José Carlos Fernandes Vidigal (born 11 July 1969), commonly known as Lito, is 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 ...
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 ...
and former player who played as a
defender.
He spent his entire playing career in Portugal, mainly with
Belenenses
Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses (), commonly known as Os Belenenses or simply Belenenses, is a Portuguese sports club best known for its football team. Founded in 1919, it is one of the oldest Portuguese sports clubs. It is based in the 19,856 ...
in 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 ...
. An
Angola international for five years, he was part of the squad at the
1998 Africa Cup of Nations.
Vidigal managed eight clubs in Portugal's top flight, including Belenenses. He also led his nation at the
2012 Africa Cup of Nations
The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (C ...
.
Playing career
Born in
Luanda
Luanda ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Angola, largest city of Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Ang ...
,
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 ...
, Vidigal spent his entire career in Portugal, representing at the professional level
O Elvas,
Campomaiorense,
Belenenses
Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses (), commonly known as Os Belenenses or simply Belenenses, is a Portuguese sports club best known for its football team. Founded in 1919, it is one of the oldest Portuguese sports clubs. It is based in the 19,856 ...
and
Santa Clara and retiring in 2004 at the age of 35, totalling 214 matches between 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 ...
and the
Segunda Liga.
Internationally, Vidigal played with
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 ...
at the
1998 Africa Cup of Nations, earning 17
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 ...
.
Coaching career
Vidigal took up coaching immediately after retiring, starting with lowly
Pontassolense and
Ribeirão. In 2008, he moved to
Estrela da Amadora
Club Football Estrela Amadora SAD (), sometimes just Estrela da Amadora, is a Portuguese professional sports club (predominantly football) based in Amadora, northwest of Lisbon. The team is currently competing in the Primeira Liga, after winnin ...
– coaching his younger brother
Luís after he returned from a lengthy spell in Italy – and joined second-tier
Portimonense in February of the following year.
In late October 2009, as
Manuel Fernandes bought out his contract at
União de Leiria
União Desportiva de Leiria (), commonly known as União de Leiria, is a Portuguese professional Association football, football club based in Leiria. Founded on 6 June 1966, it currently plays in the Liga Portugal 2, holding home matches at Está ...
to return to his favourite club
Vitória de Setúbal
Vitoria or Vitória may refer to:
People
* Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian
* Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer
* Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer
* Sofia Vitória (bor ...
, Vidigal was named his successor. On 8 January 2011, he was appointed coach of the Angola national side. The ''Black Antelopes''
qualified
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
2012 Africa Cup of Nations
The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (C ...
in October, and were eliminated at the group stage of the final tournament in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.
With the stated aim of winning titles abroad rather than avoiding relegation in Portugal, Vidigal remained in Africa and signed with Libya's
Al-Ittihad Al-Ittihad may refer to:
Sports Football Men Teams
* Al-Ittihad Club (Jeddah), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
* Al Ittihad SCSC (Tripoli), Tripoli, Libya
* Al Ittihad Gheryan, Gharyan, Libya
* Al Ittihad Misurata SC, Misurata, Libya
* Al Ittihad SC ...
from December 2012. In April in 2013, he left
Tripoli
Tripoli or Tripolis (from , meaning "three cities") may refer to:
Places Greece
*Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece
* Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in the Pelasgiotis district, Thessaly, near Larissa ...
due to
political instability
Political decay is a political theory, originally described in 1965 by Samuel P. Huntington, which describes how chaos and disorder can arise from social modernization increasing more rapidly than political and institutional modernization. Huntin ...
.
Dismissed by
AEL Limassol
Athlitiki Enosi Lemesou () is a Cyprus, Cypriot sports club based in the city of Limassol, most famous for its football team.
AEL Limassol also maintains a AEL Limassol B.C., men's and AEL Limassol B.C. (women), women's basketball teams, a wom ...
of the
Cypriot First Division
The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...
at the start of
the season, Vidigal returned to Belenenses late into
2013–14, replacing
Marco Paulo at the helm of the bottom-placed team and becoming their third coach of the season. Even though he did not finish the
following campaign, being replaced by
Jorge Simão with nine matches to go, the side eventually
qualified
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
UEFA Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...
after finishing sixth.
Vidigal
repeated the feat in
2015–16 after leading
Arouca to a best-ever classification of fifth, in only the club's third year in the top flight. Previously, in March 2016, he renewed his contract for two years.
In February 2017, Vidigal left Arouca for
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Maccabi Tel Aviv () is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, j ...
on an 18-month contract with the option of a further year. Despite leading the team to the runners-up position behind
Hapoel Be'er Sheva
Hapoel Be'er Sheva Football Club (, ''Moadon HaKaduregel Hapoel Be'er Sheva'') is an Israeli professional association football, football club from the city of Beersheba, Be'er Sheva, that competes in the Israeli Premier League. The club was estab ...
, he was relieved of his duties by director
Jordi Cruyff
Johan Jordi Cruijff (anglicised to Cruyff; born 9 February 1974) is a Dutch-Spanish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the current technical advisor of the Indonesia national fo ...
at the end of
the season.
Vidigal returned to Portugal's main division in October 2017 when he was hired by
Aves
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight ...
, but left shortly after following disputes with the board. Ahead of the
following campaign, he signed a two-year deal at Vitória de Setúbal, and again parted before its conclusion. Days later, he replaced the sacked Jorge Simão at struggling
Boavista.
On 17 December 2019, having taken 18 points from 14 league fixtures, Vidigal was dismissed. He returned to Setúbal in July 2020, three points above the drop zone with
four games to play. Having succeeded in that task, he moved on to
Marítimo to replace
José Gomes.
On 4 December 2020, with the
Madeira
Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...
n club in 15th place, Vidigal was replaced by under-23 manager
Milton Mendes. He took over from
João Henriques at
Moreirense
Moreirense Futebol Clube is a Portuguese professional football club based in Moreira de Cónegos, Guimarães Municipality, Minho. Founded on 1 November 1938, it plays in the Primeira Liga, holding home games at Parque de Jogos Comendador Joaquim d ...
on 29 November of the following year, but left after only one month.
Vidigal returned to active on 3 April 2024, on a deal at second-division side
Feirense. He managed to avoid relegation in
the playoffs, defeating
Lusitânia 3–1 on aggregate.
Vidigal rejoined Boavista, bottom of the top tier, on 9 February 2025. Less than two months later, having overseen six matches with only one win and with the team still in that position, he was relieved of his duties.
Personal life
Vidigal had 12 brothers and sisters, four of his male siblings being footballers:
Beto,
Luís (who played for
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, and in the
Serie A
The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...
, 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 ...
and was coached in the
2008–09 campaign by 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 ...
. His nephew,
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.
Managerial statistics
[
]
Honours
Manager
Angola
*African Nations Championship
The African Nations Championship, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies African Nations Championship and commonly abbreviated as CHAN, is a biennial African association football tournament organized by the Confederation of Afri ...
runner-up: 2011
The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vidigal, Lito
1969 births
Living people
Angolan men's footballers
Footballers from Luanda
Men's association football defenders
Primeira Liga players
Liga Portugal 2 players
Segunda Divisão players
O Elvas C.A.D. players
S.C. Campomaiorense players
C.F. Os Belenenses players
C.D. Santa Clara players
Angola men's international footballers
1998 African Cup of Nations players
Angolan expatriate men's footballers
Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal
Angolan football managers
Primeira Liga managers
Liga Portugal 2 managers
C.F. Estrela da Amadora managers
Portimonense S.C. managers
U.D. Leiria managers
C.F. Os Belenenses managers
F.C. Arouca managers
C.D. Aves managers
Vitória F.C. managers
Boavista F.C. managers
C.S. Marítimo managers
Moreirense F.C. managers
C.D. Feirense managers
Al-Ittihad Tripoli managers
Cypriot First Division managers
AEL Limassol managers
Israeli Premier League managers
Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. managers
Angola national football team managers
2012 Africa Cup of Nations managers
Angolan expatriate football managers
Expatriate football managers in Portugal
Expatriate football managers in Libya
Expatriate football managers in Cyprus
Expatriate football managers in Israel
Angolan expatriate sportspeople in Portugal
Angolan expatriate sportspeople in Libya
Angolan expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus
Angolan expatriate sportspeople in Israel