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Vítor Manuel Martins Baía, OIH (; born 15 October 1969) 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
goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...
. One of the most decorated goalkeepers of all time, his career was intimately connected 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 ...
, which he started representing still in his teens, helping it to 26 titles and eventually remaining with the club in an ambassadorial role. Also having played for
Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
, Baía appeared with the Portugal national team in two European Championships and the 2002 World Cup.


Club career


Porto

Born in 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 ...
, Baía 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 ...
's youth ranks at 13 from also northern club Leça FC. In early 1989, he renounced to appear at the FIFA World Youth Championship, as he had relegated Pole
Józef Młynarczyk Józef Młynarczyk (born 20 September 1953) is a Polish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. He is currently the goalkeeping coach for the Poland national under-21 fo ...
to the bench and his club was still chasing 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 ...
title, which eventually eluded them ( second place). Baía made his first-team debut in a game against Vítoria de Guimarães, and did not lose his starting place for the following seven seasons, winning five leagues and two
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 ...
and conceding only 116 goals (16,5 goals per year). It was between 1994 and 1996 that he made his name as a world-class goalkeeper, being voted for the " ESM Team of the Year" after the 1994–95 season and being named in the " IFFHS' World's Best Goalkeeper of the Year 1995" list, finishing sixth in the voting and improving to fifth in the following year; consequently, he was named in the Portugal squad for Euro 1996, being transferred after this tournament to Spain's
FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...
for the highest amount paid for a player in the position in the world.


Barcelona

While he only missed one
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 ...
match in his first season, as Barcelona finished second to
Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...
, adding that campaign's
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...
, Baía also suffered from knee problems during his two-and-a-half-year spell. Additionally, when
Louis van Gaal Aloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal (; born 8 August 1951) is a Dutch former association football, football player and former manager who currently serves as an advisor for AFC Ajax, Ajax. At club level, he served as manager of AFC Ajax, Aj ...
took over at Barcelona from Bobby Robson, he was dropped from the team in favour of the manager's compatriot Ruud Hesp, being subsequently loaned in mid-season back to Porto, filling the position some said he had "haunted" since his departure.


Porto return

In January 1999, Baía returned to Porto to find the No. 1 jersey unavailable, so he chose No. 99 instead, with the sales of that number being a success as well as the club's game attendances, highly related to the player's return. When his career seemed back on track, he was injured again during the 1999–2000 season, needing a corrective surgery on his knee. Baía returned to Barcelona in the summer of 2000, being immediately released and signing with Porto. After one year on the sidelines due to injury, he made his comeback in the 2001–02 campaign in a reserves match against S.C. Vila Real, on 26 November 2001. Sixteen days later, he made his competitive debut against C.D. Santa Clara in the cup; after a full recovery, he was included in the list for the 2002 World Cup. Baía was in great shape again in 2002–03, helping his team to win the league title, the cup and the
UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...
, appearing in 11 of 13 matches in the latter competition, including the semi-finals against S.S. Lazio where he saved a penalty kick, and the final against
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...
. It would not be until the following campaign when he regained full fitness again, and he would have one of the most impressive years of his career,
winning Winning may refer to: * Victory Film * Winning (film), ''Winning'' (film), a 1969 movie starring Paul Newman * ''Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman'', a 2015 documentary by Adam Carolla and Nate Adams Music * ''Winning'', an album by Ten Fo ...
the
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...
and his seventh league trophy – in the former competition, he played all games and minutes as Porto beat
AS Monaco FC Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club, commonly referred to as AS Monaco (), is a professional association football, football club based in Fontvieille, Monaco, Fontvieille, Monaco. Although not in France, they are a member of the Frenc ...
in the final (3–0) and, consequently, he was selected as the " UEFA Club Best Goalkeeper of the Year", being the first Portuguese goalkeeper to win this individual title. This was not, however, good enough for Euro 2004 selection, with
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,
's Ricardo being controversially preferred. Later, in 2007, in a
FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
.com interview, Baía said: "''(...) It's kind of strange because I was voted as being the best goalkeeper in Europe in the 2003/04 season and a few days before the squad for UEFA EURO 2004 was announced I'd won the Portuguese championship and the UEFA Champions League and even then I wasn't called up''"; at the end of the season he was named in the list for " IFFHS' World's Best Goalkeeper of the Year 2004", finishing eighth in the voting while Ricardo ranked 19th. At the start of 2005–06, under Dutch coach Co Adriaanse, Baía initially started the season but lost his status midway through it, being replaced by Brazilian Helton. Although he was a part of the squad that won Porto's second league in a row the following campaign the player, in the last year of his contract, made only one league start, on the final league matchday, a 4–1 home win against C.D. Aves which would be his 700th official appearance; upon retiring at nearly 38, on 14 June 2007, he became director of
public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...
with his main club, leaving the post in late July 2010. He and Italian Stefano Tacconi are the only goalkeepers in history to have won the three main UEFA club competitions.


International career

Baía made his Portugal senior debut on 19 December 1990 in a 1–0 friendly win over the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, at the age of 21. He went on to make 80 appearances for the national team until 2002, playing all the games at UEFA Euro 1996 and
2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
(except one in the latter, as they were already qualified) and in the
2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...
. In Euro 2000, he stopped Arif Erdem's penalty in the 2–0 defeat of
Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
in the quarter-finals. After the failure in the 2002 World Cup, coach António Oliveira was sacked when he refused to quit.
Luiz Felipe Scolari Luiz Felipe Scolari (; born 9 November 1948), also known as Felipão ("Big Phil"), is a Brazilian football manager and former player who currently serves as the technical director of Grêmio. Considered to be one of the greatest and most su ...
was hired as his replacement and Baía, a stalwart for the past ten years with a record of caps in his position, was ditched.


Personal life

In 2004, Baía founded a charity with his wife Alexandra Rodrigues de Almeida, which would bear his own name and would be dedicated to helping underprivileged children and troubled teens. Also that year, he would donate a pair of his autographed gloves to be included in the UEFA Jubilee time capsule, a collection of UEFA memorabilia that was sealed underground in September, only opened 50 years hence. Baía published his autobiography entitled ''99 – Vítor Baía'' in 2005. On 10 June 2008, he was made an Officer of the '' Ordem do Infante Dom Henrique'' by the
president of Portugal The president of Portugal, officially the president of the Portuguese Republic (, ), is the head of state and highest office of Portugal. The powers, functions and duties of prior presidential offices, and their relation with the prime minister ...
,
Aníbal Cavaco Silva Aníbal António Cavaco Silva (; born 15 July 1939) is a Portuguese economist and politician who served as the 19th president of Portugal, from 9 March 2006 to 9 March 2016, and as prime minister of Portugal, from 6 November 1985 to 25 October ...
. In August 2015,
EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they imitated real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" (EASN) ...
announced Baía as part of their ''
FIFA 16 ''FIFA 16'' is a football simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports label. It was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Android and iOS. The g ...
'' Ultimate Team Legends, along with eight other former footballers.


Career statistics


Club


International


Honours

Porto *
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 ...
: 1989–90, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1998–99, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07 * Taca de Portugal: 1990–91, 1993–94, 1999–2000, 2002–03, 2005–06 *
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 ...
: 1990,
1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...
,
1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...
,
1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...
,
1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...
,
2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...
,
2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
,
2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...
*
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...
: 2003–04 *
UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...
: 2002–03 * Intercontinental Cup:
2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
Barcelona *
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 ...
: 1997–98 *
Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...
: 1996–97, 1997–98 *
Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España, also known as the Spanish Super Cup, is a super cup tournament in Football in Spain, Spanish football. Founded in 1982 Supercopa de España, 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2 ...
:
1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...
*
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...
: 1996–97 Individual * Portuguese Footballer of the Year: 1989, 1991 * Portuguese Golden Ball: 1992 * ESM Team of the Year: 1994–95 * UEFA Club Best Goalkeeper of the Year: 2003–04 *
Best European Goalkeeper The Best European Goalkeeper award is a football award given annually since 1990 to the most outstanding Goalkeeper in Europe, as voted by the UEFA magazine, in 2009 the ESM become the donor of the award. From 1998 to 2009 the Best European Goa ...
: 2004 Orders * Officer of the
Order of Prince Henry The Order of Prince Henry () is a Portuguese order of knighthood created on 2 June 1960, to commemorate the quincentenary of the death of the Portuguese ''infante'' Prince Henry the Navigator, one of the main initiators of the Age of Discovery. M ...


See also

* List of players to have won the three main European club competitions


References


External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Baia, Vitor 1969 births Living people 20th-century Portuguese sportsmen Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Vila Nova de Gaia Men's association football goalkeepers Primeira Liga players Segunda Divisão players FC Porto players FC Porto B players La Liga players FC Barcelona players UEFA Champions League–winning players UEFA Europa League–winning players Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portugal men's international footballers UEFA Euro 1996 players UEFA Euro 2000 players 2002 FIFA World Cup players Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain FC Porto non-playing staff