Sérgio Ricardo da Silva Pinto (born 16 October 1980) is a Portuguese former professional
footballer who played as a
right winger.
Having spent more than one decade playing in Germany, mainly with
Schalke 04 and
Hannover 96
Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), Hannover, HSV or simply 96, is a German professional football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years betwe ...
, he possessed
dual nationality. He amassed
Bundesliga totals of 212 matches and 21 goals, over ten seasons.
Club career
Early years and Schalke
Born in
Vila Nova de Gaia,
Porto District, Pinto played four years with
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 ...
's youth teams, moving to Germany at the age of 12 with his family and settling in the
North Rhine-Westphalia town of
Haltern am See. He then continued his football grooming at
TuS Haltern.
In 1999, Pinto made his
Bundesliga debut with
FC Schalke 04
Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhi ...
after playing four years at the club as a youth, appearing twice for the first team in the
1999–2000 season, the first game being a 3–2 away loss against
Bayer Leverkusen on 11 September. Most of his spell, however, was spent with
the reserves, as he only took part in 21 matches more in four years.
Alemannia Aachen
Pinto signed for
Alemannia Aachen
Alemannia Aachen () or ATSV Alemannia 1900 is a football in Germany, German football club from the western city of Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia. A long term fixture of the country's 2. Bundesliga, second division, ''Alemannia'' enjoyed a three- ...
of the
second division for
2004–05, for a transfer fee of
€125,000. He amassed 58 league appearances in his first two years whilst scoring eight goals,
achieving promotion in his second; on 25 November 2005, after helping to a 2–1 home win over
SC Paderborn
Sport-Club Paderborn 07 e.V., commonly known as simply SC Paderborn 07 () or SC Paderborn, is a German association football club based in Paderborn, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club has enjoyed its greatest successes since the turn of the mille ...
, he received the ''
Tor des Monats'' (Goal of the Month) award from the
ARD.
In the
subsequent top-flight campaign, Pinto appeared regularly for the North Rhine-Westphalia side, netting in a 2–0 victory at
Energie Cottbus on 10 March 2007, but the team eventually finished second from bottom and suffered relegation. In the ensuing summer, he reunited with former Aachen coach
Dieter Hecking at
Hannover 96
Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), Hannover, HSV or simply 96, is a German professional football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years betwe ...
, joining on a three-year contract.
Hannover 96
Pinto played his first official game for his new club on 11 August 2007, starting and being
replaced in the second half of a 1–0 home loss against
Hamburger SV. He contributed 31 games and five goals – notably in a 3–1 win over
Bayern Munich
Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...
also at the
Niedersachsenstadion– in the
2010–11 season as Hannover finished fourth and
qualified to the
UEFA Europa League, where he added 14/2 in an eventual quarter-final exit.
In late October 2011, following another league home defeat of Bayern (2–1), Pinto was accused by his opponents of "poor sportsmanship". He finally left the
Lower Saxony side in June 2013, aged nearly 33 and with 193 competitive appearances to his credit.
Late career
On 6 July 2013, Pinto moved to
Levante UD
Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. (, ca-valencia, Llevant Unió Esportiva ) is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community.
Founded on 9 September 1909, Levante ...
from Spain, agreeing to a two-year deal. He played his first
La Liga match on 18 August, featuring the first 45 minutes in a 7–0 away loss to
Barcelona.
Pinto returned to Germany on 9 June 2014, signing a one-year contract with
Fortuna Düsseldorf. He was released on 30 May 2016.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pinto, Sergio
1980 births
Living people
German people of Portuguese descent
Naturalized citizens of Germany
Footballers from Vila Nova de Gaia
Portuguese men's footballers
German men's footballers
Men's association football wingers
Bundesliga players
2. Bundesliga players
TuS Haltern players
FC Schalke 04 players
Alemannia Aachen players
Hannover 96 players
Fortuna Düsseldorf players
La Liga players
Levante UD footballers
Portuguese expatriate men's footballers
Expatriate men's footballers in Germany
Expatriate men's footballers in Spain
Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Germany
Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain
German expatriate sportspeople in Spain