João Filipe Iria Santos Moutinho (born September 8, 1986 in Portimão) is a Portuguese footballer, playing as an all-round midfielder for Sporting Clube de Portugal, where he is the captain of the team. He has a similar style to SL Benfica's Rui Costa, mainly because of his vision and pin point passing.

Club career

Youth

After showing great promise as a boy playing for his hometown club, Portimonense, when João Moutinho turned 13 he signed with Sporting Clube de Portugal to continue his football education. His sports-fanatic parents (his father himself a former football player) played an important part in his choice, due to Sporting's unparalleled reputation at nurturing home-grown talent.

Senior squad

During the 2004-05 pre-season, only 17 years old, Moutinho was called by then-manager José Peseiro onto the first squad, where he played some preseason games and began to display some talent for a such a young player. After the pre-season, however, he returned to the junior team, at the time coached by Paulo Bento, with players such as Miguel Veloso and Nani. He helped the team win the national title that season, although he was regularly training with the main squad.

In the beginning of 2005 he was called up for a game in the Portuguese Cup, thus making his official debut on 23 January 2005. Based on extremely consistent displays, Moutinho wasted no time in establishing himself as a regular as he quickly grew into a polished performer, able to play in any position across a flat midfield or in a diamond formation. His box-to-box dynamism and tremendous determination quickly made him a firm fans favourite, as he rarely missed a game since becoming a first-choice player.

His performances in the closing stages of 2004-05, especially in the UEFA Cup with man-of-the-match displays against Feyenoord and Newcastle United that helped the Lions reach the final of the competition, made him an automatic starter for Sporting despite his young age.

In his second season Moutinho's further progress and exceptional consistency (the midfielder was the only player in Portugal in 2005-06 to play every minute of every match in the Portuguese league) was one of the brightest spots in Sporting's runner-up final place. Incidentally, Moutinho netted his team's final goal of the campaign in a 1-0 win over SC Braga to ensure a return to Champions League football for the Lisbon club.

In 2006-07, following the departure of veteran Ricardo Sá Pinto, Moutinho was made sub-captain at just 19 years of age (in 2007-08, after Custódio and Ricardo left, he would be named captain, the second youngest in the history of the club's professional football, behind legendary Francisco Stromp).

In 2007-08, with Leandro Romagnoli (another attacking midfielder) also in the starting eleven, Moutinho, more often than not, moved from his natural behind the forwards midfielder role to right midfielder, where he still managed to deliver impressive performances. Towards the end of 2007-08, he was linked with a move to Arsenal FC, Everton FC,^[1]Manchester United^[2]and, more recently, FC Barcelona.^[3]

International career

A Portugal international at the age of 18 (17-08-05), he made his debut with the country's shirt against Egypt in a 2-0 win home friendly. Ever since the 2006 FIFA World Cup he has been a regular call-up. On May 31, 2008, Moutinho registered his first goal for Portugal in their 2-0 victory over Georgia at Estádio do Fontelo in Viseu, Portugal. He was picked for the Portugal 23 man squad for Euro 2008 and in the opening game, created a skillful and unselfish assist to team mate Raul Meireles to secure a 2-0 victory over Turkey.

Personal life

João Moutinho married his girlfriend Ana Gomes on June 30, 2007.

Trivia

Moutinho is one of Sporting's favourites. There is a special song for him: "É o 28, é o baixinho, João Moutinho, João Moutinho!" (He's number 28, he's short, João Moutinho, João Moutinho!)

Statistics

Statistics as of 22 February 2008.

References