both Porto and the Portugal national te ...

, eventually helping them to finish seventh. In late 2007, Duarte left Leiria and, a couple of months later, was appointed manager of

. On 2 June 2009, however, he was signed by France's

Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...

on a two-year contract while still working with the national side. Duarte was fired by Le Mans on 8 December 2009, becoming the first

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

manager casualty in the season, but still was on the bench for Burkina Faso's

2010 Africa Cup of Nations The 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 27th Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial football championship of Africa ( CAF). It was held in Angola, where it began on 10 January 2 ...

campaign, exiting in the group stage after one draw and one loss (the team was in

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

's group). On 17 February 2012, following three matches and as many losses at the

2012 Africa Cup of Nations The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (C ...

, he was dismissed. On 29 April 2012, Duarte was appointed interim coach of the Gabon national team. He was sacked on 23 September of the following year, after failing to qualify the country for both the

2013 Africa Cup of Nations The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange S.A., Orange Africa Cup of Nations South Africa 2013 for sponsorship reasons, held from 19 January to 10 February 2013, was the 29th Africa Cup of Nations, the Association football, footbal ...

and the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

. In late December 2015, after a brief club spell with

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

's Sfaxien, Duarte was again named manager of Burkina Faso. He led the latter to the third place at the

2017 Africa Cup of Nations The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2017 or CAN 2017), known as the Total 2017 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 31st edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football champions ...

, after a 1–0 win against

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

Port-Gentil Port-Gentil () or Mandji is the second-largest city of Gabon, and it is a leading seaport. It is the center of Gabon's petroleum and timber industries. The city is located on a delta island in the Ogooue delta. Nearby Cape Lopez is Gabon's weste ...

. On 24 July 2019, as the team did not make it to the

2019 Africa Cup of Nations The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2019 or CAN 2019), known as the Total SE, Total 2019 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 32nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's associati ...

finals, the

Burkinabé Football Federation The Burkinabé Football Federation () is the governing body of football in Burkina Faso. Their offices are based in the capital city of Ouagadougou. The president of the federation is Sita Sangaré. History It was founded in 1959 and affiliated ...

decided to terminate Duarte's contract. In September 2020, he was announced as the new head coach of Angolan side 1º de Agosto. Duarte became manager of

in May 2021, following the departure of

Claude Le Roy Claude Le Roy (; born 6 February 1948) is a French football manager and former player, who gained prominence at international level as coach to the Cameroon, Senegal and Ghana national teams. Managerial career Le Roy has had a varied manageria ...

. As a result of his commitments to 1º de Agosto, the deal was only made effective in August, with

Jonas Komla Jonas Kokou Komla (born 7 June 1975) is a Togolese football coach, who is currently manager of ASC Kara and Togo U20. Managerial career After managing Malian clubs Olympique de Messira and Djoliba AC, Komla was appointed manager of Mali's un ...

acting as

caretaker Caretaker may refer to: Occupations * Janitor (chiefly in the United States), a person who cleans and maintains buildings such as hospitals and schools * Property caretaker, a person who cares for a property * Caregiver or carer (UK), a person wh ...

until his arrival. Duarte returned to club duties in the 2024–25 season, being appointed at Al-Kholood who had just been promoted to the

Saudi Pro League The Saudi Pro League (SPL), also known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Saudi Arabia and the highest level of the Saudi football league system. The SPL is regarded as th ...

. He was dismissed after seven games.

Player eligibility controversy

Duarte selected players to play for the Burkina Faso national team who he believed were eligible to play for the nation after they married Burkinabé women.

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

complained about the fielding of Cameroonian Herve Xavier Zengue in two 2012 AFCON qualifying games, stating that the player was not eligible under

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

's statutes. Duarte also chose to play Zengue after the complaint was received by

CAF CAF or caf may refer to: Armed forces *Canadian Armed Forces (Canadian Forces), the Canadian Air Force, Army, and Navy *Canadian Air Force, now the Royal Canadian Air Force *Republic of China Air Force, the air force of the Republic of China (Tai ...

, fielding him alongside Ghanaian-born Nii Plange in a 3–0 loss with

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in an August 2011 friendly.Faso probe – Players boycotted call-up
Kick Off, 16 August 2011

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Duarte, Paulo 1969 births Living people 20th-century Portuguese sportsmen Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Porto Men's association football central defenders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Boavista F.C. players C.F. União de Coimbra players U.D. Leiria players S.C. Salgueiros players C.S. Marítimo players Portuguese football managers Primeira Liga managers U.D. Leiria managers Ligue 1 managers Le Mans FC managers Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 managers CS Sfaxien managers Girabola managers C.D. Primeiro de Agosto managers Saudi Pro League managers Burkina Faso national football team managers Gabon national football team managers Togo national football team managers 2010 Africa Cup of Nations managers 2012 Africa Cup of Nations managers 2017 Africa Cup of Nations managers Portuguese expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Burkina Faso Expatriate football managers in France Expatriate football managers in Gabon Expatriate football managers in Tunisia Expatriate football managers in Angola Expatriate football managers in Togo Expatriate football managers in Saudi Arabia Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in France Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Gabon Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Tunisia Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Angola Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia