Michael "Mica" Gonçalves Pinto (born 4 June 1993) is a Luxembourgish 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 plays as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for

First Professional Football League The First Professional Football League (), commonly known as Parva Liga or Bulgarian First League (currently known as the efbet League for sponsorship reasons), is a professional association football league in Bulgaria and the highest level of t ...

club

CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. ''CSKA'' is an abbreviation for ''Central Sports Club of the Army'' ...

and the Luxembourg national team. He spent the early part of his career in the Segunda Liga, mainly with

Sporting CP B Sporting Clube de Portugal B is the reserve team of Portuguese football club Sporting CP, a team based in Lisbon. Reserve teams in Portugal play in the same league system as the senior team, rather than in a reserve team league. However, they cann ...

. He totalled 102 matches in the competition over five seasons, adding six appearances 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 ...

for

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 ...

. He then played six years in the Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

and one in the country's

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie due to sponsorship reasons, while ...

, representing

Fortuna Sittard Fortuna Sittard (; ) is a professional football club from the municipality of Sittard-Geleen, Netherlands. The club currently plays its football in the 12,500 capacity Fortuna Sittard Stadion and features in the Eredivisie. The club was establi ...

Sparta Rotterdam Sparta Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam. Established on 1 April 1888, Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands. Sparta currently competes in the Eredivisie, the top flig ...

and Vitesse. Pinto represented Portugal at youth level, before switching to

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

in 2020.

Club career

Born in

Diekirch Diekirch (; ; or (locally) ; from ''Diet-Kirch'', i.e. "people's church") is a Communes of Luxembourg, commune with List of towns in Luxembourg, town status in north-eastern Luxembourg, in the Diekirch (canton), canton of Diekirch and, until its ...

of Portuguese descent, Pinto joined

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 academy at the age of 14. He spent three full seasons with the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

in the Segunda Liga, making his debut in the competition on 11 August 2012 in a 1–0 away loss against

U.D. Oliveirense União Desportiva Oliveirense (UDO), commonly known as Oliveirense, is a Portugal, Portuguese sports club from the city of Oliveira de Azeméis, in Aveiro District. The club was founded on 25 October 1922. The main football (soccer), football te ...

and scoring his first goal on 24 February 2013 to help the hosts defeat S.C. Freamunde 5–1. On 15 August 2015, Pinto was loaned to Spanish

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

club

Recreativo de Huelva Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Huelva, Andalucia, Spain. Founded on 23 December 1889, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play in , holding home ...

alongside his teammates Kikas and Luís Ribeiro, with an option to buy. The following January, he terminated his contract alleging unpaid wages. Pinto signed a permanent deal with

C.F. Os 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 ...

on 27 May 2016, with Sporting retaining 50% of his rights. He played his first match in the

on 19 August, coming on as a last-minute substitute in the 0–0 home draw with

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 ...

. Ahead of the 2017–18 campaign, he was loaned to

C.F. União Clube de Futebol União, commonly known as União da Madeira, was a Portuguese association football, football club based in Funchal, Madeira, notable for its six season in the Portuguese top-flight Primeira Liga, between the 1989–90 Primeira D ...

of the second tier. In the January 2018

transfer window In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...

, Pinto agreed to a two-and-a-half-year contract at

of the Dutch

. He contributed one goal from 14 appearances until the end of the season, as his side returned to the

after a 16-year absence. Pinto made his debut in the Dutch top flight on 11 August 2018, playing the entire 1–1 away draw against

Excelsior Rotterdam Excelsior Rotterdam, commonly known as Excelsior, is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of the Dutch football league system, following promotion from the Eerste Divisie in the 2024– ...

. On 30 December 2019,

announced that he would be joining the club the following month, and he eventually signed a contract until June 2021 with the option of one more year. Pinto spent the 2023–24 campaign with

SBV Vitesse SBV Vitesse Arnhem (''Stichting Betaald Voetbal Vitesse Arnhem, Eng: Professional Football Foundation Vitesse Arnhem''), widely known as Vitesse () or internationally known as Vitesse Arnhem, is a Dutch professional association football, footba ...

, leaving by mutual consent at its conclusion. In August 2024, he signed for Bulgarian side

International career

Also eligible to represent

, Pinto appeared 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 ...

at the

2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the nineteenth edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, since its inception in 1977 as the FIFA World Youth Championship. It ran from 21 June to 13 July 2013. At the FIFA Executive Meeting in Zürich on 3 March 2011, ...

held in Turkey. He started all four games during the tournament, which ended in round-of-16 exit. Pinto made his full debut for Luxembourg in a friendly against

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

on 7 October 2020.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''Scores and results list Luxembourg's goal tally first.''

Honours

Individual *

Team of the Month: October 2022, March 2023, April 2023

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pinto, Mica 1993 births Living people People from Diekirch Luxembourgian people of Portuguese descent Sportspeople from Diekirch (canton) 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen 21st-century Luxembourgian sportsmen Portuguese men's footballers Luxembourgian men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Sporting CP B players C.F. Os Belenenses players C.F. União players Segunda División B players Recreativo de Huelva players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Fortuna Sittard players Sparta Rotterdam players SBV Vitesse players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players PFC CSKA Sofia players Portugal men's youth international footballers Luxembourg men's international footballers Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Luxembourgian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Bulgaria Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in France Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria Luxembourgian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands