Norberto Deolindo Vidigal (9 June 1964 – 19 December 2019) was an Angolan professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

and coach.

Career

Vidigal was born Huíla,

Portuguese Angola In southwestern Africa, Portuguese Angola was a historical Evolution of the Portuguese Empire, colony of the Portuguese Empire (1575–1951), the overseas province Portuguese West Africa of Estado Novo (Portugal), Estado Novo Portugal (1951–1 ...

, and played for five clubs over a 20-year senior career. He started out at O Elvas CAD, achieving

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 ...

promotion in 1986 and spending two seasons with the

Alentejo Alentejo ( , , ) is a geographical, historical, and cultural region of south–central and southern Portugal. In Portuguese, its name means "beyond the Tagus" (). Alentejo includes the regions of Alto Alentejo Province, Alto Alentejo and Bai ...

side in that competition – their first and only.Irmãos Vidigal ignoram os genes para manterem o Estrela da Amadora no topo (Brothers Vidigal ignore genes to leave Estrela on top)
Público, 13 October 2008 (in Portuguese) After five years in the Segunda Liga, with Louletano DC (two seasons) and U.D. Leiria (three), Vidigal returned to Elvas, with the team now in the third tier. He then left for one-season stints with

Associação Naval 1º de Maio Associação Naval 1º de Maio or Associação Naval 1893, commonly known as Naval, was a Portuguese Association football, football club based in Figueira da Foz, Coimbra District. Founded on 1 May 1893, it last played in the Division of Honour i ...

and

SC Vila Real Sport Clube Vila Real ''(abbreviated as SC Vila Real )'' is a Portuguese football club based in Vila Real in the district of Vila Real. Background SC Vila Real currently plays in the Terceira Divisão Série B which is the fourth tier of Po ...

in the same league, then returned to his main club to close out his career, eventually representing it in all five major levels of Portuguese football; he retired at the age of 39. Vidigal later worked as assistant coach with O Elvas for four years, with the club in the fourth division.

Personal life and death

Vidigal had eight brothers and four sisters, four of the former also being footballers: Luís, Lito,

Toni Toni, Toñi or Tóni is a unisex given name used in several European countries as well as among individuals with ancestry from these countries outside Europe. In Spanish language, Spanish, Italian language, Italian, Croatian language, Croatian an ...

and

Jorge Jorge is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name George. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese . It is derived from the Greek name Γεώργιος (''Georgios ...

. The first represented

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 ...

internationally, whilst the second opted to appear for

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

; his son,

André André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries, as well in Portugal ...

, was also involved in the sport professionally. Vidigal died on 19 December 2019 in

Arronches Arronches () is a municipality in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 3,165, in an area of 314.65 km2. The municipality is located by the Serra de São Mamede in Portalegre District. The present Mayor is Fermelinda Carvalho ( PSD) and the ...

, aged 55.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vidigal, Beto 1964 births 2019 deaths People from Huíla Province Angolan men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players O Elvas C.A.D. players Louletano D.C. players U.D. Leiria players Associação Naval 1º de Maio players