Luís Miguel Brito Garcia Monteiro (born 4 January 1980), known simply as Miguel (), 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

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 ...

or a winger. He spent the vast majority of his career with Benfica (five seasons) and

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

(seven), appearing in 161 official matches for the first club and 239 for the second while winning four major titles. Miguel earned 59

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

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 ...

in the 2000s and represented the country at two

World Cups A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

and as many

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

Club career

Early years and Benfica

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 ...

of Bissau-Guinean and Cape Verdean descent, Miguel started his senior career with local C.F. Estrela da Amadora as a winger, having previously spent five years 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,

's youth system and being released for being too short. On 30 April 1999, he made his first-team debut by playing 17 minutes in a 2–1 away loss against

Boavista FC Boavista Futebol Clube (), commonly known as Boavista, is a Portuguese professional sports club from the of Porto that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football, at the Estádio do Bessa. It is one of the oldest clubs ...

, then added 28

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 ...

appearances in his only full season as the capital club retained its top-division status. Miguel moved to

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 summer 2000, making the transition to

right midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

and then

(by the hand of former Benfica player

Fernando Chalana Fernando Albino de Sousa Chalana (; 10 February 1959 – 10 August 2022) was a Portuguese football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest talents of his era in Portuguese football, the diminutive left winger's main asset was ...

, in his only game as a transition coach) – the position that ultimately brought him international recognition. In the 2004–05 campaign, he contributed 22 matches and two goals to a national championship conquest after an 11-year wait.

Valencia

Miguel joined

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 ...

in August 2005, for a

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

7.5 million fee. Fully established as first choice, he signed a new five-year deal in September 2007, and helped the ''Che'' to win the

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 ...

the following year, playing in the final 3–1 win against

Getafe CF Getafe Club de Fútbol S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Getafe, a city in the Community of Madrid. They compete in La Liga, the top tier of the Football in Spain, Spanish football. The team has pla ...

. In 2009–10, Miguel was challenged by new signing

Bruno Bruno may refer to: People and fictional characters * Bruno (name), including lists of people and fictional characters with either the given name or surname * Bruno, Duke of Saxony (died 880) * Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologn ...

. He still appeared in 25 matches as Valencia finished third and returned to 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 ...

. In May 2012, following several occasions where he displayed unprofessional behaviour, Miguel's contract expired and he was released. In 2014, he started practising with the SJPF (syndicate of professional football players) alongside other unemployed players to regain fitness.

International career

Portugal international The Portugal International in badminton is an international open held annually in Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost po ...

since making his debut against

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 ...

on 12 February 2003, Miguel was a member of the squad when the country hosted

UEFA Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football competition contested by the List of men's national associatio ...

. Initially a backup to

Paulo Ferreira Paulo Renato Rebocho Ferreira (; born 18 January 1979) is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a full-back. After starting out at Estoril, he went on to spend the vast majority of his 16-year professional career with Porto and Chels ...

, coach

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 ...

made him the starting right-back in a reorganised defence after a 2–1 loss to

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

in the opening game; he withdrew injured in the first half of the final, a 1–0 defeat to the same team. Miguel started every match at 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 ...

before going off with an injury in the 1–0 semi-final loss against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He backed up

José Bosingwa José Bosingwa da Silva (born 24 August 1982) is a Portuguese former professional association football, footballer who played as a right-back. An attacking fullback, his pace and ability to get up and down the flanks created problems for the op ...

Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

, and only appeared in the 2–0 group stage defeat to co-hosts

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. Picked for the

2010 World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

– in spite of an irregular season at Valencia – Miguel was one of three right-backs used during Portugal's four games in the competition, appearing in the group stage 7–0 win over

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

. In September 2010, the 30-year-old announced his retirement from international duty.

Career statistics

Club

^?Information not available

International goal

Honours

Benfica *

: 2004–05 *

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 ...

: 2003–04 *

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 ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

Valencia *

: 2007–08 Portugal *

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

runner-up:

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 ...

Portugal Under-18 *

UEFA European Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-19, is an annual football competition, contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain is the most successful team in this competit ...

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 ...

Orders

PRT Ordem de Nossa Senhora da Conceicao de Vila Vicosa Cavaleiro ribbon

Medal of Merit,

Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa The Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa (also known as The Royal Military Order of Our Lady of the Conception of Vila Viçosa; ) is a dynastic order of knighthood of the House of Braganza, the former Portuguese Royal Family. The cur ...

(

House of Braganza The Most Serene House of Braganza (), also known as the Brigantine dynasty (''dinastia Brigantina''), is a dynasty of emperors, kings, princes, and dukes of Portuguese people, Portuguese origin which reigned in Europe and the Americas. The hous ...

)

References

External links

* *
CiberChe biography and stats
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Miguel Monteiro 1980 births Living people Portuguese sportspeople of Bissau-Guinean descent Portuguese sportspeople of Cape Verdean descent Black Portuguese sportspeople 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Lisbon Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football wingers Primeira Liga players Segunda Divisão players C.F. Estrela da Amadora players S.L. Benfica footballers S.L. Benfica B players La Liga players Valencia CF players Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portugal men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2004 players 2006 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2008 players 2010 FIFA World Cup players Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain