Luís Carlos Correia Pinto (born 5 May 1985), known as Luisinho, 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 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 ...

Club career

Early years

Born in

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 ...

, Luisinho made his senior debut with S.C. Vila Real in 2004. In the summer of 2005 he joined

S.C. Braga Sporting Clube de Braga (), commonly known as Sporting de Braga or just Braga, is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Braga. Best known for the men's professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese foo ...

, being assigned to the reserves and subsequently serving loans at

Moreirense FC Moreirense Futebol Clube is a Portuguese professional football club based in Moreira de Cónegos, Guimarães Municipality, Minho. Founded on 1 November 1938, it plays in the Primeira Liga, holding home games at Parque de Jogos Comendador Joaqui ...

and

Rio Ave FC Rio Ave Futebol Clube, commonly known as Rio Ave (), is a Portuguese professional football club based in Vila do Conde, that competes in the Primeira Liga. The club is named after the Ave River, which flows through the town and into the Atlant ...

. In January 2008, Luisinho joined Moreirense on a permanent basis, moving to C.D. Aves in the Segunda Liga after one and a half seasons. He played his first competitive match for the latter on 2 August of that year, starting and being booked in a 1–1 home draw against

G.D. Estoril Praia Grupo Desportivo Estoril Praia (), commonly known as Estoril, is a Portuguese professional sports club from Estoril, Cascais, Lisbon. Founded on 17 May 1939, its Association football, football team currently plays in Primeira Liga and hold home g ...

in the first round 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 ...

. Luisinho signed with F.C. Paços de Ferreira in June 2011. He appeared in 32 competitive matches in his only season at the Estádio da Mata Real, being also reconverted in a

in the process.

Benfica and Deportivo

On 31 May 2012, Luisinho joined

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 " ...

along with teammate

Michel Michel may refer to: * Michel (name), a given name or surname of French origin (and list of people with the name) * Míchel (nickname), a nickname (a list of people with the nickname, mainly Spanish footballers) * Míchel (footballer, born 1963), ...

. On 13 August of the following year, after being sparingly used, he moved abroad for the first time in his career, signing for

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña () or simply Depor, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, that competes in the Segunda División, the ...

. Luisinho slapped teammate Juan Carlos Real in the face on 2 April 2014, after both argued during a training session. He contributed 31 games and three goals during the season, as the club returned to

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 ...

after a one-year absence. Luisinho continued to be a starter in 2014–15, under new manager

Víctor Fernández Víctor Fernández Braulio (born 28 November 1960) is a Spanish football manager. He had four spells with his hometown team Zaragoza, winning the Copa del Rey in 1994 and the Cup Winners' Cup a year later. He also led Tenerife, RC Celta de Vi ...

, and in early December 2014 renewed his contract until 30 June 2018. However, the following campaign, he was involved in several spats with the latter's successor Víctor Sánchez. Luisinho scored his first goal in the Spanish top division on 20 September 2017, in a 1–0 home win against

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually known as Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Basque ...

. He was first-choice during the season, which ended in relegation.

Huesca

After five years at Deportivo, Lusinho signed a two-year contract with newly-promoted

SD Huesca Sociedad Deportiva Huesca, S.A.D., is a Spanish football club based in Huesca, in the autonomous community of Aragon. Founded in 1910, the club competes in the Segunda División, having played in the Spanish top division for the first time in th ...

on 15 June 2018. On 9 August 2020, after helping his side return to the top tier at the first attempt, the 35-year-old agreed to a one-year extension.

Leixões

On 3 July 2021, after Huesca's

relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

, Luisinho returned to Portugal after eight years and signed for

Leixões S.C. Leixões Sport Club (), commonly known as Leixões, is a Portuguese sports club from Matosinhos. It is organised into several departments for many sports, such as athletics, boxing, football, futsal, handball, karate, swimming, volleyball, wat ...

in the second division.

Honours

Huesca *

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

: 2019–20

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Luisinho 1985 births Living people 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Porto Men's association football fullbacks Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players Campeonato de Portugal (league) players S.C. Braga B players Moreirense F.C. players Rio Ave F.C. players C.D. Aves players F.C. Paços de Ferreira players S.L. Benfica footballers Leixões S.C. players La Liga players Segunda División players Deportivo de La Coruña players SD Huesca footballers Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain Portuguese football managers