Alves Nilo Marcos Lima Fortes (born 6 November 1966), commonly known as Vinha, is a Cape Verdean retired
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
centre-forward
In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...
.
Club career
Born in
Praia
Praia (, Portuguese for "beach") is the capital and largest city of Cape Verde.[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 ...]
aged 21, starting out at
Atlético Clube de Portugal
Atlético Clube de Portugal is a Portuguese sports club based in the parish of Alcântara, in the west side of Lisbon. The club was established on 18 September 1942 through the merger of two local clubs from Alcântara: Carcavelinhos Football ...
. After two seasons, he moved to 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 ...
with
S.C. Salgueiros
Sport Comércio e Salgueiros (), commonly known as simply Salgueiros, is a Portuguese multi-sports club from the city of Porto, in the northern region of the country. Its most well-known department is its football department but the multi-sport ...
, being an important attacking unit in the
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 ...
side's domestic consolidation.
Vinha's solid performances attracted attention from local
FC Porto
Futebol Clube do Porto, Order of Prince Henry, MHIH, Order of Merit (Portugal), OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional association footbal ...
, and soon after a callup – which did not materialise – to the
Portugal national team. During his
sole season he featured little, but still managed to contribute four league goals
[ as the club finished second to ]S.L. Benfica
(), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football.
Founded on 28 February 1904, as ''Sport Lisboa'', Benfica is one of the " ...
and won 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 ...
; previously, in the 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 ...
that started the new campaign, he netted against the same rival in an eventual aggregate victory (he also scored against Benfica in the league opener through a trademark header).[ After failing to score in his last year, from 20 games, he moved to the lower leagues following a brief spell in the Segunda Liga with F.C. Paços de Ferreira, retiring in 2001 at ]F.C. Tirsense
Futebol Clube Tirsense, commonly known as just Tirsense, is a Portuguese association football, football club from Santo Tirso, founded on 5 January 1938. They currently play in the Divisão de Elite of AF Porto. They currently play their home ga ...
.[
]
Post-retirement
Vinha faded into obscurity upon retiring, also working as a stand employee at ''Exponor'', a cultural exposition and forum center in Leça da Palmeira
Leça da Palmeira () is an area in the Portuguese city of Matosinhos north of the Leça river. It was a civil parish until 2013, when it was merged with the parish of Matosinhos, forming Matosinhos e Leça da Palmeira. The parish covered and had ...
.[
]
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vinha
1966 births
Living people
Cape Verdean men's footballers
Footballers from Praia
Men's association football forwards
Primeira Liga players
Liga Portugal 2 players
Segunda Divisão players
Atlético Clube de Portugal players
S.C. Salgueiros players
FC Porto players
F.C. Paços de Ferreira players
A.D. Lousada players
Imortal D.C. players
F.C. Tirsense players
Cape Verdean expatriate men's footballers
Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal
Cape Verdean expatriate sportspeople in Portugal