Paulo Sérgio Mota (born 13 July 1991), known as Paulinho, 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 lea ...

who plays as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

Liga Portugal 2 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 Pr ...

club Académico de Viseu.

Club career

Born in Santa Marinha (Vila Nova de Gaia),

Porto District The Districts of Portugal, District of Porto ( ) is located on the north-west coast of Portugal. The district capital is the city of Porto, the second largest city in the country. It is bordered by the Aveiro (district), Aveiro and Viseu (distric ...

, Paulinho began his football career with

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 ...

, playing for the club from ages 10 to 18. In 2009 he joined another northern side, Leixões SC, where he spent his last year as a junior. In his second season as a senior with the

Matosinhos Matosinhos () is a City#Portugal, city and a Concelho, municipality in the district of Porto District, Porto in Portugal. The municipality covers an area of approximately and had 172,557 inhabitants in 2021. It is bordered by the municipalities o ...

team, Paulinho appeared in 27 league games (all starts) to help them to a midtable finish in the Segunda Liga. In the summer of 2012, he signed a three-year contract with newly promoted Moreirense F.C. for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut 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 ...

on 26 November, playing the entire 2–2 home draw against

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,

. With the exception of the 2013–14 campaign, Paulinho continued to compete in the top flight the following years, representing in the process Moreirense,

C.F. União Clube de Futebol União, commonly known as União da Madeira, was a Portuguese association football, football club based in Funchal, Madeira, notable for its six season in the Portuguese top-flight Primeira Liga, between the 1989–90 Primeira D ...

, G.D. Chaves (two spells) and S.C. Braga. He scored his first goal as a professional on 21 August 2013, helping Moreirense to a 7–0 home rout of Chaves in the second tier. Paulinho joined Greek club AEK Athens F.C. on 7 June 2019, on a two-year deal with an extension option for another year. He returned to Portugal on 30 January 2021, with Gil Vicente F.C. of the top division. On 17 August 2021, Paulinho signed a one-year contract with Moreirense. In November 2022, he agreed to a two-year deal at fellow top-tier C.S. Marítimo, but left at the end of his first season following their relegation. On 31 January 2024, Paulinho returned to both Leixões and the second division.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Paulinho 1991 births Living people 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Vila Nova de Gaia Men's association football fullbacks Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Leixões S.C. players Moreirense F.C. players C.F. União players G.D. Chaves players S.C. Braga players Gil Vicente F.C. players C.S. Marítimo players Académico de Viseu F.C. players Super League Greece players AEK Athens F.C. players Portugal men's youth international footballers Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Greece