Paulo Jorge Pedro Lopes (born 29 June 1978) 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

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. A former goalkeeping coach of Benfica, he is the current head coach of Benfica's under-23 team. He appeared in 81 Primeira Liga matches over 14 seasons, representing Benfica,

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 ...

, Estrela da Amadora, Trofense and Feirense. Despite having played only 11 matches for the first club, he won 12 trophies with them always as third-choice. Lopes added 150 appearances in the Segunda Liga, in a 21-year professional career.

Club career

Born in

Mirandela Mirandela () is a city and a municipality in northeastern Portugal. The city itself has a population of about 15,000. The population of the municipality in 2011 was 23,850, in an area of 658.96 km². Mirandela is famous for its cuisine, part ...

Bragança District Bragança District ( pt, Distrito de Bragança ; mwl, Çtrito de Bergáncia) is a traditional political division of Portugal, in the northeast corner bordering on Spain ( Castile and Leon and Galicia), covering 7.4% of the nation's continental l ...

, Lopes joined

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 at the age of 15, being promoted to the first team four years later and going on to serve two loans in his first two years as a senior. On 19 February 2000, while at the service of Gil Vicente FC, he made his Primeira Liga debut, coming on as a second-half substitute in an eventual 1–1 away draw against

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 ...

after Paulo Jorge was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

. In June 2002, Lopes was released by Benfica. He alternated between the top division and the Segunda Liga in the following decade, notably achieving promotions to the former competition with

C.D. Trofense Clube Desportivo Trofense (), commonly known as Trofense, is a Portuguese football club based in Trofa, Portugal. Founded in 1930, it plays in Segunda Liga, holding home games at '' Estádio do Clube Desportivo Trofense'', with a capacity of 5,0 ...

( 2007–08) and C.D. Feirense (

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. ...

); during his stint with the former, on 4 January 2009, he was on goal to help the hosts defeat his parent club 2–0, in an eventual relegation-ending season. Lopes returned to the

Estádio da Luz The Estádio da Luz (), officially named Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Lisbon, Portugal. It is used mostly for association football matches, hosting the home games of Portuguese club S.L. Benfica, it ...

in the summer of 2012, aged 34. He went on to act as third goalkeeper under several managers, collecting three league winners' medals by appearing in matches after his team had already been crowned champions; he made his competitive debut on 18 October 2012, in a 4–0 away win over S.C. Freamunde for the

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 sea ...

. Lopes retired at the end of the 2017–18 campaign, being immediately appointed goalkeeper coach of Benfica's newly created under-23 team. On 16 January 2019, in the same capacity, he joined the reserve side.

Personal life

Lopes is the father of the Portuguese footballer André Lopes.

Honours

Club

Trofense * Segunda Liga: 2007–08 Benfica * Primeira Liga: 2013–14, 2015–16, 2016–17 * Taça da Liga: 2013–14 *

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese football match played since 1979 between the winners of the Portuguese League (Primeira Liga) and Portuguese ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

Individual

* Segunda Liga Goalkeeper of the Year:

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopes, Paulo 1978 births Living people Sportspeople from Bragança District People from Mirandela Portuguese men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players S.L. Benfica footballers Gil Vicente F.C. players F.C. Barreirense players S.L. Benfica B players S.C. Salgueiros players C.F. Estrela da Amadora players C.D. Trofense players C.D. Feirense players Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portugal men's B international footballers S.L. Benfica non-playing staff