Rui Carlos Pinho da Vitória (; born 16 April 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 and a former player who played as a

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 ...

. He is currently the manager of

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

club Panathinaikos. As a manager, he most notably spent three and a half years with Benfica in Portugal, winning seven major trophies, which included two consecutive

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 ...

titles, before subsequently having periods in charge at

Al Nassr Al-Nassr Football Club () is a professional football club based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The club competes in the Saudi Pro League, the top tier of the Saudi football league system. Al-Nassr is one of only three clubs to have participated ...

, Spartak Moscow and the Egyptian national team. He was appointed Panathinaikos manager in October 2024.

Playing career

Vitória was born in

Alverca do Ribatejo Alverca do Ribatejo () is a city (''cidade'') and a former civil parish in the municipality of Vila Franca de Xira, Portugal. In 2013, the parish merged into the new parish Alverca do Ribatejo e Sobralinho. It covers an area of and had a pop ...

Vila Franca de Xira Vila Franca de Xira (), officially the City of Vila Franca de Xira (), is a city and municipality in the Lisbon District in Portugal. The population in 2021 was 137,659, in an area of 318.19 km2. Situated on both banks of the Tagus River, ...

. During his career, in which he played for five clubs, he never competed in higher than the third division (four seasons), also spending eleven years in

the fourth ''The Fourth'' () is a 1972 Soviet drama film directed by Aleksandr Stolper. The film tells the story of an American journalist who has to make a difficult choice: publicize the plans of supporters of the war after having lost all his life's ben ...

. He mainly represented U.D. Vilafranquense, in the

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 ...

area. A

, Vitória retired as a player in 2003, aged 32.

Managerial career

Early years and Fátima

After starting as a manager with his main team Vilafranquense, Vitória moved in 2004 to Benfica, spending two seasons with its junior side. In 2006, Vitória signed for Fátima, helping the club promote to the second level in his first season, followed by immediate relegation back. In 2008–09, again as champion, he again led the side to division two.

Paços de Ferreira

On 2 June 2010, Vitória replaced Ulisses Morais at the helm of

Paços de Ferreira Paços de Ferreira () is a city in the Porto District, in the north of Portugal. The population of the city in 2011 was 7491, while its municipality had 56,340 inhabitants, in an area of 70.99 km². Sometimes referred to as the ''Capital do ...

. In his first season in the top division, he guided the team to the seventh position in the league, also achieving runner-up honours in the domestic League Cup, which was won by Benfica (2–1).

Vitória de Guimarães

In late August 2011, Vitória replaced fired Manuel Machado as the manager of Vitória de Guimarães. In his second year, he led the club to the conquest of the Portuguese Cup against Benfica (2–1), in a first-ever for the

Minho Province Minho () was a former province in Portugal, established in 1936 and dissolved in 1976. It consisted of 23 municipalities, with its capital in the city of Braga. Today, the area would include the districts of Braga and Viana do Castelo. Minho ha ...

side. Later, on 10 August 2013, he was runner-up in the Supertaça, losing 3–0 to

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

Benfica

On 15 June 2015, Portuguese champions Benfica announced that Vitória had signed a three-year contract with the club. He started the season by losing the Supertaça 1–0 to Lisbon rivals Sporting. Despite a troubled start, Benfica secured a third Primeira Liga title in a row and 35th overall with a 4–1 win over

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

at the

Estádio da Luz The Estádio da Luz (), officially named Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Lisbon, Portugal. It is used mostly for association football matches, hosting the home games of Portuguese club S.L. Benfica, Ben ...

on the final matchday, establishing a Portuguese league record of 88 points in 34 matches. Also, with a 1–0 league win at Boavista, Vitória set a Benfica record of 11 consecutive away triumphs in all competitions. Moreover, he also managed the team to the

quarter-finals A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

of 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 ...

and to their seventh Taça da Liga trophy, beating Marítimo 6–2. Later that season, he received Primeira Liga's award for Best Coach. Vitória started the 2016–17 season by winning his first Portuguese Super Cup on his third attempt, with a 3–0 win over

Braga Braga (; ) is a cities of Portugal, city and a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality, capital of the northwestern Portugal, Portuguese Braga (district), district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality ...

; therefore, he succeeded in winning all four major trophies in Portugal. On 23 October 2016, he surpassed

Jimmy Hagan James Hagan (21 January 1918 – 26 February 1998) was an English association football, football player and manager. He played between 1938 and 1958 for Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United and once for England national football team, Engla ...

's 43-year-old record of 15 consecutive away wins in the league, achieving the 16th as Benfica defeated

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 ...

2–0 away. Later, on 7 April 2017, he renewed his contract for a further two seasons before ending the season with victories in Primeira Liga, Taça de Portugal and Supertaça, therefore, clinching Benfica's second treble in history after

Lajos Baróti Lajos Baróti (; 19 August 1914 – 23 December 2005) was a Hungarian association football, football player and manager. With eleven major titles he is one of the most outstanding coaches of his time. Career Baróti played from 1928 until 1946 ...

's in 1980–81. In addition to that, by winning two of four league titles in a row, Vitória became the first Benfica manager to reach the ''tetra''. The next season, Vitória won the domestic Super Cup and guided Benfica to a second place in Primeira Liga and to the worst Portuguese campaign in the Champions League, which included the club's record loss in the competition, 5–0 to

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 ...

. On 4 January 2019, following a string of bad results during the 2018–19 season, resulting in Benfica's first-ever loss to Portimonense, Vitória's contract was terminated by the club.

Al-Nassr

Within a week of his departure from Benfica, Vitória was hired on an 18-month contract at Saudi Arabian club

, ranked second in the

Saudi Professional League The Saudi Pro League (SPL), also known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Saudi Arabia and the highest level of the Saudi football league system. The SPL is regarded as th ...

. His first match was a 5–0 win over second-tier Al-Ansar in the last 32 of the King Cup on 14 January 2019. The club from

Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...

finished the season as champions. He later led Al-Nassr to reach the

2020 AFC Champions League The 2020 AFC Champions League was the 39th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 18th under the current AFC Champions League title. Ulsan Hyundai won their second Cham ...

semi-finals, where they only lost to

Persepolis Persepolis (; ; ) was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire (). It is situated in the plains of Marvdasht, encircled by the southern Zagros mountains, Fars province of Iran. It is one of the key Iranian cultural heritage sites and ...

on penalties. On 27 December 2020, Vitória left the club by mutual consent. At the time of his departure, Al-Nassr were 15th in the table, with eight points from ten matches.

Spartak Moscow

On 24 May 2021, Vitória joined

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

club Spartak Moscow on a two-year contract. Zarema Salikhova, wife of then-co-owner

Leonid Fedun Leonid Arnoldovich Fedun (; born 5 April 1956) is a Ukrainian-born Russian billionaire businessman known for co-founding Russian oil company Lukoil. Until retiring in 2022, Fedun was vice president of Lukoil. He formerly served as president of ...

, resigned from the board due to her disagreement with the decision. Vitória's record at the club was mixed. He had won their Europa League group ahead of Leiceister City and

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 ...

, for which he gained popularity amongst the fans. In fact, Spartak beat Napoli both home and away around time when Napoli was first in

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 ...

. However, the Russian giants were ninth in the league, with a low note being a 7–1 loss to

Zenit Saint Petersburg Football Club Zenit (, ), also known as Zenit Saint Petersburg or simply Zenit, is a Russian professional football club based in Saint Petersburg. Founded in 1925 (or in 1914, according to some Russian sources), the club plays in the Russian Pr ...

. Vitória's contract with Spartak was terminated by mutual agreement on 15 December 2021.

Egypt

On 12 July 2022, Vitória became the manager of the Egyptian national team, signing on a four-year contract. On 4 February 2024, he was sacked from his position following the elimination from the

2023 Africa Cup of Nations The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, known in short as the 2023 AFCON or CAN 2023 and for sponsor (commercial), sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, was the 34th edition of the biennial Africa Cup of Nations tournam ...

round of 16, without recording any victory during the tournament.

Panathinaikos

On 31 October 2024, the Portuguese signed a deal to become the head coach of Greek Club Panathinaikos, until the end of 2026 season.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Managerial

Fátima * Third Division: 2008–09 Vitória Guimarães *

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 ...

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Benfica *

: 2015–16, 2016–17 *

: 2016–17 *

Taça da Liga The Taça da Liga (), known outside Portugal as Portuguese League Cup, is an annual club football competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) for teams competing in the top two tiers of Portuguese football – the ...

: 2015–16 *

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 ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

Al-Nassr *

: 2018–19 *

Saudi Super Cup The Saudi Super Cup () is the annual super cup tournament in Saudi Arabian football. Founded in 2013 as a two-team competition, the Super Cup has been contested by four teams since 2022: the winners and runners-up of the King's Cup and the Sa ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Individual

– Best Coach: 2015–16, 2016–17 * Saudi Professional League Manager of the Month: March 2019, October 2019, August 2020

References

Notes Citations

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vitoria, Rui 1970 births Living people Footballers from Vila Franca de Xira Portuguese men's footballers Men's association football midfielders U.D. Vilafranquense players F.C. Alverca players Seixal F.C. players Casa Pia A.C. players Segunda Divisão players Portuguese football managers C.D. Fátima managers F.C. Paços de Ferreira managers Vitória S.C. managers S.L. Benfica managers Al-Nassr FC managers FC Spartak Moscow managers Primeira Liga managers Saudi Pro League managers Russian Premier League managers Portuguese expatriate football managers Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Russia Expatriate football managers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate football managers in Russia Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Egypt Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate football managers in Egypt Expatriate football managers in Greece Egypt national football team managers 2023 Africa Cup of Nations managers