João Carlos Pires de Deus (born 6 November 1976) is a Portuguese retired

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 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 ...

, and a

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 ...

. He is currently assistant manager

Saudi Pro League The Saudi Pro League (SPL), also known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Saudi Arabia and the highest level of the Saudi football league system. The SPL is regarded as th ...

club of Al-Hilal. Having played no higher than the second tier, he began managing at age 31 with the Cape Verde national team. He led

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 ...

and

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

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 ...

and was assistant to

Jorge Jesus Jorge Fernando Pinheiro de Jesus (; born 24 July 1954) is a Portuguese professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player. Most recently he was the manager of Saudi Professional League, Saudi P ...

at several clubs.

Playing career

Born in

Setúbal Setúbal ( , , ; ), officially the City of Setúbal (), is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the entire municipality in 2014 was 118,166, occupying an area of . The city itself had 89,303 inhabitants in 2001. It lies withi ...

, de Deus spent several years associated to local Vitória Futebol Clube, joining its youth system at the age of 15 and making his senior debut in 1995. During his nine-year senior career, he never competed in higher than the second tier, and represented C.D. Beja, Seixal FC,

Lusitano G.C. Lusitano Ginásio Clube, :Ordem Militar de Cristo, MHC, also commonly known as Lusitano de Évora (abbrev. Lusit. Évora), is a Portuguese sports club based in Évora competing in the Liga 3 (Portugal), the third tier league in the Portuguese ...

and F.C. Barreirense, before retiring with his first club Vitória at the end of the 2003–04 season, at only 27.

Coaching career

De Deus started working as a coach immediately after retiring, working with Vitória de Setúbal in the fitness department under

José Couceiro José Júlio de Carvalho Peyroteo Martins Couceiro (born 4 October 1962) is a Portuguese football manager, currently the national technical director of the Portuguese Football Federation. Managerial career As a manager, Couceiro's career is mark ...

and

José Rachão José Fernando Casal Rachão (born 15 September 1952) is a Portuguese former football player and manager. A midfielder, he was a youth player at Benfica, and retired from playing at age 30 to start his managerial career, which included 27 clubs ...

; he also had a spell with G.D. Interclube in Angola, again as a fitness coach. His first job as a manager was with the Cape Verde national team, which he left after an unsuccessful qualification campaign for the

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. ...

; shortly before the tournament, he led the team to a goalless friendly draw against

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 ...

Covilhã Covilhã (), officially Covilhã City (), is a city and a concelho, municipality in the Centro, Portugal, Centro region, Portugal. The city proper had 33,691 inhabitants in 2021. The municipality population in 2021 was 46,455 in an area of . It is ...

. In the summer of 2010, and without permission from the

Cape Verdean Football Federation The Cape Verdean Football Federation () is the governing body of football in Cape Verde. It was founded in 1982, affiliated to FIFA in 1986 and to CAF in 2000. It organizes the national football league and the national team. The federation is h ...

, de Deus was appointed at

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

club

AD Ceuta Asociación Deportiva Ceuta was a Spanish football team based in the autonomous city of Ceuta. Founded in 1996, its last season was 2011–12 in Segunda División B, holding home matches at '' Estadio Alfonso Murube'', with a capacity of 6,500. ...

. He was sacked by the Spaniards before the end of the year, however, returning to Portugal and joining

S.C. Farense Sporting Clube Farense, simply known as Farense, is a Portuguese professional association football, football club based in Faro, Portugal, Faro in the Faro District, district of the same name and the region of Algarve. Founded in 1910, the club ha ...

, which he could not prevent from being relegated from the third level in spite of an incredible comeback. From 2011 to 2013, de Deus worked in Portugal's second tier, with

Atlético Clube de Portugal Atlético Clube de Portugal is a Portuguese sports club based in the parish of Alcântara, in the west side of Lisbon. The club was established on 18 September 1942 through the merger of two local clubs from Alcântara: Carcavelinhos Football ...

and

U.D. Oliveirense União Desportiva Oliveirense (UDO), commonly known as Oliveirense, is a Portugal, Portuguese sports club from the city of Oliveira de Azeméis, in Aveiro District. The club was founded on 25 October 1922. The main football (soccer), football te ...

. For the 2013–14 campaign he was appointed at

Gil Vicente FC Gil Vicente Futebol Clube (), commonly known as Gil Vicente, founded in 1924, is a Portuguese professional football club that plays in Barcelos. It plays their home matches at the Estádio Cidade de Barcelos. It competes in the Primeira Liga, the ...

, thus making his debut in the

. After a poor start to 2014–15, which saw the team lose the first three league matches, de Deus was relieved of his duties. On 6 October, he was hired by

Sporting CP B Sporting Clube de Portugal B is the reserve team of Portuguese football club Sporting CP, a team based in Lisbon. Reserve teams in Portugal play in the same league system as the senior team, rather than in a reserve team league. However, they cann ...

on a one-year contract with the option of a second. He was sacked on 15 February 2017, after a 2–1 home loss to

Varzim S.C. 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 ...

put the reserves into second-last place. On 21 March 2017, de Deus returned to the top flight with

C.D. Nacional Clube Desportivo Nacional (), commonly known as Nacional da Madeira and sometimes just Nacional, is a Portuguese football club based in Funchal, on the island of Madeira. Founded on 8 December 1910, it currently plays in the Liga Portugal , P ...

, becoming the third manager of the season for the last-placed side. He left on 24 May, after their relegation in the same position. De Deus was hired at

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

franchise

NorthEast United FC NorthEast United Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Guwahati, Assam that competes in the Indian Super League (ISL), the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded on 13 April 2014 during the inaugural sea ...

on 17 July 2017. The team from

Guwahati Guwahati () the largest city of the Indian state of Assam, and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the seat of the Government of Assam. Th ...

dismissed him the following 2 January, having won once and scored twice in seven games. Having already assisted him at

Al Hilal SFC Al-Hilal Saudi Football Club (), simply known as Al-Hilal, is a professional multi-sports club based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Their Association football, football team competes in the Saudi Pro League. In Arabic, Al-Hilal means "the Crescent Mo ...

in Saudi Arabia, de Deus was one of six compatriots that Portuguese manager

named in his staff at Brazilian club

Clube de Regatas do Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; ), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian multi sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea. It was founded and named after the Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Flamengo n ...

in June 2019, being appointed assistant along with Tiago Oliveira. In November, as Jesus was suspended, he led the team in the 3–1 home win against

Esporte Clube Bahia Esporte Clube Bahia () is a Brazilian professional association football club based in Salvador, the capital city of the Brazilian state of Bahia. Known mainly as the ''Esquadrão de Aço'' (Steel Squadron), the club competes in the Campeo ...

for the Série A as an interim, being chosen the round's best coach. De Deus followed Jesus to

S.L. 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'', Benfica is one of the " ...

in 2020; the following 28 January he covered the ill manager's absence in a 3–1 home win over

B-SAD B-SAD was a Portuguese football club currently based in Almada, founded on 30 June 2018 as an independent entity. An offshoot of Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses, they played four seasons in the Primeira Liga, being relegated to the Liga Portugal ...

in the

quarter-finals A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

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 ...

. In 2022, they moved to Fenerbahçe SK. On July 1, 2023, Al-Hilal announced the reappointment of Jorge Jesus as their manager for the 2023–24 season. The coach's staff members, including João de Deus, accompanied the coach in his return to the Arab team.

Managerial statistics

References

External links