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. He played most of his professional career with Sporting CP (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. 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.

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 Sporting CP,

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 goals in a single match against rivals S.L. Benfica, 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 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 o ...

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 returnee Recreativo de Huelva. On 1 July 2007, Beto signed a three-year permanent deal with the Andalusia 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 In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

. 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, 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 debut on 6 September 1997, in a 1–1 draw against Germany 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. He was subsequently part of the nation's squads at the

– where he scored against the United States, as the national team lost 3–2 and exited in the group stage (he played that competition as a right-back)USA stun Portugal
BBC Sport, 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 Championships.

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: 2001–02 * Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira:

* UEFA Cup runner-up: 2004–05 Portugal * UEFA European Championship 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 (

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