José Rui Lopes Águas (born 28 April 1960) is a Portuguese former professional
footballer who played as a
striker, currently a
manager.
He had highly successful spells at two of
the biggest clubs in Portugal,
Benfica and
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 ...
, amassing
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 ...
totals of 292 games and 121 goals over 12 seasons.
Águas represented the
Portugal national team at the
1986 World Cup.
Playing career
Club
Born in
Lisbon
Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
, Águas started his career with amateurs Real Desportivo Benfica, and later went on to represent
G.D. Sesimbra in the
Terceira Divisão :
The Terceira Divisão Portuguesa (in English: ''Portuguese Third Division'') was a football league in Portugal, situated at the fourth level of the Portuguese football league system. The Third Division was initially the third level of the Por ...
and
Atlético Clube de Portugal in
Segunda Divisão
:
:
The Segunda Divisão Portuguesa ( English: ''Portuguese Second Division'') was a football league situated at the third level of the Portuguese football league system. The division had previously been the second level of the Portuguese pyrami ...
. He turned professional in the
1983–84 season, when he signed for
Portimonense S.C. of 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 ...
.
Moving to
S.L. Benfica in 1985, Águas scored an average of 12 goals in his first spell, helping the capital club to the league on three occasions. He was present at the
1988 European Cup final, as they lost 6–5
on penalties to
PSV Eindhoven.
Águas joined
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 ...
in summer 1988, winning the league in
his second year and contributing to the conquest with 17 goals. However, he returned to Benfica after only two years, and proceeded to net a career-best 25 times in the
first season upon his return as the team finished in top position. In the last round against
S.C. Beira-Mar, the game after they had been crowned champions, he bagged two second-half goals in an eventual 3–0 home win, narrowly edging Porto's
Domingos – who played first and scored four in a 5–0 victory over
Vitória de Guimarães, finishing with 24 – in the ''
Bola de Prata'' race.
In the
last edition of the European Cup, Águas suffered an horrific foot injury against
FC Dynamo Kyiv
The Football Club 'Dynamo Kyiv', also known as Dynamo Kyiv, or simply Dynamo, ( ) is a Ukrainian professional Association football, football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet ...
, but still managed five league goals in only 14 matches. Already 34, he moved clubs but stayed in Lisbon, joining lowly
C.F. Estrela da Amadora. His career ended after an abroad spell which was his first and only at the age of 34, at Italy's
AC Reggiana 1919.
International
Águas played his first match for
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 ...
on 3 April 1985, a 2–0 loss to
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
in a
friendly. He was present at the
1986 FIFA World Cup, playing as a
substitute in the 3–1 defeat against
Morocco
Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
.
In total, Águas received 31
caps for the national team, scoring ten goals. His last game was for the
1994 World Cup qualifiers on 17 November 1993, losing to Italy 1–0.
Coaching career
In the early 2000s, Águas coached
Vitória F.C. and acted as assistant at
C.S. Marítimo and
S.C. Braga. He managed six wins, three draws and nine losses for the first side in the
1999–2000 campaign, which ended in top-division relegation.
Águas was named
Cape Verde
Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...
coach in August 2014, replacing
interim Men Ramires and signing a two-year contract. He led them to three draws in the
2015 Africa Cup of Nations, in an eventual group phase elimination. He resigned from his position on 1 January 2016, alleging unpaid wages.
In February 2017, Águas was part of a candidate shortlist for the vacant
Rwanda national team manager role. He returned to the Cape Verde helm in May of the following year.
Águas returned to club duties in late December 2019, being included in his compatriot
Jesualdo Ferreira's staff at
Santos FC of the
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A
The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian" or "Great Brazilian"), the Série A or the Brazilian Série A (to distinguish it from the I ...
.
Personal life
Águas' father,
José
José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ).
In French, the name ''José'', pronounced ...
, was a stellar footballer (also striker) for Benfica, mainly in the 1950s. He had two siblings, his sister Maria Helena (known as
Lena d'Água) having a prolific career in the country's
pop music
Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...
. His cousin,
Raul Águas, was also a footballer and manager for several years.
Águas met his wife, Leonor, in college as they were from the same class. They fathered three children, son André (born in 1985), daughter Mariana (1987, who went on to work as a reporter at
CMTV) and son Martim (1993) who was also a footballer.
Career statistics
Club
International
:''Scores and results list Portugal's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Águas goal.''
[
]
Managerial statistics
Honours
Benfica[
*]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 ...
: 1986–87, 1990–91, 1993–94
*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 ...
: 1985–86, 1986–87, 1992–93
*Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira
The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese association football, football match played since 1979 between the winners of the top-tier league (Primeira L ...
: 1985
* European Cup runner-up: 1987–88
Porto[
*Primeira Liga: 1989–90
*Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira runner-up: 1988
Individual
*Primeira Liga top scorer: 1990–91
*European Cup top scorer: 1987–88]
*Taça de Portugal top scorer: 1985–86
See also
*List of association football families
This is a list of association football families. The countries are listed according to the national teams of the senior family member if the other family member played for a different country. If the senior members of the given member did not ...
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aguas, Rui
1960 births
Living people
20th-century Portuguese sportsmen
Portuguese men's footballers
Footballers from Lisbon
Men's association football forwards
Primeira Liga players
Liga Portugal 2 players
G.D. Sesimbra footballers
Atlético Clube de Portugal players
Portimonense S.C. players
S.L. Benfica footballers
FC Porto players
C.F. Estrela da Amadora players
Serie A players
AC Reggiana 1919 players
UEFA Champions League top scorers
Portugal men's youth international footballers
Portugal men's under-21 international footballers
Portugal men's international footballers
1986 FIFA World Cup players
Portuguese expatriate men's footballers
Expatriate men's footballers in Italy
Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Italy
Portuguese football managers
Primeira Liga managers
G.D. Estoril Praia managers
Vitória F.C. managers
Cape Verde national football team managers
2015 Africa Cup of Nations managers
Portuguese expatriate football managers
Expatriate football managers in Cape Verde
Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Cape Verde
Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Brazil
Santos FC non-playing staff
Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Egypt