Roberto Luís Gaspar de Deus Severo (born 3 May 1976), known as Beto (), is a Portuguese former professional

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 mainly as a

central defender 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 played most of his professional career with

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 ...

(ten seasons, more than 300 official games and five major titles), but also had spells in France and Spain, which included spending three years with

Recreativo de Huelva Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football club based in Huelva, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 23 December 1889, 2 days before Christmas, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play i ...

. Beto represented the Portugal national team at the

2002 World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

and two

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

, winning 31

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 Java ...

Club career

Sporting CP

A product of

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, ...

club

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 ...

-born Beto established himself in the first team in the 1996–97 season at the age of just 20, after two loans. As a defensive force and

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

he scored some important goals, including against

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, MHIH, OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portu ...

, but also two

own goal An own goal, also called a self goal, is where a player performs actions that result in them or their team scoring a goal on themselves, often resulting in a point for the opposing team, such as when a football player kicks a ball into their own ...

s in a single match against rivals

S.L. Benfica Sport Lisboa e Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional association football, football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football league system, Portuguese footba ...

, a 1–2 home loss. Beto won the national league twice, in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

and

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, conquering the double the latter year. During his ten-year spell with the ''Lions'', he managed to net at least once in every season.

Recreativo

After falling out with Sporting coach

Paulo Bento Paulo Jorge Gomes Bento (; born 20 June 1969) is a Portuguese football manager and former player. A defensive midfielder with tackling ability and workrate as his main assets, he played for two of the major three teams in his country, amassin ...

in January 2006, Beto signed for

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

club

FC Girondins de Bordeaux Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux (), commonly referred to as Girondins de Bordeaux ( oc, Girondins de Bordèu) or simply Bordeaux, is a French professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bordeaux in Gironde (de ...

for

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

1 million, but appeared sparingly for the French during his five-month stay. On the last day of the summer transfer window of the same year, he was sent on loan to

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

returnee

. On 1 July 2007, Beto signed a three-year permanent deal with the

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

club. After two solid first campaigns (netting twice in each, and partnering compatriots Carlos Martins and

Silvestre Varela Silvestre Manuel Gonçalves Varela (born 2 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays for FC Porto B as a winger. He represented mainly Porto during his career, amassing Primeira Liga totals of 268 matches and 47 goals ov ...

in 2007–08), he only played three matches in his last due to recurrent physical problems, as Recreativo eventually ranked last.

Retirement

After terminating his contract with Recreativo, 33-year-old Beto signed for one year with

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 ...

, in August 2009. As in latest years, his first season was blighted by constant injuries, and the capital side was also relegated. In late January 2011, aged almost 35, Beto returned to Spain and signed a short-term deal with

UD Alzira Unión Deportiva Alzira is a Spanish football team based in Alzira, in the autonomous community of Valencia. Founded in 1946 it plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 2, holding home games at '' Estadio Luis Suñer Picó'', with a capacity of ...

in the third division. He reunited at the club with former Sporting teammate

Luís Lourenço Luís Carlos Lourenço da Silva (born 5 June 1983), known as Lourenço, is a former professional footballer who played as a forward. Club career Sporting CP Lourenço was born in Luanda, Angola. A Sporting CP youth graduate, he made his profess ...

, and both were released in June after the team's

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

, having appeared in a combined total of three games. Beto returned to main club Sporting in August 2011, being appointed external public relations director and quitting his post two years later.

International career

Beto made his

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 ...

debut on 6 September 1997, in a 1–1 draw against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

for the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

qualifiers in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. He was subsequently part of the nation's squads at the

– where he scored against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, as the national team lost 3–2 and exited in the group stage (he played that competition 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 ...

)USA stun Portugal

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...

, 5 June 20022002, Coreia do Sul-Portugal. Um soco violento no Park (2002, South Korea-Portugal. A violent jab in the Park)
i, 13 June 2014 (in Portuguese)– and both the

and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is contes ...

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Portugal's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Beto goal.''

Honours

Sporting CP *

: 1999–2000, 2001–02 *

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 seaso ...

: 2001–02 *

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 ...

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

runner-up: 2004–05 Portugal *

runner-up:

Orders

PRT Ordem de Nossa Senhora da Conceicao de Vila Vicosa Cavaleiro ribbon

Medal of Merit,

Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa The Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa (also known as The Order of Our Lady of Conception of Vila Vicosa; pt, Ordem de Nossa Senhora da Conceição de Vila Viçosa) is a dynastic order of knighthood of the House of Braganza, the f ...

(

House of Braganza The Most Serene House of Braganza ( pt, Sereníssima Casa de Bragança), also known as the Brigantine Dynasty (''Dinastia Brigantina''), is a dynasty of emperors, kings, princes, and dukes of Portuguese origin which reigned in Europe and the Ame ...

)

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beto 1976 births Living people Portuguese footballers Footballers from Lisbon Association football defenders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Sporting CP footballers C.F. União de Lamas players S.C. Campomaiorense players C.F. Os Belenenses players Ligue 1 players FC Girondins de Bordeaux players La Liga players Recreativo de Huelva players UD Alzira footballers Portugal youth international footballers Portugal under-21 international footballers Portugal international footballers UEFA Euro 2000 players 2002 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2004 players Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Portugal Portuguese expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Spain Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in France Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain