Bruno Pinheiro (football manager)

Bruno Pinheiro
Personal information
Full name Bruno Miguel Nogueira Pinheiro
Date of birth (1976-10-30) 30 October 1976 (age 48)
Place of birth Charneca de Caparica, Portugal
Team information
Current team
Gil Vicente (head coach)
Managerial career
Years Team
2006–2007 Benfica (youth)
2007–2008 Belenenses (youth)
2009 Mafra
2009–2012 Belenenses (youth)
2009–2010 AF Setúbal
2012 Belenenses (youth assistant)
2012–2013 Belenenses (youth)
2014–2015 Eléctrico
2016–2020 Aspire Academy
2018 Qatar U21
2018–2020 Qatar U19
2019 Qatar U20
2019 Eupen (assistant)
2020–2022 Estoril
2023 Qatar
2023 Al Sadd
2024– Gil Vicente

Bruno Miguel Nogueira Pinheiro (born 30 October 1976) is a Portuguese professional football manager. He was currently a head coach of Primeira Liga club Gil Vicente.

He coached youth and amateur football in Portugal before moving to Qatar in 2016 and leading the nation's youth teams, including at the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup. In two years at Estoril, he won the Liga Portugal 2 title in 2021 and achieved ninth place in the Primeira Liga. As interim manager of the Qatar senior team in January 2023, he reached the semi-finals of the 25th Arabian Gulf Cup.

Coaching career

Early years

Born in Charneca de Caparica, Almada, Pinheiro was a youth coach at Benfica and Belenenses. From 2014, he had his first experience in the third-tier Campeonato de Portugal, at Eléctrico.[1] From 2016, he worked in Qatar at the Aspire Academy and with the nation's youth teams. He led the under-19 team to the semi-finals of the 2018 AFC Championship, qualifying for the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Poland where they lost all three games in a group-stage exit.[2]

Estoril

On 27 June 2020, Pinheiro was named manager of LigaPro team Estoril.[3] His team made the Taça de Portugal semi-finals in his first season, losing 5–1 on aggregate to Benfica,[4] and won promotion to the Primeira Liga as champions with four more points than Vizela.[5]

Pinheiro won his first top-flight game on 6 August 2021, 2–0 at fellow promoted team Arouca.[6] The following 1 July, having achieved ninth place, he chose to let his contract expire.[7]

Qatar senior team

In December 2022, Pinheiro returned to Qatar to lead the senior national team on an interim basis at the 25th Arabian Gulf Cup to be held in Iraq at the start of the new year.[8] He replaced Félix Sánchez, who was allowed to leave after the team were eliminated at the group stage of their hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.[9]

Pinheiro's team won 2–0 against Kuwait on his debut on 7 January,[10] then lost to Bahrain and drew with the United Arab Emirates to advance as group runners-up on goal difference over the Kuwaitis. The side then lost 2–1 to the hosts at the Basra International Stadium.[11] On 7 February, the Qatar Football Association appointed experienced compatriot Carlos Queiroz until 2026.[12]

Al Sadd

On 12 July 2023, Pinheiro was appointed as manager of Qatar Stars League club Al Sadd, replacing Juan Manuel Lillo.[13] Four months later, on 16 November, although the Doha-based side was sitting top of the Qatari league, Pinheiro was sacked after an away loss to Jordanian club Al-Faisaly in the AFC Champions League.[14]

Managerial statistics

As of match played 14 December 2024[15]
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team Nat From To Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Eléctrico Portugal 1 July 2014 31 August 2015 33 11 10 12 39 38 +1 033.33
Estoril Portugal 26 June 2020 1 July 2022 80 37 22 21 118 84 +34 046.25
Qatar Qatar 1 January 2023 30 January 2023 4 1 1 2 5 5 +0 025.00
Al Sadd Qatar 11 July 2023 16 November 2023 17 10 3 4 41 16 +25 058.82
Gil Vicente Portugal 12 August 2024 Present 15 6 4 5 21 21 +0 040.00
Total 149 65 40 44 224 164 +60 043.62

Honours

Estoril

Individual

References

  1. ^ Ramos, Cid (12 August 2015). "Elétrico com bons resultados na pré-temporada" [Eléctrico with good results in pre-season] (in Portuguese). O Derbie. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  2. ^ "Qatar: All you need to know". Asian Football Confederation. 20 May 2019. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  3. ^ "Bruno Pinheiro é o novo treinador do Estoril Praia" [Bruno Pinheiro is the new manager of Estoril Praia] (in Portuguese). Rádio. 27 June 2020. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  4. ^ "Benfica volta a bater o Estoril e confirma presença na final da Taça" [Benfica beat Estoril again and confirm presence in Cup final]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). 4 March 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Estoril vence o Mafra na despedida da Liga SABSEG" [Estoril defeat Mafra on farewell from Liga SABSEG]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 20 May 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  6. ^ "Bruno Pinheiro: «O resultado ao intervalo pecava por escasso»" [Bruno Pinheiro: "The result at the break was lacking"]. Record (in Portuguese). 7 August 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  7. ^ "OFICIAL: Estoril confirma saída do treinador Bruno Pinheiro" [OFFICIAL: Estoril confirm exit of manager Bruno Pinheiro] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 1 July 2022. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  8. ^ "Qatar rest seniors, name young squad for Gulf Cup". Gulf Times. 14 December 2022. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  9. ^ Eltayeb, Mohamed (2 March 2023). "Carlos Queiroz committed to the 'challenge' of coaching Qatar's national team". Doha News. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  10. ^ "Qatar's victory over Kuwait leave a good impact; coach Pinheiro". Hyak Qatar. 9 January 2023. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  11. ^ Hussain, Fawad (18 January 2023). "Pinheiro optimistic of Qatar's bright future after Persian Cup show". The Peninsula. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  12. ^ "Queiroz named as Qatar coach until 2026". The Peninsula. 7 February 2023. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  13. ^ "Bruno Pinheiro é o novo treinador do Al-Sadd" [Bruno Pinheiro is Al-Sadd's new manager]. RTP (in European Portuguese). 12 July 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  14. ^ "Bruno Pinheiro já não é treinador do Al Sadd, de Uribe e Plata" [Bruno Pinheiro is no longer manager of Uribe and Plata's Al Sadd] (in European Portuguese). O Jogo. 16 November 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  15. ^ "Bruno Pinheiro". ForaDeJogo. Retrieved 23 August 2021.