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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

* * * * {{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