Paulo César Silva Peixoto (born 12 May 1980) 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 lea ...

who played mainly as a

left midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

but occasionally as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

, currently

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

club

Gil Vicente Gil Vicente (; c. 1465c. 1536), called the Trobadour, was a Portuguese playwright and poet who acted in and directed his own plays. Considered the chief dramatist of Portugal he is sometimes called the "Portuguese Plautus," often refe ...

. He amassed

totals of 205 matches and 25 goals over 13 seasons, representing in the competition Belenenses,

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

, Vitória de Guimarães,

Braga Braga (; ) is a cities of Portugal, city and a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality, capital of the northwestern Portugal, Portuguese Braga (district), district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality ...

, Benfica and

. He played once for

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. Peixoto started working as a manager in 2019, leading Moreirense,

Paços de Ferreira Paços de Ferreira () is a city in the Porto District, in the north of Portugal. The population of the city in 2011 was 7491, while its municipality had 56,340 inhabitants, in an area of 70.99 km². Sometimes referred to as the ''Capital do ...

(two spells at both) and Gil Vicente in the top flight.

Playing career

Club

Belenenses

After playing his first two professional seasons at lowly Clube Caçadores das Taipas, near

Guimarães Guimarães () is a city and municipality located in northern Portugal, in the district of Braga. Its historic town centre has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001, in recognition for being an "exceptionally well-preserved ...

where he was born, Peixoto's ability as a

left winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

allowed him to jump from the fourth division straight into the

with

C.F. Os Belenenses Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses (), commonly known as Os Belenenses or simply 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 19,856 ...

, thanks to former player João Cardoso. He scored seven goals in his first year, one of them a long range shot closing a 3–0 win against

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, Order of Prince Henry, MHIH, Order of Merit (Portugal), 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 association footbal ...

at the

Estádio do Restelo The Estádio do Restelo is a multi-purpose stadium in Lisbon, Portugal. The stadium has a capacity of 19,856 people and was built in 1956, in an old stone quarry. It is situated behind the Jerónimos Monastery in the Lisbon parish of Belém (Lis ...

. In July 2002 he signed with Porto, going on to be managed by

José Mourinho José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix (; born 26 January 1963) is a Portuguese professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player, who is currently the head coach of Süper Lig club Fenerba ...

Porto

Peixoto's Porto career did not go as planned; while talented, he failed to impose in the first team, and in his first season only made 15 appearances, scoring three goals. He was starting to make his presence felt in the starting XI when, after netting in two consecutive league matches in 4–1 wins, he was seriously injured in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

3–2 away victory over

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; , ), also known simply as Marseille, or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional Association football, football club based in Marseille which competes in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top f ...

on 22 October 2003 and, while it did not seem serious at first, on the next day a ruptured

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

was diagnosed, which forced him to miss most of the campaign. After his recovery, Peixoto crashed his Mercedes-Benz SL500 while

speeding Speed limits on road traffic, as used in most countries, set the legal maximum speed at which vehicles may travel on a given stretch of road. Speed limits are generally indicated on a traffic sign reflecting the maximum permitted speed, expre ...

to arrive in time at Porto's training center in

Vila Nova de Gaia Vila Nova de Gaia (; ), or simply Gaia, is a city and a municipality in Porto District in Norte Region, Portugal, Norte Region, Portugal. It is located south of the city of Porto on the other side of the Douro River. The city proper had a populati ...

, and while only getting minor bruises, the car was completely wrecked and he was promptly asked for explanations by Mourinho. His image as a professional suffered much from the accident, and midway through the following campaign he was loaned to Vitória de Guimarães where he regained his previous form, returning to Porto for 2005–06. Facing another loan, Peixoto remained in the transfer list until the eleventh hour, being one of the final players to get a sit in the team. Following the internal problems with

Nuno Valente Nuno Jorge Pereira da Silva Valente (; born 12 September 1974) is a former Portuguese professional footballer who played as a left-back or a winger. He later became a manager. He played professionally in Portugal and England for Sporti ...

and the sub par performances of Leandro, coach

Co Adriaanse Jacobus "Co" Adriaanse (born 21 July 1947) is a Dutch association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player who played as a centre-back. Playing career As a professional player, Adriaanse played for six seasons ...

turned him into a prolific

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

in the same fashion of Portuguese internationals Miguel or

Paulo Ferreira Paulo Renato Rebocho Ferreira (; born 18 January 1979) is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a full-back. After starting out at Estoril, he went on to spend the vast majority of his 16-year professional career with Porto and Chels ...

(who played right midfielder during most of his under-21 career). After having scored twice at

Associação Naval 1º de Maio Associação Naval 1º de Maio or Associação Naval 1893, commonly known as Naval, was a Portuguese Association football, football club based in Figueira da Foz, Coimbra District. Founded on 1 May 1893, it last played in the Division of Honour i ...

in a 3–2 win – he also netted an

own goal An own goal occurs in sports when a player performs actions that result in scoring points for the opposition, such as when a Association football, footballer puts a ball into their own net. In some parts of the world, the term has become a met ...

– Peixoto again suffered a major knee injury that would keep him away from the pitch for the rest of the season, eliminating any hope of

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

selection. He would be dismissed by Adriaanse and joined

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

side

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...

on loan for 2006–07, finally cutting all ties with Porto in March 2007; previously, on 27 February, Espanyol had also terminated his contract as the player failed to make any competitive appearances for the

Catalans Catalans ( Catalan, French and Occitan: ''catalans''; ; ; or ) are a Romance ethnic group native to Catalonia, who speak Catalan. The current official category of "Catalans" is that of the citizens of Catalonia, a nationality and autono ...

Braga and Benfica

Peixoto signed a three-year contract with S.C. Braga on 29 May 2007. He declared himself delighted to join "...the fourth biggest team in Portugal." After two intermittent seasons, Peixoto refused to take part in Braga's

2009–10 UEFA Europa League The 2009–10 UEFA Europa League was the first season of the UEFA Europa League, Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA. The competition was previously known as the UEFA Cup, which had been in existence for 38 years. Spai ...

fixtures against

IF Elfsborg Idrottsföreningen Elfsborg, more commonly known as IF Elfsborg or simply Elfsborg (), is a professional association football, football club based in Borås, Sweden, and is affiliated to the Västergötlands Fotbollförbund. They play in the Alls ...

, after reported interest from S.L. Benfica, thus being suspended. On 7 August 2009, a transfer deal between the two clubs was arranged for a fee of

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

400,000 – Braga retained 50% of the player's rights. He spent most of his first season playing as left-back, battling for position with another adapted player, Fábio Coentrão. After appearing in 65 official games for Benfica (one goal, in a 6–0 away win against Grupo Desportivo e Recreativo Monsanto in the 2009–10 edition of the

Taça de Portugal The Taça de 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 Generali Tranquilidade since the 2024–25 seaso ...

), Peixoto was deemed surplus to requirements by manager Jorge Jesus as practically all Portuguese players, and was not given a jersey for the 2011–12 campaign, being ultimately released from contract on 6 January 2012.

Gil Vicente

On 31 January 2012, Peixoto signed for Gil Vicente F.C. for the rest of the season. In the second leg of the semi-finals of the

Taça da Liga The Taça da Liga (), known outside Portugal as Portuguese League Cup, is an annual club football competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) for teams competing in the top two tiers of Portuguese football – the ...

on 22 March, he assisted the opening goal by Hugo Vieira in a 2–2 draw with Braga before a win on penalties; he played in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, a 2–1 loss to another former employer, namely Benfica. Peixoto signed a new three-year deal on 17 July 2012. He scored his first goal for the club from Barcelos the following 28 April, a Panenka penalty kick to conclude a 2–0 win at home to relegation rivals

S.C. Olhanense Sporting Clube Olhanense (), commonly known as Olhanense, is a Portuguese sports club from Olhão, Algarve. Its Association football, football team was founded on 27 April 1912 and currently plays in the Algarve Football Association Portuguese Di ...

. On 7 November 2014, Peixoto was suspended. He was dismissed on 26 December with what Gil Vicente deemed just cause, for missing a planned visit to a school.

International

Aged 28, Peixoto earned his only

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

for

, appearing as an 84th-minute substitute for

Maniche Nuno Ricardo de Oliveira Ribeiro (born 11 November 1977), known as Maniche (), is a Portuguese retired professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. He played top-flight football in Portugal, Russia, England, Spain, Italy and G ...

in a 6–2 friendly loss to

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

on 19 November 2008. He was called up by

Carlos Queiroz Carlos Manuel Brito Leal de Queiroz (; born 1 March 1953) is a Portuguese football manager. He has served as the manager of his native Portugal's national team, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Iran, Colombia, Egypt and Qatar, leading ...

for the final games of

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

qualification Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

, but did not play.

Coaching career

Peixoto started working as a manager on 11 March 2019, being appointed at

LigaPro The Liga Portugal 2 (), also known as Liga Portugal Meu Super for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division of the Portuguese football league system. At the end of each season, the two top-finishing teams are promoted to the top-tier ...

side

Varzim SC Varzim Sport Club () is a Portuguese football club based in Póvoa de Varzim. The club was founded on 25 December 1915, and has played at the Estádio do Varzim Sport Club since its foundation. The club plays in Liga 3, following relegation in ...

. On 19 June that year, after succeeding in avoiding relegation, he moved to Académica de Coimbra in the same league. He left his post five months later, having collected only nine points in ten matches. On 19 December 2019, Peixoto signed with G.D. Chaves, succeeding José Mota at the team eighth in the second division. He had his first experience in the top tier in November of the following year, when he replaced the departed Ricardo Soares at Moreirense F.C. on a short-term contract. Having won one of five league fixtures, he resigned on 2 January 2021. Peixoto took over from Jorge Simão at F.C. Paços de Ferreira on 16 December 2021; arriving with the team in 13th, he finished the season two places higher. He opened the following campaign with no wins and two points from nine games, and after a 2–0 loss to Liga 3 side Vitória de Setúbal in the third round of the cup on 16 October 2022 he was dismissed. He returned to the same job at the turn of the year, after his replacement Mota had resigned with no points from four fixtures. Paços were eventually relegated as second-bottom, and he chose not to renew his contract. On 3 June 2024, Peixoto returned to Moreirense; he replaced Rui Borges, who had led the club to a best-ever 55 points in the main division. On 24 February 2025, after only one victory from the last 12 matches, he was fired.

Personal life

From 2005 to 2007, Peixoto was married to actress and Rádio e Televisão de Portugal presenter Isabel Figueira. The couple had one child, a son. On 3 January 2022, Peixoto tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

Managerial statistics

Honours

Porto *

: 2002–03, 2003–04, 2005–06 *

: 2002–03 *

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese association football, football match played since 1979 between the winners of the top-tier league (Primeira L ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

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 60 ...

: 2003–04 *

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

: 2002–03 Benfica *Primeira Liga: 2009–10 *

: 2009–10,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

*Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira runner-up:

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Gil Vicente *Taça da Liga runner-up: 2011–12

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Peixoto, Cesar 1980 births Living people 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Guimarães Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football midfielders Primeira Liga players Segunda Divisão players Clube Caçadores das Taipas players C.F. Os Belenenses players FC Porto players Vitória S.C. players S.C. Braga players S.L. Benfica footballers Gil Vicente F.C. players RCD Espanyol footballers UEFA Champions League–winning players UEFA Europa League–winning players Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portugal men's international footballers Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain Portuguese football managers Primeira Liga managers Liga Portugal 2 managers Varzim S.C. managers Académica de Coimbra (football) managers G.D. Chaves managers Moreirense F.C. managers F.C. Paços de Ferreira managers Gil Vicente F.C. managers