Mano (Portuguese footballer)


Luís Miguel Lopes Mendes, known as Mano, is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays for Vitória F.C. mainly as a right back.

Club career

A product of C.F. Os Belenenses' youth system, Lisbon-born Mano first appeared with the first team on 4 February 2007 in a 1–0 away win against Vitória de Setúbal. He had to wait until the 2008–09 season to become an important member of the main squad.
In the 2009–10 campaign, Mano featured in 28 games but Belenenses finished as second from bottom in the Primeira Liga, dropping down to the second level. In August 2010 he moved to Villarreal CF B in Spain, playing 31 Segunda División matches in his first year as the Valencians retained their league status; his debut in the latter competition took place late in that month, when he came on as a late substitute in a 0–3 away loss to Real Valladolid.
On 5 June 2012, following a brief spell in the Superleague Greece with Levadiakos FC, Mano returned to Portugal and signed a two-year contract with G.D. Estoril Praia. He played 27 games in his second season, helping to a best-ever fourth-place finish and qualification to the UEFA Europa League.

International career

Born in Portugal of Cape Verdean descent, Mano represented Portugal at the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, also appearing in other minor tournaments. In the competition held in Canada, in the round of 16 defeat against Chile, he was going to be sent off by referee Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh for a foul when teammate Zequinha stripped the judge of his red card, receiving his marching orders as well. Subsequently, both players were suspended from international football, Mano for three months.
Mano won the first of two caps for the under-21 side on 23 March 2007, featuring the second half in the 2–0 friendly win over Slovakia.