Carlos Manuel Correia dos Santos (; born 15 January 1958), known as Carlos Manuel, is a Portuguese retired 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

central 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 a

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. Best known for his spell at Benfica, for which he appeared in 318 competitive matches over eight and a half seasons, scoring 58 goals. He was also a leading figure for the national team during the better part of the 1980s and, after retiring, he embarked on a lengthy spell as coach. Having won more than 40 caps 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 six years, Carlos Manuel represented the nation in one

World Cup 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 one European Championship.

Club career

Born in

Moita Moita () is a municipality in the district of Setúbal (district), Setúbal in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 66,029, in an area of 55.26 km2. The municipality is part of the Greater Lisbon Area, with a demographic rate of 1.194,9/km2 ...

Setúbal District The District of Setúbal ( ) is a district located in the south-west of Portugal. It is named for its capital, the city of Setúbal. Geography It is delimited by Lisbon District and Santarém District on the north, Évora District on the eas ...

, Carlos Manuel made his senior debut with G.D. CUF, moving in 1978 to F.C. Barreirense. He reached 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 ...

as he signed with S.L. Benfica, still 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 ...

, going on to be an influential member of a side that won four leagues and six cups in the 80s, as well as finishing runners-up to R.S.C. Anderlecht in the 1982–83 UEFA Cup. After falling out of favour with the club's management, Carlos Manuel moved in January 1988 to Switzerland with

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 ...

. Only five months later, he returned to the Portuguese capital after signing 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,

. After a solid first season his career began winding down, and he finally retired at the end of 1993–94 whilst at G.D. Estoril Praia – he had previously represented Boavista F.C. for two years; he was chosen by Portuguese sports newspaper '' Record'' as one of the best 100 Portuguese football players ever. After retiring at 36, Carlos Manuel took up coaching, having managed with little success a host of clubs, mainly in the Lisbon area. Midway through the 1997–98 campaign, he bought out his contract at S.C. Salgueiros and joined Sporting, but the latter could only finish fourth and he was dismissed, a fate he met mere months after at S.C. Braga.

International career

For the Portugal national team, Carlos Manuel was capped on 42 occasions, scoring eight goals. His debut came on 26 March 1980 in a 1–4 away loss against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

for the

UEFA Euro 1980 The 1980 UEFA European Football Championship finals tournament was held in Italy. This was the sixth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. It was the first European Championship to feature eight teams ...

qualifiers. Three of those goals were memorable: the win over

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

on 28 October 1983 which helped Portugal qualify for Euro 1984, the historic victory in

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

on 16 October 1985, which secured

qualification Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

for the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...

, and in the latter competition's final stages, the defeat of

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in the group opener (all three matches finished 1–0 for Portugal). After the 1986 World Cup loss to

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 ...

, with the national side being ousted in the group stages – the competition was also stained by the Portuguese players' involvement in the Saltillo Affair – Carlos Manuel retired from the international scene, at only 28. In June 2012, he succeeded Luís Norton de Matos as manager of

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau, officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, is a country in West Africa that covers with an estimated population of 2,026,778. It borders Senegal to Guinea-Bissau–Senegal border, its north and Guinea to Guinea–Guinea-Bissau b ...

. He was in charge for one match, a 1–0 loss away to

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

in the

2013 Africa Cup of Nations The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange S.A., Orange Africa Cup of Nations South Africa 2013 for sponsorship reasons, held from 19 January to 10 February 2013, was the 29th Africa Cup of Nations, the Association football, footbal ...

qualifying stage (2–0 aggregate).

Honours

Club

Benfica *

: 1980–81, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1986–87 *

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 ...

: 1979–80, 1980–81, 1982–83, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87 *

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 ...

: 1979, 1984 * Taça de Honra (2) *

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 ...

runner-up: 1982–83 Boavista *

: 1991–92

Individual

* CNID Footballer of the Year: 1985

References

External links

* * * * *
Carlos Manuel Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carlos Manuel 1958 births Living people People from Moita Portuguese men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players G.D. Fabril players F.C. Barreirense players S.L. Benfica footballers Sporting CP footballers Boavista F.C. players G.D. Estoril Praia players Swiss Super League players FC Sion players Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portugal men's international footballers UEFA Euro 1984 players 1986 FIFA World Cup players Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Portuguese football managers Primeira Liga managers Liga Portugal 2 managers G.D. Estoril Praia managers Sporting CP managers S.C. Braga managers S.C. Campomaiorense managers C.D. Santa Clara managers Atlético Clube de Portugal managers C.D. Primeiro de Agosto managers Sanat Naft Abadan F.C. managers Guinea-Bissau national football team managers Portuguese expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Angola Expatriate football managers in Guinea-Bissau Expatriate football managers in Iran Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Angola Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Guinea-Bissau Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Iran Footballers from Setúbal District 20th-century Portuguese sportsmen