Martinho Martins Mukana (born 5 July 1982), known as Paíto, is a Mozambican 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

Born in

Maputo Maputo () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088,449 (as of 2017) distributed ov ...

, Paíto began his senior career at

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,

. He became a regular in the 2004–05 season after being granted

Portuguese citizenship The primary law governing nationality of Portugal is the Nationality Act, which Coming into force, came into force on 3 October 1981. Portugal is a member state of the European Union (EU) and all Portuguese nationals are Citizenship of the Eur ...

and, on 26 January 2005, scored his only goal for the ''Lions'' in a 3–3 draw against

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 the sixth round 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 ...

(

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

loss), in a solo effort. After the arrival in January 2006, on loan from

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol, S. A. D. (; ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF or simply Valencia, is a Spanish professional Association football, football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top tier of the Spani ...

, of Portuguese international

Marco Caneira Marco António Simões Caneira (born 9 February 1979) is a Portuguese former professional footballer. Preferably a central defender, he was equally at ease on the right or left flank. A youth graduate at Sporting CP, he started his career at t ...

, Paíto was deemed surplus to requirements and left, also loaned, to

Vitória de Guimarães Vitoria or Vitória may refer to: People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Sofia Vitória (bor ...

. He was an undisputed starter during his short tenure, as the

Minho Minho or Miño may refer to: People * Miño (surname) * Choi Min-ho, South Korean singer and actor known mononymously as Minho Places * Minho (river) or Miño, in Portugal and Spain Jamaica * Rio Minho, a river Portugal * Minho Province ...

team eventually dropped down a level. Purchased by

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 ...

club

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (, , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or RCD Mallorca, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Palma de Mallorca, ...

, Paíto immediately returned to Portugal, being loaned to

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 ...

for the duration of the campaign. Released by the

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...

side without making any official appearances, he joined

FC Sion Football Club Sion, commonly known as simply FC Sion or Sion, is a Swiss Association football, football club from the city of Sion, Switzerland, Sion. The club was founded in 1909 and play their home matches at the Stade Tourbillon. They have wo ...

on a three-year contract. After three solid seasons in the

Swiss Super League The Super League (also known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss football league system. It has been played in its current fo ...

, Paíto stayed in Switzerland, signing with fellow league team

Neuchâtel Xamax FCS Neuchâtel Xamax Football Club Serrières or Neuchâtel Xamax FCS () is a Swiss football club based in Neuchâtel. It was created in 1970 through a merger between FC Cantonal, founded in 1906 and Swiss champions of 1916, and FC Xamax founded ...

. After the latter went bankrupt, in January 2012 he joined

FC Vaslui Fotbal Club Vaslui, commonly known as FC Vaslui, or simply as Vaslui (), was a Romanian professional football club based in Vaslui, Vaslui County, founded in 2002 and dissolved in 2014. Its official club colours were yellow and green, hence t ...

from Romania, reuniting with former Sporting coach

Augusto Inácio Augusto Soares Inácio (born 30 January 1955) is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as a left back, and a manager. Having represented both Sporting and Porto as a professional player, he went on to have a lengthy managerial career that ...

. Paíto spent the first half of the following campaign without a club, signing in early January 2013 with Skoda Xanthi FC. He made his

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

debut on the 27th, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 away win over

PAOK FC PAOK FC (, ), short for "Pan-Thessalonian Sports club, Athletic Club of Constantinople, Constantinopolitans" (), and commonly known as PAOK Thessaloniki, PAOK Salonika or simply PAOK, is a Greek professional Association football, football cl ...

International career

Paíto started representing

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

at age 20. He was recalled in April for the

2002 COSAFA Cup This page provides summaries to the 2002 COSAFA Cup. First round Winners of the first round advanced to the quarter-finals. Quarter-finals The four semi-finalists of the 2001 edition Angola (holders), Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi receive ...

, nearly two years after his last international. Additionally, he took part in the

2003 COSAFA Cup This page provides summaries to the 2003 COSAFA Cup. First round Winners of the first round advanced to the quarter-finals. Quarter-finals The four quarter-finalists of the 2002 edition South Africa, Malawi, Swaziland and Zambia received by ...

, the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

2006 World Cup qualification, the

2004 COSAFA Cup This page provides summaries to the 2004 COSAFA Cup. First round Winners of the first round advanced to the quarter-finals. Quarter-finals The four quarter-finalists of the 2003 edition Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia and Swaziland received byes ...

2008 Africa Cup of Nations qualification 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. Etymology English ''eight'', from Old English '', æhta'', Proto-Germanic ''*ahto'' is a direct continuation of Proto-Indo-European '' *oḱtṓ(w)-'', and as such cognate wi ...

and the

2010 World Cup qualifiers Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation – the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (Oc ...

Personal life

Paíto's son, Edson, was also a professional footballer.

Honours

Sporting CP *

: 2001–02 Sion *

Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup competition that has been organised annually since 1925–26 season by the Swiss Football Association. The Swiss Cup final is usually the most important game of the year with a high attendance. The co ...

: 2008–09

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Paito 1982 births Living people 21st-century Mozambican sportsmen Mozambican men's footballers Footballers from Maputo Men's association football fullbacks Primeira Liga players Segunda Divisão players Sporting CP B players Sporting CP footballers Vitória S.C. players S.C. Braga players RCD Mallorca players Swiss Super League players FC Sion players Neuchâtel Xamax FCS players Liga I players FC Vaslui players Super League Greece players Xanthi F.C. players Mozambique men's international footballers 2010 Africa Cup of Nations players Mozambican expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Mozambican expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Mozambican expatriate sportspeople in Romania Mozambican expatriate sportspeople in Greece