Manuel_Gomes_(football_manager)

Manuel Gomes (football manager)

Manuel Gomes (football manager)

Portuguese footballer and manager

Manuel Gonçalves Gomes (born 29 May 1951), commonly known as Professor Neca, is a retired Portuguese footballer who played as a midfielder and football manager.

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Career

Playing career

His entire playing career saw him compete for several lower league clubs between 1975 and 1981, in which he played for U.S.C. Paredes, G.D. Prado and AD Os Limianos. He began his coaching career in 1979 whilst at Prado where he had a player-coach role.[1]

Managerial career

His first ten years as manager saw him progress from the lower leagues to the top tier of Portuguese football. In the first phase of his managerial career, he managed C.A. Valdevez, C.D. Aves, A.D. Fafe, FC Felgueiras and F.C. Tirsense. Following his three-year spell with Tirsense, his next few years of his managerial career would prove to be his most successful as he would go on to manage Vitória de Setúbal, F.C. Famalicão, F.C. Paços de Ferreira and S.C. Braga. His stay with Braga, would be short lived as he would only manage Braga for ten games where they narrowly avoided relegation in the 1993–94 season.[2]

In the summer of 1994, Neca was appointed as an assistant manager at S.L. Benfica by Artur Jorge for the 1994–95 season. Benfica's season proved to be a disappointing one as they finished behind FC Porto and Sporting CP.[3] Despite Artur Jorge's departure midway through the 1995–96 season, Neca would remain with Benfica under the management of Mário Wilson. Benfica would go on to finish second in the league behind Porto and also capture the Taça de Portugal.[4][5]

In 1996, he left his assistant managerial role at Benfica and accepted an offer by the Angolan Football Federation to coach the Angola national team. As manager of Angola, he guided the team to the 1998 African Cup of Nations. Angola was drawn against Ivory Coast, Namibia and South Africa. Angola would exit the tournament in the first round of the competition, following a third-place finish in the group phase after two draws and one loss.[6]

He departed the Angolan national side following the African Cup of Nations where he would go on to manage several different sides in Portugal and abroad of which included C.D. Aves, Imortal DC and F.C. Penafiel.[7] In 2003, Neca accepted an invitation to coach the Maldives national team. His spell would be unsuccessful after he failed to guide the side to the 2004 AFC Asian Cup.[citation needed]

He also spent a portion of the 2003 season in North America in the Canadian Professional Soccer League initially as a technical coordinator with Toronto Croatia.[8] Midway through the 2003 season, he was named the head coach for Hamilton Thunder in early July.[9] In his debut season in Canada, he secured the Western Conference title for Hamilton which also included a postseason berth.[10] Hamilton was eliminated in the preliminary round of the playoffs to Vaughan Sun Devils.[11]

After a year in charge he would leave the national side and would return to Portugal to manage Aves for the fourth time in his career. In his fourth spell in charge, he guided the side to a second-place finish in the 2005–06 Liga de Honra thus gaining promotion to the Primeira Liga. His next season proved to be a very difficult one as Aves finished bottom of the 2006–07 Primeira Liga with only twenty two points.[12] Neca left the club following their relegation. The next three seasons would see him manage four different clubs among those included Al-Salmiya SC, Gil Vicente, Liga Muçulmana and G.D. Estoril Praia.[13]

In June 2011, he signed a deal to coach I-League side Churchill Brothers S.C.[14] His start as manager of Churchill Brothers proved to be successful as they captured the 2011 Durand Cup for the third team in their history in October 2011.[15] In February 2012, following a dip in form where the club fell into fifth place, Neca was sacked as manager. He would later be replaced by Brazilian coach Carlos Roberto Pereira. In July 2012, he returned to Portugal to manage C.D. Trofense of the Liga de Honra.[16] In December 2012, after one win in eight games, Neca was sacked as manager where he left the club in nineteenth place in the league.[17]

In February 2013, he became the new manager of Desportivo das Aves until the end of the season.[18]

References

  1. [1]
    Neca Archived 9 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine ForaDeJogo Retrieved: 20 December 2012.
  2. [2]
    Portuguese League 1993/94 Archived 23 January 2019 at the Wayback Machine ZeroZero Retrieved: 20 December 2012.
  3. [3]
    Portuguese League 1994/95 Archived 23 January 2019 at the Wayback Machine ZeroZero Retrieved: 20 December 2012.
  4. [4]
    Liga Portuguesa 1995/96 Archived 1 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine ZeroZero Retrieved: 20 December 2012.
  5. [5]
    Benfica 3–1 Sporting Archived 23 January 2019 at the Wayback Machine ZeroZero Retrieved: 20 December 2012.
  6. [6]
    CAN 1998 Archived 13 January 2019 at the Wayback Machine ZeroZero Retrieved: 20 December 2012.
  7. [7]
    Professor Neca substitui Manuel Correia no Penafiel (Professor Neca substitutes Manuel Correia at Penafiel) Record Date:22 October 2001 Retrieved: 20 December 2012.
  8. [8]
    McCarthy, Gary (30 April 2003). "Ex-Portuguese soccer whiz recruited by Toronto Croatia". Mississauga News. pp. A10.
  9. [9]
    Brown, Josh (7 August 2003). "Thunder coach returns to Croatia". Hamilton Spectator. pp. E2.
  10. [10]
    Brown, Josh (3 October 2003). "Former Thunder coach takes over A-League's Lynx:". Hamilton Spectator.
  11. [11]
    "Hamilton Thunder's season comes to an end after loss to Sun Devils". Hamilton Spectator. 6 October 2003.
  12. [12]
    bwin LIGA 2006/2007 Archived 29 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine ZeroZero Retrieved: 20 December 2012.
  13. [13]
    Neca deixa o clube (Neca leaves the club) Record Date: 17 November 2008 Retrieved: 20 December 2012.
  14. [14]
    Neca vai treinar na Índia (Neca is going to manage in India) Archived 18 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine Record Date: 17 November 2008 Retrieved: 20 December 2012.
  15. [15]
    Churchill win Durand Cup via tie-breaker The Times of India Date: 15 October 2011 Retrieved: 20 December 2012.
  16. [16]
    Neca é o novo treinador (Neca is the new manager) Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine Record Date: 21 July 2012 Retrieved: 20 December 2012.
  17. [17]
    "Neca despedido" [Neca sacked]. A Bola. 6 December 2012. Archived from the original on 16 April 2013. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  18. [18]
    "Professor Neca é o novo técnico" [Professor Neca is the new manager]. Record. 18 February 2013. Archived from the original on 21 February 2013. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
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