Martinho Martins Mukana (born 5 July 1982), known as Paíto, is a Mozambican former professional footballer who played as a left-back.

Club career

Born in Maputo, Paíto began his senior career at Sporting CP. He became a regular in the 2004–05 season after being granted Portuguese citizenship and, on 26 January 2005, scored his only goal for the ''Lions'' in a 3–3 draw against S.L. Benfica in the sixth round of the Taça de Portugal ( penalty shootout loss), in a solo effort. After the arrival in January 2006, on loan from Valencia CF, of Portuguese international Marco Caneira, Paíto was deemed surplus to requirements and left, also loaned, to Vitória de Guimarães. He was an undisputed starter during his short tenure, as the Minho team eventually dropped down a level. Purchased by La Liga club

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, S.A.D. (, ca, Reial Club Deportiu Mallorca , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or just Mallorca is a Spanish professional football club based in Palma on the island of Majorca in ...

, Paíto immediately returned to Portugal, being loaned to S.C. Braga for the duration of the campaign. Released by the

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands ( es, Islas Baleares ; or ca, Illes Balears ) are an archipelago in the Balearic Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago is an autonomous community and a province of Spain; its capital is ...

side without making any official appearances, he joined FC Sion on a three-year contract. After three solid seasons in the

Swiss Super League The Swiss Super League (known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a Swiss professional league in the top tier of the Swiss football league system and has been played in its current format since the 2003–04 season ...

, Paíto stayed in Switzerland, signing with fellow league team Neuchâtel Xamax FCS. After the latter went bankrupt, in January 2012 he joined FC Vaslui from Romania, reuniting with former Sporting coach

Augusto Inácio Augusto Soares Inácio (born 30 January 1955) is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as a left back, and a manager. Having represented both Sporting and Porto as a professional player, he went on to have a lengthy managerial career that ...

. Paíto spent the first half of the following campaign without a club, signing in early January 2013 with Skoda Xanthi FC. He made his

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

debut on the 27th, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 away win over PAOK FC.

International career

Paíto started representing Mozambique at age 20. He was recalled in April for the

2002 COSAFA Cup This page provides summaries to the 2002 COSAFA Cup. First round Winners of the first round advanced to the quarter-finals. Quarter-Finals The four semi-finalists of the 2001 edition Angola (holders), Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi receiv ...

, nearly two years after his last international. Additionally, he took part in the 2003 COSAFA Cup, the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

2006 World Cup qualification 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

, the

2004 COSAFA Cup This page provides summaries to the 2004 COSAFA Cup. First round Winners of the first round advanced to the quarter-finals. Quarter-Finals The four quarter-finalists of the 2003 edition Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia and Swaziland received byes i ...

2008 Africa Cup of Nations qualification This page details the process of qualifying for the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations. Qualified teams The 16 qualified teams were: * as hosts. * as group 1 winner. * as group 2 winner. * as group 3 winner. * as group 4 winner. * as group 5 winner. * as ...

and the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.

Personal life

His son, Edson Mucuana, is also a professional footballer, and currently plays for Vilafranquense.

Honours

Sporting CP * Taça de Portugal: 2001–02 Sion *

Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup tournament that has been organised annually since 1925–26 by the Swiss Football Association. Since 1999 the winner earns the chance to qualify for the UEFA Europa League or the UEFA Europa Conference L ...

: 2008–09

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Paito 1982 births Living people Sportspeople from Maputo Mozambican footballers Association football defenders Primeira Liga players Segunda Divisão players Sporting CP B players Sporting CP footballers Vitória S.C. players S.C. Braga players RCD Mallorca players Swiss Super League players FC Sion players Neuchâtel Xamax FCS players Liga I players FC Vaslui players Super League Greece players Xanthi F.C. players Mozambique international footballers 2010 Africa Cup of Nations players Mozambican expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Expatriate footballers in Romania Expatriate footballers in Greece Mozambican expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Mozambican expatriate sportspeople in Romania Mozambican expatriate sportspeople in Greece