Zé Beto


José Alberto Teixeira Ferreirinha, known as Zé Beto, was a Portuguese footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
He played almost his entire career at FC Porto, his life being cut short at 29 in a road accident.

Club career

Born in Matosinhos, Zé Beto arrived at FC Porto at the age of 17, making his Primeira Liga debuts two years later with S.C. Beira-Mar, loaned. After three more seasons as a backup, he was made first-choice for the 1983–84 campaign.
Zé Beto was the starter when Porto lost 1–2 against Juventus F.C. in the 1983–84 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final, in controversial manner: losing his temper, the player assaulted the assistant referee with his own flag, being suspended by UEFA for a period of two years.
For the following seasons, Zé Beto kept an interesting battle for first-choice status with Pole Józef Młynarczyk, eventually losing his position, and being further demoted after the emergence of 18-year-old Vítor Baía. He was on the substitutes bench for the northerners' wins in both the European Cup and Intercontinental Cup, in 1987.
Zé Beto died 17 days shy of his 30th birthday, in a car crash in Porto.

International career

After the defection of most of the Portugal national team following the Saltillo Affair at the 1986 FIFA World Cup, Zé Beto earned three caps during the rest of that year and the following. He made his debut on 12 October 1986, in a 1–1 home draw against Sweden for the UEFA Euro 1988 qualifiers.
Previously, Zé Beto played in three out of four games at the 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship in Japan, as the under-20s reached the last-eight.