Carlos Manuel Correia dos Santos (pronounced[ˈkaɾluʒmɐnuˈɛl]; born 15 January 1958), known as Carlos Manuel, is a Portuguese retired professional footballer who played as a central midfielder, and a manager.
Best known for his spell at Benfica, for which he appeared in 318 competitive matches over eight and a half seasons, scoring 58 goals. He was also a leading figure for the national team during the better part of the 1980s and, after retiring, he embarked on a lengthy spell as coach.
After falling out of favour with the club's management, Carlos Manuel moved in January 1988 to Switzerland with FC Sion. Only five months later, he returned to the Portuguese capital after signing with Sporting CP. After a solid first season his career began winding down, and he finally retired at the end of 1993–94 whilst at G.D. Estoril Praia – he had previously represented Boavista F.C. for two years;[2] he was chosen by Portuguese sports newspaper Record as one of the best 100 Portuguese football players ever.
After retiring at 36, Carlos Manuel took up coaching, having managed with little success a host of clubs, mainly in the Lisbon area. Midway through the 1997–98 campaign, he bought out his contract at S.C. Salgueiros and joined Sporting,[3] but the latter could only finish fourth and he was dismissed, a fate he met mere months after at S.C. Braga.
Three of those goals were memorable: the win over Poland in Wrocław on 28 October 1983 which helped Portugal qualify for Euro 1984,[4] the historic victory in West Germany on 16 October 1985, which secured qualification for the 1986 FIFA World Cup, and in the latter competition's final stages, the defeat of England in the group opener (all three matches finished 1–0 for Portugal).[5][6][7]
^Malheiro, João (July 2006). Memorial Benfica 100 Glórias [Benfica Memorial, 100 glories] (in Portuguese) (Third ed.). QuidNovi. pp. 34–35. ISBN978-972-8998-26-4.
