Place of birth Lisbon, Portugal Name Marco Faria 1984–1985 Benfica Role Footballer | 1985–1987 Dramatico Cascais Height 1.80 m 1987–1988 Sintrense | |
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Full name Marco Paulo Faria Lemos Date of birth (1973-05-28) 28 May 1973 (age 42) | ||
Marco Paulo Faria de Lemos (born 28 May 1973), known as Marco Paulo, is a retired Portuguese footballer who played as a central midfielder, and a manager.
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Playing career
Born in Lisbon, Marco Paulo spent seven of his first eight years as a senior with local G.D. Estoril Praia, playing his first two seasons in the Primeira Liga and a further five in the second division. After two years with F.C. Paços de Ferreira, one in each major level, he returned to the capital and joined C.F. Os Belenenses.
With Belenenses, Marco Paulo was regularly used during his four-season spell, inclusively serving as team captain. Aged 32, he returned to division two and Estoril, acting as interim player-coach during five games and achieving only one draw, and returned to the top flight after one season, with C.F. Estrela da Amadora.
After 21 league matches in his first season, veteran Marco Paulo was sparingly used in the following two, with Estrela also being relegated in 2009 due to financial irregularities. He closed out his career at 37 after one year with another club in the Lisbon area, C.D. Mafra, amassing top division totals of 244 games and nine goals.
Manager career
Marco Paulo was appointed assistant manager at former team Belenenses for the 2011–12 campaign. In mid-February 2012, with the side placed inside the relegation zone in the second tier, he replaced José Mota as head coach, eventually leading them to the fifth position.