José Carlos Fernandes Vidigal (born 11 July 1969), commonly known as Lito, is an Angolan professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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and former player who played as a defender. He spent his entire playing career in Portugal, mainly with

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 ...

in the

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 ...

. An Angola international for five years, he was part of the squad at the 1998 Africa Cup of Nations. Vidigal managed eight clubs in Portugal's top flight, including Belenenses. He also led his nation at the

2012 Africa Cup of Nations The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (C ...

Playing career

Born in

Luanda Luanda ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Angola, largest city of Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Ang ...

Portuguese Angola In southwestern Africa, Portuguese Angola was a historical Evolution of the Portuguese Empire, colony of the Portuguese Empire (1575–1951), the overseas province Portuguese West Africa of Estado Novo (Portugal), Estado Novo Portugal (1951–1 ...

, Vidigal spent his entire career in Portugal, representing at the professional level O Elvas, Campomaiorense,

and Santa Clara and retiring in 2004 at the age of 35, totalling 214 matches between the

and the Segunda Liga. Internationally, Vidigal played with

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

at the 1998 Africa Cup of Nations, earning 17

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Coaching career

Vidigal took up coaching immediately after retiring, starting with lowly Pontassolense and Ribeirão. In 2008, he moved to Estrela da Amadora – coaching his younger brother Luís after he returned from a lengthy spell in Italy – and joined second-tier Portimonense in February of the following year. In late October 2009, as Manuel Fernandes bought out his contract at União de Leiria to return to his favourite club Vitória de Setúbal, Vidigal was named his successor. On 8 January 2011, he was appointed coach of the Angola national side. The ''Black Antelopes''

qualified 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 ...

for the

in October, and were eliminated at the group stage of the final tournament in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. With the stated aim of winning titles abroad rather than avoiding relegation in Portugal, Vidigal remained in Africa and signed with Libya's

Al-Ittihad Al-Ittihad may refer to: Sports Football Men Teams * Al-Ittihad Club (Jeddah), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia * Al Ittihad SCSC (Tripoli), Tripoli, Libya * Al Ittihad Gheryan, Gharyan, Libya * Al Ittihad Misurata SC, Misurata, Libya * Al Ittihad SC ...

from December 2012. In April in 2013, he left Tripoli due to

political instability Political decay is a political theory, originally described in 1965 by Samuel P. Huntington, which describes how chaos and disorder can arise from social modernization increasing more rapidly than political and institutional modernization. Huntin ...

. Dismissed by

AEL Limassol Athlitiki Enosi Lemesou () is a Cyprus, Cypriot sports club based in the city of Limassol, most famous for its football team. AEL Limassol also maintains a AEL Limassol B.C., men's and AEL Limassol B.C. (women), women's basketball teams, a wom ...

of the

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...

at the start of the season, Vidigal returned to Belenenses late into 2013–14, replacing Marco Paulo at the helm of the bottom-placed team and becoming their third coach of the season. Even though he did not finish the following campaign, being replaced by Jorge Simão with nine matches to go, the side eventually

for the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

after finishing sixth. Vidigal repeated the feat in 2015–16 after leading Arouca to a best-ever classification of fifth, in only the club's third year in the top flight. Previously, in March 2016, he renewed his contract for two years. In February 2017, Vidigal left Arouca for

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv () is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, j ...

on an 18-month contract with the option of a further year. Despite leading the team to the runners-up position behind

Hapoel Be'er Sheva Hapoel Be'er Sheva Football Club (, ''Moadon HaKaduregel Hapoel Be'er Sheva'') is an Israeli professional association football, football club from the city of Beersheba, Be'er Sheva, that competes in the Israeli Premier League. The club was estab ...

, he was relieved of his duties by director Jordi Cruyff at the end of the season. Vidigal returned to Portugal's main division in October 2017 when he was hired by

Aves Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight ...

, but left shortly after following disputes with the board. Ahead of the following campaign, he signed a two-year deal at Vitória de Setúbal, and again parted before its conclusion. Days later, he replaced the sacked Jorge Simão at struggling Boavista. On 17 December 2019, having taken 18 points from 14 league fixtures, Vidigal was dismissed. He returned to Setúbal in July 2020, three points above the drop zone with four games to play. Having succeeded in that task, he moved on to Marítimo to replace José Gomes. On 4 December 2020, with the

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

n club in 15th place, Vidigal was replaced by under-23 manager Milton Mendes. He took over from João Henriques at Moreirense on 29 November of the following year, but left after only one month. Vidigal returned to active on 3 April 2024, on a deal at second-division side Feirense. He managed to avoid relegation in the playoffs, defeating Lusitânia 3–1 on aggregate. Vidigal rejoined Boavista, bottom of the top tier, on 9 February 2025. Less than two months later, having overseen six matches with only one win and with the team still in that position, he was relieved of his duties.

Personal life

Vidigal had 12 brothers and sisters, four of his male siblings being footballers: Beto, Luís (who played for

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

and in the

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

, represented

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 ...

and was coached in the 2008–09 campaign by Lito),

Toni Toni, Toñi or Tóni is a unisex given name used in several European countries as well as among individuals with ancestry from these countries outside Europe. In Spanish language, Spanish, Italian language, Italian, Croatian language, Croatian an ...

and

Jorge Jorge is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name George. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese . It is derived from the Greek name Γεώργιος (''Georgios ...

. His nephew,

André André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries, as well in Portugal ...

, was also involved in the sport professionally.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Manager

Angola *

African Nations Championship The African Nations Championship, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies African Nations Championship and commonly abbreviated as CHAN, is a biennial African association football tournament organized by the Confederation of Afri ...

runner-up:

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vidigal, Lito 1969 births Living people Angolan men's footballers Footballers from Luanda Men's association football defenders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players O Elvas C.A.D. players S.C. Campomaiorense players C.F. Os Belenenses players C.D. Santa Clara players Angola men's international footballers 1998 African Cup of Nations players Angolan expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Angolan football managers Primeira Liga managers Liga Portugal 2 managers C.F. Estrela da Amadora managers Portimonense S.C. managers U.D. Leiria managers C.F. Os Belenenses managers F.C. Arouca managers C.D. Aves managers Vitória F.C. managers Boavista F.C. managers C.S. Marítimo managers Moreirense F.C. managers C.D. Feirense managers Al-Ittihad Tripoli managers Cypriot First Division managers AEL Limassol managers Israeli Premier League managers Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. managers Angola national football team managers 2012 Africa Cup of Nations managers Angolan expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Portugal Expatriate football managers in Libya Expatriate football managers in Cyprus Expatriate football managers in Israel Angolan expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Angolan expatriate sportspeople in Libya Angolan expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Angolan expatriate sportspeople in Israel