Henrique Calisto


Henrique Manuel da Silva Calisto is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as a right back, and is a manager.
After his playing career ended he became a manager, taking charge of numerous clubs, mainly in Portugal, and also managed the Vietnamese national team.

Playing career

Born in Matosinhos, Calisto played three seasons in the Primeira Liga with local Leixões SC. His best output consisted of 17 matches in 1973–74, with the team finishing in 14th position.
Calisto retired from professional football in June 1978 at only 24, after one season with A.D. Fafe in the second division.

Coaching career

Portugal

Calisto begun coaching at the age of only 26, leading Boavista F.C. to the fourth position in 1980–81's top flight, recording nine wins, four draws and only lost two games in his 15 matches in charge.
He spent the following four years between that team and their Porto neighbours S.C. Salgueiros, winning the second division in 1982. In Vidal Pinheiro, Henrique Calisto got important draws against FC Porto and Sporting CP, finishing the season in 10th.
The good results made him return to Boavista FC. The 7th place in the championship was achieved with the coacher's good performances and with the notables gamas: wan against FC Porto and Sporting CP, both at Estádio do Bessa. The good work of Henrique Calisto can also be seen in the valorization of players: Jorge Silva scored 11 goals and moved to Benfica.
After only a few months in charge of S.C. Braga, Calisto joined fellow league side Varzim S.C. in the summer of 1986, where he made another division rise at a time when he reached a run of 17 games without losing. Henrique Calisto debuted Rui Barros, a striker who, an year later, was an important figure at FC Porto and joined Juventus in 1988.
In 1988/89 signed by the Associação Académica Coimbra - O.A.F.. In 48 games, he won 31 wins. In his good course, Calisto valued players, such as Marito who moved to SL Benfica.
Afterwards he faced the challenges with FC Penafiel, GD Chaves and Rio Ave FC. Calisto lead the Vila do Conde club to the division two championship in his first full season - win 23 matches. He completed the campaign at the helm of F.C. Paços de Ferreira, in one of several stints he had at the Estádio da Mata Real. In 1998/99, he achieved another division rise, with 20 wins and 60 goals in 36 matches.
In 2011–12, Calisto returned to Paços for his third spell. When he took the reins of the team it ranked in last position, and he eventually left it well outside of the relegation zone, as tenth, leaving at the end of the campaign.

Asia

Calisto spent eight seasons at the helm of Đồng Tâm Long An F.C. in Vietnam, where he won two V.League 1 titles, and achieved five other top-three finishes. In March 2008, he was hired as head coach of the Vietnamese football team, leading it to its first ASEAN Football Championship title.
Calisto quit his job as national side coach on 2 March 2011. He had been criticised over poor performances at the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup, and was appointed at Thai club Muangthong United F.C. the following week.

Africa / Return to Portugal

In mid-February 2013, Calisto was appointed at C.R.D. Libolo in Angola. He returned to his country on 30 October of that year, however, replacing fired Costinha at the helm of former team Paços which ranked last in the league with only one win and one draw from eight games. On 24 February 2014 he was dismissed after a 4–0 loss at Vitória FC, having won two of his 12 games and the team in the same position.

Honours

Club

Rio Ave
Đồng Tâm Long An
Vietnam