Paulo Sousa

Portugal

Born in Viseu, Sousa started playing professionally for S.L. Benfica, being a starter from an early age, winning the Primeira Liga championship in 1991 and the domestic cup two years later.

Later that summer, Sousa signed, together with teammate António Pacheco, for Lisbon neighbours Sporting Clube de Portugal. After a single season, where he partnered Luís Figo and Krassimir Balakov in midfield and the Lions came out empty in silverware, he joined Juventus FC.

Abroad

Sousa played for the Turin side for two seasons, leading it to the 1995–96 conquest of the UEFA Champions League. He also won the previous year's Serie A, adding that year the domestic cup and supercups and also finishing as runner-up in the UEFA Cup.

Sousa then moved to Germany to play for Borussia Dortmund, where he repeated the Champions League triumph the following season. The final was against his former club Juventus and, although he appeared in that game, his Dortmund spell was plagued with injuries, which followed him the remainder of his career.

Sousa subsequently returned to Italy to play for Internazionale, and eventually retired in the 2002 summer at the age of 31, after briefly representing Parma A.C. (loan), Panathinaikos F.C. and RCD Espanyol.

International career

A member of the Portugal squad that won the 1989 FIFA World Youth Championship, Sousa went on to earn 51 caps for the senior national team, his international debut coming on 16 January 1991 in a friendly against Spain that ended in a 1–1 draw.

He played for his country at UEFA Euro 1996, and 2000, and was a squad member at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, but did not play a single match. His last appearance came shortly before the latter competition, a 2–0 friendly win over China.

Style of play

Although Sousa was not particularly known for his pace, he was a hard-working, tactically intelligent and versatile player, who was effective both offensively and defensively, courtesy of his anticipation and ability to read the game. Although he was usually classified as a hard-tackling defensive midfielder, he also possessed excellent vision and control, and was often deployed as a deep-lying playmaker throughout his career due to his passing accuracy, technique and ability to control the tempo of his teams' play; his playing style drew comparisons with Paulo Roberto Falcão throughout his career.

In addition to his skill and creative abilities, Sousa was also renowned for his leadership.

Portugal national team

Sousa began his coaching career by joining the coaching staff of the Portugal national team, taking the helm of the under-15s, and in the summer of 2008 was appointed assistant to first-team coach Carlos Queiroz, his former boss at Sporting and the Portuguese youths.

Queens Park Rangers

On 19 November 2008, Sousa was appointed head coach of Championship team Queens Park Rangers. However, on 9 April 2009, he was sacked, as the club claimed he had divulged sensitive information without permission from the hierarchy, which included Dexter Blackstock's loan move to Nottingham Forest having been agreed without his knowledge.

Swansea City

Following Roberto Martínez's move to Wigan Athletic, Sousa was offered the role as Swansea City manager on 18 June 2009. He verbally accepted the deal, signing a three-year contract, and was officially appointed on the 23rd.

During the league campaign, Sousa led Swansea to its highest league finish for 27 years (seventh), just outside the play-offs. On 4 July 2010 he departed by mutual consent, set to take the vacant managerial post at Leicester City.

Leicester City

On 7 July 2010, Sousa became the new manager of Leicester City. Owner Milan Mandarić stated that he was delighted to "acquire a manager of such great calibre", adding he was "the right man to take our club forward".

On 1 October, after less than three months in charge, Sousa was fired by Leicester, after a poor start to the season, with the team having won only once in his first nine league games.

Videoton

On 15 May 2011, Sousa signed a three-year contract with newly crowned Hungarian champions Videoton FC. He made his official debut in the Champions League qualifying round against Austria's SK Sturm Graz, in a 0–2 away loss, followed by an insufficient 3–2 home win.

On 30 August 2012, the day of his 42nd birthday, Videoton hosted Trabzonspor for the season's Europa League last qualifying round. After the 4–2 penalty shootout win (0–0 after 120 minutes), he stated: "The qualification was the most beautiful birthday of my life".

On 7 January 2013, Videoton announced that they had agreed to terminate Sousa's contract due to family reasons. That same day, it was reported that he would become the new manager of the New York Red Bulls, but nothing came of it.

Maccabi Tel Aviv

On 12 June 2013, Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. officially appointed Sousa as its head coach. He won the Israeli Premier League in his first and only season in charge.

Basel

On 28 May 2014 Sousa changed clubs and countries again, signing a three-year contract with FC Basel in the Swiss Super League. He left on 17 June of the following year, after again winning the national championship.

Fiorentina

On 21 June 2015, Sousa joined Serie A club ACF Fiorentina He left on 6 June 2017, following the appointment of Stefano Pioli.

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