José Pedro Malheiro de Sá (; born 17 January 1993) is a Portuguese 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 plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

club

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

and the Portugal national team. He started his career with Marítimo B, making his debut with the first team in 2013, before signing for FC Porto in 2016. Sá was loaned for one year to Super League Greece side

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

in 2018, in a deal which was made permanent at the end of the season. With Olympiacos, he won two Super League Greece titles and the

Greek Football Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most imp ...

, including a domestic double in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

. In 2021, he signed with Wolverhampton Wanderers. Sá is a former Portuguese under-21 international, reaching the European Championship final in 2015. He was part of the full squad that finished third at the 2017 Confederations Cup and won the 2019 UEFA Nations League Finals on home soil, and was also chosen for the

2022 World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022; it is the first ...

Club career

Marítimo

Born in

Braga Braga ( , ; cel-x-proto, Bracara) is a city and a municipality, capital of the northwestern Portuguese district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality has a resident population of 193,333 inhabitants (in ...

, Sá went from Merelinense to the youth ranks of Benfica in January 2011, and moved six months later to Madeira's Marítimo to finish his development at the age of 18. On 23 January 2013 he made his professional debut with the

B team B, or b, is the second letter of the Latin-script alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' bee'' (pronounced ), plural ''bees''. It r ...

, playing the full 90 minutes in a 0–0 home draw against Oliveirense in the Segunda Liga championship. In the 2013 off-season, Sá was promoted to the main squad by manager Pedro Martins. He played his first game in the Primeira Liga on 18 August in a 2–1 home win over Benfica, and kept his position for the following matchday, a 3–0 loss at

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

. During his tenure in

Funchal Funchal () is the largest city, the municipal seat and the capital of Portugal's Autonomous Region of Madeira, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean. The city has a population of 105,795, making it the sixth largest city in Portugal. Because of its high ...

, Sá acted as understudy to Frenchman

Romain Salin Romain Jules Salin (born 29 July 1984) is a French former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He spent most of his professional career in Portugal's Primeira Liga, making 140 appearances for Naval, Marítimo, Rio Ave and Sporting CP, winn ...

Porto

On 25 January 2016, both Sá and teammate

Moussa Marega Moussa Marega (born 14 April 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a second striker for Saudi Professional League club Al Hilal. Born in France, he represents the Mali national team. He began his career in France, playing no higher ...

joined Porto on four-and-a-half-year contracts, with the services of the former being acquired 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 ...

1.5 million. During his early spell, he was second choice to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

international Iker Casillas. Sá made his debut in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

on 17 October 2017, starting in a 3–2 loss for the group stage away to

RB Leipzig RasenBallsport Leipzig e.V. (), commonly known as RB Leipzig, and colloquially referred to as Red Bull Leipzig, is a German professional football club based in Leipzig, Saxony. The club was founded in 2009 by the initiative of the company Red Bul ...

and committing a blunder in the eighth minute which resulted in the opposition's first goal. He became the starter from that point onwards but, following a 5–0 home defeat against

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

in the same competition, lost his place again.

Olympiacos

On 31 August 2018, deemed surplus to requirements by manager

Sérgio Conceição Sérgio Paulo Marceneiro da Conceição (; born 15 November 1974) is a Portuguese professional football manager and former player who mostly played as a right winger. He is the current manager of Porto. Throughout his career, he played for ...

, Sá joined

on a

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

-long loan. He became first choice over Andreas Gianniotis shortly after arriving, as the team was coached by his compatriot and former Marítimo boss Martins. On 15 May 2019, Sá agreed to a permanent four-year deal. During the campaign, he kept a total of 18

clean sheets In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

as the team from

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saron ...

won the

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * ...

, though he missed the Cup final through injury. Sá was again a league winner in 2020–21. However, his team were beaten to the Cup by PAOK.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 15 July 2021, Sá joined English club

for a €8 million transfer fee, on a five-year deal; he was signed to replace his experienced compatriot

Rui Patrício Rui Pedro dos Santos Patrício (; born 15 February 1988) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Serie A team Roma and the Portugal national team. He is often nicknamed "São Patrício" (''Saint Patrício'') for ...

who had joined Roma, and he was handed the number 1 jersey that had not been worn at the Molineux club since

Carl Ikeme Carl Onora Ikeme (born 8 June 1986) is a former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He spent his entire career at Wolverhampton Wanderers, making 207 appearances across all competitions. He was part of their teams that won the C ...

retired due to his

leukaemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

diagnosis in 2018. Sá made his

debut on 14 August 2021 in a 1–0 loss away to

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

. In September, he provided an assist for

Raúl Jiménez Raúl Alonso Jiménez Rodríguez (; born 5 May 1991) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Wolverhampton Wanderers and the Mexico national team. Jiménez began his career in Club América's youth system befo ...

against

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

in their 1–0 win, making him the first Wolves goalkeeper to do so in the Premier League since Wayne Hennessey in October 2009. His string of good all-round performances, including his distribution and shot stopping helped Wolves to a run of three clean sheets, earning the club's Player of the Month, with former Manchester United player

Gary Neville Gary Alexander Neville (born 18 February 1975) is an English football pundit and former player. He is also a co-owner of English Football League club Salford City. After retiring from football in 2011, Neville went into punditry and was a comm ...

praising Sá as the signing of the season. On 11 November, despite losing 1–0 to Manchester City, Sá received several praises for his performance, making several vital saves, despite Wolves being reduced to 10 men just before half-time, only failing to defend a penalty. On 15 May 2022, Sá won both Wolves's Fans' Player of the 2021–22 Season, and the Players' Player of the 2021–22 Season awards. On 14 October 2022 it was revealed that Sá had been playing for two months with a fractured wrist sustained during a 0–0 home draw with Fulham in the second match of the

, a game in which he saved a penalty from

Aleksandar Mitrović Aleksandar Mitrović ( sr-Cyrl, Александар Митровић, (); born 16 September 1994) is a Serbian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for club Fulham F.C., Fulham a ...

– the first penalty save he had made in a Wolves shirt since joining the club. The following day, he saved another penalty from

Brennan Johnson Brennan Price Johnson (born 23 May 2001) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Nottingham Forest and the Wales national team. Early life Johnson was born in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire. He is the son of former football ...

in a 1–0 home win against

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

, with ten minutes remaining.

International career

Youth

Sá represented

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 ...

at the

2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the nineteenth edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, since its inception in 1977 as the FIFA World Youth Championship. It ran from 21 June to 13 July 2013. At the FIFA Executive Meeting in Zürich on 3 March 2011, ...

. He played all the matches and minutes in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

, in an eventual round-of-16 exit. On 6 August 2013, Sá received his first call-up to the under-21 team, for a

friendly game Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States ...

with Switzerland. He featured in the second half of the 5–2 win, on the 14th. Sá was first choice at the

2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music * Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak alb ...

, keeping

in all games but one as the national side finished in second place in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

; in the final, he saved from Sweden's Abdul Khalili in the

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

following a goalless draw at the

Eden Arena Fortuna Arena (formerly known as Sinobo Stadium, Eden Aréna and Synot Tip Arena) is a football stadium, in Prague-Vršovice, Czech Republic. The stadium has a capacity of 19,370 people and it is the biggest and the most modern football stadiu ...

Senior

On 25 May 2017, Sá was called to the full side for the first time, being named by manager Fernando Santos in a provisional 24-man squad for that year's FIFA Confederations Cup. Still uncapped, he was part of the squad that won the 2019 UEFA Nations League Finals on home soil in June but did not make an appearance. Sá was chosen for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Porto B * LigaPro: 2015–16 Porto * Primeira Liga: 2017–18 Olympiacos * Super League Greece: 2019–20, 2020–21 *

: 2019–20 Portugal *

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The first tournament began in September 2018. The ...

: 2018–19 * FIFA Confederations Cup third place:

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

Individual *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

Team of the Tournament: 2015 * Primeira Liga Goalkeeper of the Month: December 2017 * Super League Greece Goalkeeper of the Year: 2019–20 * Super League Greece Team of the Year: 2019–20

References

External links

Profile
at the Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. website * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sa, Jose 1993 births Living people Sportspeople from Braga Portuguese footballers Association football goalkeepers Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players C.S. Marítimo players FC Porto B players FC Porto players Super League Greece players Olympiacos F.C. players Premier League players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Portugal youth international footballers Portugal under-21 international footballers 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2022 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Nations League-winning players Portuguese expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Greece Expatriate footballers in England Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Greece Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in England