Paulo Sousa (other)
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Paulo Manuel Carvalho de Sousa (; born 30 August 1970) is a Portuguese
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 professional player who played as a
defensive 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. ...
. He is the current manager of
UAE Pro League The UAE Pro League (), also known as the ADNOC Pro League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the highest level of the Emirati football league system. The first team to w ...
club Shabab Al Ahli. Starting his career at Benfica, he also represented
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,
in his country, where he amassed
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 ...
totals of 117 matches and three goals in five years. From there onwards, he competed mainly in Italy and Germany, winning the Champions League with
Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...
and
Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...
and the Intercontinental Cup with the latter side. Injuries severely hampered his later career. Sousa was a member of Portugal's "
Golden Generation In sport, a Golden Generation, or Golden Team is an exceptionally gifted group of players of similar age, whose achievements reach or are expected to reach a level of success beyond that which their team had previously achieved. The term was firs ...
", and appeared with the
national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...
at the
2002 World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...
and two
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 ...
. He took up coaching in the late 2000s, managing clubs in several countries and winning national championships with
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 ...
,
Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...
and Shabab Al Ahli. He was also in charge of
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 ...
at Euro 2020.


Club career

Born in
Viseu Viseu () is a city and municipality in the Centro Region of Portugal and the capital of the Viseu District, district of the same name, with a population of 100,105 inhabitants in the entire municipality, and center of the Viseu Dão Lafões Interm ...
, Sousa began playing professionally for Benfica and was a starter from an early age. He won 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 ...
championship in 1990–91, and the
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 ...
two years later. On 10 April 1993, in a league match at Boavista, he was forced to play in goal after Neno was
sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...
and his team had no more substitutions left, in an eventual 3–2 win. In the summer of 1993, Sousa signed for
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 ...
neighbours
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,
together with his teammate
António Pacheco Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language–speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular m ...
. In his only season, he partnered
Luís Figo Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo (; born 4 November 1972) is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a winger for Sporting CP, Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Inter Milan. He won 127 caps for the Portugal national team, a one-t ...
and
Krasimir Balakov Krasimir Genchev Balakov (, ; born 29 March 1966) is a former Bulgarian footballer and manager. A former attacking midfielder, he was a key member of the Bulgaria national team that finished fourth in the 1994 FIFA World Cup. He is considered ...
in midfield and the ''Lions'' did not win any silverware. Sousa joined
Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...
in 1994. In his first season in
Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...
he won 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 ...
title, the domestic cup and the Supercoppa; they also finished as runners-up in the
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 ...
, losing to fellow Italian side
Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...
. The following year, he was part of the squad that
conquered Conquest involves the annexation or control of another entity's territory through war or coercion. Historically, conquests occurred frequently in the international system, and there were limited normative or legal prohibitions against conquest ...
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 the 1996 off-season, Sousa moved to Germany with
Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...
, where he repeated the Champions League triumph the following campaign, which made him only the second player after
Marcel Desailly Marcel David Desailly (; 7 September 1968) is a French former professional Association football, footballer, who played as a centre-back or defensive midfielder. During a successful career at club level, lasting from 1986 to 2006, Desailly won se ...
to win back-to-back titles with different teams; the final was against his former club Juventus and, although he appeared in that game, his spell was plagued with injuries, which followed him the remainder of his career. Sousa subsequently returned to Italy to play for
Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...
, and eventually retired at the age of 31 after a brief loan to Parma, followed by stints at Panathinaikos and Espanyol.


International career

A member of the Portugal team that won the
1989 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1989 FIFA U-20 World Cup, FIFA World Youth Championship took place in Saudi Arabia between 16 February and 3 March 1989. The 1989 championship was the 7th contested. The tournament took place across four cities: Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, and Ta' ...
, Sousa went on to earn 51
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 the senior side. His international debut came on 16 January 1991, in a friendly against
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
that ended in a 1–1 draw. Sousa played for his country at
UEFA Euro 1996 The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in ...
and
2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
, and was a squad member at the
2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...
, but did not take part in a single match. His last appearance came shortly before the latter competition, a 2–0 friendly win over
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
.


Style of play

Sousa was a hard-working, tactically intelligent and versatile player who was effective both offensively and defensively, courtesy of his anticipation and ability to read the game. However, he was not known for his speed. Although he was usually classified as a hard-tackling
defensive 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. ...
, he also possessed excellent vision and control and was often deployed as a
deep-lying playmaker 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. ...
throughout his career due to his passing accuracy, technique and ability to control the tempo of his teams' play; his playing style drew comparisons with
Paulo Roberto Falcão Paulo Roberto Falcão (; born 16 October 1953), usually known as simply Falcão, is a Brazilian former footballer and football manager. He is universally considered one of the greatest Brazilian players of all time and one of the greatest defen ...
throughout his career. In addition to his skill and creative abilities, Sousa was also renowned for his leadership.


Coaching career


Portugal national teams

Sousa began working as a manager by joining the coaching staff of the Portugal national team, taking the helm of the under-16s, and in the summer of 2008 he was appointed assistant to first-team coach
Carlos Queiroz Carlos Manuel Brito Leal de Queiroz (; born 1 March 1953) is a Portuguese football manager. He has served as the manager of his native Portugal's national team, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Iran, Colombia, Egypt and Qatar, leading ...
, his former boss at Sporting and the Portuguese youths.


Queens Park Rangers

On 19 November 2008, Sousa was appointed head coach of
Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...
team
Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...
. However, on 9 April 2009, he was sacked, as the club claimed he had divulged sensitive information without permission from the hierarchy, which included
Dexter Blackstock Dexter Anthony Titus Blackstock (born 20 May 1986) is a former professional footballer who played as a striker. He played most notably for Queens Park Rangers and Nottingham Forest. Having represented England at youth international level, Bla ...
's loan move to
Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...
having been agreed without his knowledge.


Swansea City

Following
Roberto Martínez Roberto Martínez Montoliu (; born 13 July 1973) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who is currently the head coach of the Portugal national team. Martínez played as a defensive midfielder and began his career at Re ...
's move to
Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...
, Sousa was offered the role as
Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...
manager on 18 June 2009. He verbally accepted the deal, signing a three-year contract, and was officially appointed on the 23rd. During the league campaign, Sousa led Swansea to its highest league finish for 27 years (seventh), just outside the play-offs. On 4 July 2010, he departed by mutual consent, set to take the vacant post at
Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...
.


Leicester City

Sousa became the new manager of Leicester City on 7 July 2010. Owner
Milan Mandarić Milan Mandarić ( sr-Cyrl, Милан Мандарић; born 5 September 1938) is a Serbian-American businessman who has owned a string of businesses and association football clubs, including Portsmouth, Leicester City and Sheffield Wednesday. H ...
stated that he was delighted to "acquire a manager of such great calibre", adding he was "the right man to take our club forward". On 1 October 2010, after less than three months in charge, Sousa was fired after a poor start to the season, with the team having won only once in his first nine league games.


Videoton

On 15 May 2011, Sousa signed a three-year contract with Hungarian club Videoton, newly crowned champions of the
Nemzeti Bajnokság I The Nemzeti Bajnokság (, ), also known as NB I or Fizz Liga after its title sponsor, OTP Bank's webshop subsidiary, is a professional association football league in Hungary and the highest level of the Hungarian football league system. Twelve ...
. He made his competitive debut in the Champions League qualifying round to
Sturm Graz Sportklub Sturm Graz is an Austrian professional association football club, based in Graz, playing in the Austrian Football Bundesliga. The club was founded in 1909. Its colours are black and white. In its history, Sturm Graz has won the Austr ...
in a 2–0 away loss, followed by an insufficient 3–2 home win. His team hosted
Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional sports club located in the city of Trabzon, located in Black Sea region, northeastern Turkey. Established in 1967 through the merger of several local clubs, Trabzonspor is one of the most prominent A ...
in the season's Europa League last qualifying round on 30 August 2012, Sousa's 42nd birthday. After the 4–2
penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...
victory (0–0 after 120 minutes), he stated: "The qualification was the most beautiful birthday of my life". On 7 January 2013, Videoton announced they had agreed to terminate Sousa's contract due to family reasons. That same day, it was reported that he would become the new manager of the
New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conferenc ...
, but nothing came of it.


Five clubs in seven years (2013–2020)

On 12 June 2013,
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 ...
officially appointed Sousa as its head coach. He won the
Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League (, Ligat HaAl, ) is a professional association football league in Israel and the highest level of the Israeli football league system. The league is contested by 14 clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and rele ...
in his only season in charge. Sousa changed clubs and countries again on 28 May 2014, signing a three-year contract with
Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...
in the
Swiss Super League The Super League (also known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss football league system. It has been played in its current fo ...
. He left on 17 June 2015, having again won the national championship. On 21 June 2015, Sousa joined
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 ...
side
Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...
. He left in June 2017, after the appointment of
Stefano Pioli Stefano Pioli (born 20 October 1965) is an Italian football manager and former player who played as a defender. He is currently manager of Serie A club ACF Fiorentina. Pioli has managed several clubs in Serie A, including Bologna, Lazio, Int ...
. On 6 November 2017, Sousa signed for Tianjin Quanjian of the
Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...
, replacing
Fabio Cannavaro Fabio Cannavaro (; born 13 September 1973) is an Italian professional association football, football coach and former player who last was the head coach of Croatian club GNK Dinamo Zagreb, Dinamo Zagreb. He is regarded as one of the greatest De ...
. On 4 October of the following year, he left his post. Sousa became
Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...
's third coach of the campaign on 8 March 2019 after
Gus Poyet Gustavo Augusto Poyet Domínguez (; born 15 November 1967) is a Uruguayan professional football manager and former footballer who is the manager of K League 1 club Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. Poyet played as a midfielder and began his career with s ...
and
Ricardo Gomes Ricardo Gomes Raymundo (born 13 December 1964) is a Brazilian retired professional footballer and manager. As a player, he played as a central defender, in a 14-year professional career, for Fluminense (six years), Benfica (four) and Par ...
, agreeing to a three-and-a-half-year deal. Having come 12th in his only full season, disputes with the board led to his resignation on 10 August 2020.


Poland

On 21 January 2021,
Polish Football Association The Polish Football Association ( PZPN) is the governing body of association football in Poland. It organizes the Polish football leagues (without the ), the national cups, and manages the men's and women's national teams. It also runs the nati ...
(PZPN) president
Zbigniew Boniek Zbigniew Kazimierz Boniek (; born 3 March 1956) is a Polish former association football, footballer and manager as well as a current UEFA vice-president. A former midfielder, who was also capable of playing mostly as a right winger and Forward ( ...
announced Sousa as the head coach of the Poland national team; he replaced
Jerzy Brzęczek Jerzy Józef Brzęczek (; born 18 March 1971) is a Polish professional football manager and former player. In a professional career which spanned nearly 20 years and brought 42 caps with the Poland national team, Brzęczek played for clubs in ...
, who was dismissed despite achieving qualification for Euro 2020. In his first match in charge, on 25 March, his side drew 3–3 against
Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
in the 2022 World Cup qualification. At the former tournament finals, and despite three goals from star forward
Robert Lewandowski Robert Lewandowski (; born 21 August 1988) is a Polish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for club FC Barcelona, Barcelona. Widely regarded as one of the greatest strikers of a ...
, they exited in the group stage; nonetheless, the manager was assured to remain on the job. Sousa led Poland to second place in their World Cup qualification group, reaching the play-offs but failing to be seeded after losing the last match to Hungary 2–1. The loss caused significant financial losses for the PZPN and the manager was criticised for not fielding several key players, including Lewandowski. Sousa was allowed to leave on 29 December 2021, after agreeing to pay compensation. Following his departure, he was heavily criticised by Polish media and fans alike, one of the main accusations residing in the fact that he left to another employer when he was offered a better salary, in spite of having stated he would stay for years previously; because of this, he earned the nickname "Siwy Bajerant" (Grey Smooth Talker).


Flamengo

Hours after leaving the Poland national team, Sousa was announced as the new manager of
Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; ), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian multi sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea. It was founded and named after the Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Flamengo n ...
in the
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian" or "Great Brazilian"), the Série A or the Brazilian Série A (to distinguish it from the I ...
on a two-year contract. Having observed the first two games of the
Campeonato Carioca The Campeonato Carioca (Carioca Championship), officially known as Campeonato Estadual do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro State Championship), also commonly known as the Cariocão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Br ...
season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...
, he won 3–0 at home to Boavista on his debut on 2 February 2022; his team lost the final 3–1 on aggregate to
rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...
Fluminense Fluminense Football Club () is a Brazilian sports club based in the neighbourhood of Laranjeiras, in Rio de Janeiro, being the oldest football club in the state since its foundation in 1902. It competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, th ...
. Sousa was dismissed on 9 June 2022, after a 1–0 loss to
Red Bull Bragantino Red Bull Bragantino () is a Brazilian football club based in Bragança Paulista, São Paulo. It competes in the Série A, the top tier of the Brazilian football league system, as well as in the Campeonato Paulista Série A1, the highest lev ...
.


Salernitana

On 15 February 2023, Sousa returned to the Italian top division as the new head coach of
Salernitana Unione Sportiva Salernitana 1919 is an Italian professional football club based in Salerno, Campania. The original club was founded in 1919 and has been reconstituted three times in the course of its history, most recently in 2011. The current ...
, replacing
Davide Nicola Davide Nicola (born 5 March 1973) is an Italian professional football manager and former player. Club career Nicola was born in Luserna San Giovanni. During his time with Genoa, he was noted for kissing a policewoman on the sideline after a g ...
. He achieved a 1–1 draw at neighbours and league leaders
Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...
on 30 April, momentarily denying them a first ''
Scudetto The ''scudetto'' (; Italian for 'little shield') is a decoration having the colors of the flag of Italy which is sewn onto the jersey of the Italian sports clubs that won the highest level championship of their respective sport in the previous ...
'' in 33 years; he was sent off in the final minutes while his team took their unbeaten run to nine games, eventually making it to ten and finally avoiding relegation as 15th. On 10 October 2023, following a negative start in the campaign, Sousa was dismissed.


Shabab Al Ahli

On 30 June 2024, Sousa was appointed at
UAE Pro League The UAE Pro League (), also known as the ADNOC Pro League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the highest level of the Emirati football league system. The first team to w ...
club Shabab Al Ahli. He won four titles in his first season, including the national championship.


Career statistics


Club


International


Managerial statistics


Honours


Player

Benfica *
Primeira Divisão 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 P ...
: 1990–91 *
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 ...
: 1992–93 *
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 ...
:
1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...
Juventus *
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 ...
: 1994–95 *
Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...
: 1994–95 *
Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana, also known as the Italian Super Cup, is an annual super cup tournament in Italian football. Founded in 1988 as a two-team competition, it has featured four teams since 2023 (the winners and runners-up of the previous ...
:
1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...
*
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 ...
: 1995–96 Borussia Dortmund * DFB-Supercup:
1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...
*UEFA Champions League: 1996–97 * Intercontinental Cup:
1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...
Portugal U20 *
FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...
:
1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...
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 ...
third place:
2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
Individual * Guerin d'Oro: 1995


Manager

Videoton *
Ligakupa The Hungarian League Cup () was an annual football tournament contested by clubs in the Hungarian League. It was created in 2007 and the competition only lasted for 8 seasons, being cancelled ahead of the 2015–16 season. Ligakupa finals The pe ...
: 2011–12 *
Szuperkupa The Hungarian Super Cup is an annual association football match between the League (Nemzeti Bajnokság I) champions and the Cup (Magyar Kupa) winners. Winners (*) due to violent incidents during the recent 1997–98 Magyar Kupa Final between ...
: 2011, 2012 Maccabi Tel Aviv *
Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League (, Ligat HaAl, ) is a professional association football league in Israel and the highest level of the Israeli football league system. The league is contested by 14 clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and rele ...
: 2013–14 Basel *
Swiss Super League The Super League (also known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss football league system. It has been played in its current fo ...
: 2014–15 Shabab Al-Ahli *
UAE Pro League The UAE Pro League (), also known as the ADNOC Pro League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the highest level of the Emirati football league system. The first team to w ...
: 2024–25 *
UAE President's Cup The UAE President's Cup, or simply the President Cup, is a association football, football tournament that takes place in United Arab Emirates, between Football team, clubs in the UAE Pro League and the UAE First Division League. The winner qualifi ...
: 2024–25 *
UAE Super Cup The UAE Super Cup () and Charity Champions Cup in the first edition (1989–90), is the curtain raiser of the United Arab Emirates football season. It is played between the previous season's UAE League, Pro-League winners and UAE President's Cup, P ...
: 2024


References


Further reading

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External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sousa, Paulo 1970 births Living people Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Viseu Men's association football midfielders Primeira Liga players S.L. Benfica footballers Sporting CP footballers Serie A players Juventus FC players Inter Milan players Parma Calcio 1913 players Bundesliga players Borussia Dortmund players Super League Greece players Panathinaikos F.C. players La Liga players RCD Espanyol footballers UEFA Champions League–winning players Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portugal men's international footballers UEFA Euro 1996 players UEFA Euro 2000 players 2002 FIFA World Cup players Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Italy Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Germany Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Greece Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain Portuguese football managers English Football League managers Queens Park Rangers F.C. managers Swansea City A.F.C. managers Leicester City F.C. managers Nemzeti Bajnokság I managers Fehérvár FC managers Israeli Premier League managers Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. managers Swiss Super League managers FC Basel managers Serie A managers ACF Fiorentina managers US Salernitana 1919 managers Chinese Super League managers Ligue 1 managers FC Girondins de Bordeaux managers Campeonato Brasileiro Série A managers CR Flamengo managers UAE Pro League managers Al Ahli Club (Dubai) managers Poland national football team managers UEFA Euro 2020 managers Portuguese expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in England Expatriate football managers in Wales Expatriate football managers in Hungary Expatriate football managers in Israel Expatriate football managers in Switzerland Expatriate football managers in Italy Expatriate football managers in China Expatriate football managers in France Expatriate football managers in Poland Expatriate football managers in Brazil Expatriate football managers in the United Arab Emirates Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in England Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Wales Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Israel Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in China Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in France Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Poland Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates