Domingos Alexandre Martins da Costa (born 6 September 1979), commonly known as Alex, 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 ...

who played mainly 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 ...

, currently

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

S.C. Covilhã Sporting Clube da Covilhã, commonly known as just Sporting da Covilhã, is Portuguese association football, football club from the city of Covilhã that plays in the second-tier Liga Portugal 2. The club was founded in 1923. Their nickname is the ...

. Over seven seasons (15 years in total as a professional), he amassed Primeira Liga totals of 170 matches and seven goals, mainly at the service of

Vitória de Guimarães Vitoria or Vitória may refer to : People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Steven Vitória ...

. He also spent four years in Germany, with

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg () or Wolfsburg, is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of W ...

Playing career

Alex was born in Guimarães. After five years, spent at the service of

AD Fafe Associação Desportiva de Fafe (abbreviated as AD Fafe) is a Portuguese football club based in Fafe in the district of Braga in northern Portugal. Background AD Fafe currently plays in the Campeonato Nacional de Seniores – Série A whi ...

and Moreirense FC, he made his Primeira Liga debut with

S.L. Benfica Sport Lisboa e Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. Founded on 28 February 1904 as ''Sport Lisboa'', Be ...

, mainly deputising for established Miguel. In 2004–05, he served a season-long loan spell at

. After good performances at Vitória, which earned him a Portugal national team call-up – three matches, including two in 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 th ...

qualifiers– Benfica sold Alex to

on the final days of the summer

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer wi ...

. He had a relatively successful debut campaign, but only appeared four times in the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

over the next three (none in the last two). In late May 2009, Alex signed with former club Vitória de Guimarães on a free transfer. During that first season he operated mostly as a

, going on to be fully reconverted to the position the following years and being first-choice.

Coaching career

On 3 July 2013, Alex announced his retirement from professional football at the age of nearly 34, immediately starting his managerial career with F.C. Felgueiras 1932 in the third division. He first arrived at the professionals in May 2014 after leading his team to safety, being appointed at Segunda Liga side Académico de Viseu FC.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Moreirense * Segunda Liga: 2001–02 Benfica *

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 sea ...

: 2003–04 *

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 ...

: 2005 Vitória Guimarães *Taça de Portugal:

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alex 1979 births Living people Sportspeople from Guimarães Portuguese footballers Association football defenders Association football midfielders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players AD Fafe players Moreirense F.C. players S.L. Benfica footballers Vitória S.C. players Vitória S.C. B players Bundesliga players VfL Wolfsburg players Portugal international footballers Portuguese expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Germany Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Germany Portuguese football managers Liga Portugal 2 managers Académico de Viseu F.C. managers S.C. Covilhã managers