Rui Águas (footballer)

Rui Águas
Personal information
Full name José Rui Lopes Águas
Date of birth (1960-04-28) 28 April 1960 (age 63)
Place of birth Lisbon, Portugal
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
1972–1974 Benfica
1974–1977 CAC Pontinha
1977–1978 Sporting CP
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1979–1980 Real Benfica
1980–1982 Sesimbra
1982–1983 Atlético 22 (2)
1983–1985 Portimonense 46 (10)
1985–1988 Benfica 74 (35)
1988–1990 Porto 64 (30)
1990–1994 Benfica 99 (42)
1994 Estrela Amadora 9 (4)
1995 Reggiana 12 (0)
Total 326 (123)
International career
1985–1993 Portugal 31 (10)
Managerial career
1996–1997 Portugal (assistant)
1999–2000 Estoril
2000 Vitória Setúbal
2002–2003 Marítimo (assistant)
2003–2006 Braga (assistant)
2014–2016 Cape Verde
2017–2018 Pharco
2018–2019 Cape Verde
2020 Santos (assistant)
2020–2021 Boavista (assistant)
2022–2023 Zamalek (assistant)
2023 Zamalek (assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

José Rui Lopes Águas (born 28 April 1960) is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a striker, currently a manager.

He had highly successful spells at two of the biggest clubs in Portugal, Benfica and Porto, amassing Primeira Liga totals of 292 games and 121 goals over 12 seasons.

Águas represented the Portugal national team at the 1986 World Cup.

Playing career

Club

Born in Lisbon, Águas started his career with amateurs Real Desportivo Benfica, and later went on to represent G.D. Sesimbra in the Terceira Divisão and Atlético Clube de Portugal in Segunda Divisão. He turned professional in the 1983–84 season, when he signed for Portimonense S.C. of the Primeira Liga.

Moving to S.L. Benfica in 1985, Águas scored an average of 12 goals in his first spell, helping the capital club to the league on three occasions. He was present at the 1988 European Cup final, as they lost 6–5 on penalties to PSV Eindhoven.

Águas joined FC Porto in summer 1988, winning the league in his second year and contributing to the conquest with 17 goals. However, he returned to Benfica after only two years, and proceeded to net a career-best 25 times in the first season upon his return as the team finished in top position. In the last round against S.C. Beira-Mar, the game after they had been crowned champions, he bagged two second-half goals in an eventual 3–0 home win, narrowly edging Porto's Domingos – who played first and scored four in a 5–0 victory over Vitória de Guimarães, finishing with 24 – in the Bola de Prata race.

In the last edition of the European Cup, Águas suffered an horrific foot injury against FC Dynamo Kyiv, but still managed five league goals in only 14 matches. Already 34, he moved clubs but stayed in Lisbon, joining lowly C.F. Estrela da Amadora. His career ended after an abroad spell which was his first and only at the age of 34, at Italy's A.C. Reggiana 1919.

International

Águas played his first match for Portugal on 3 April 1985, a 2–0 loss to Italy in a friendly. He was present at the 1986 FIFA World Cup, playing as a substitute in the 3–1 defeat against Morocco.

In total, Águas received 31 caps for the national team, scoring ten goals. His last game was for the 1994 World Cup qualifiers on 17 November 1993, losing to Italy 1–0.

Coaching career

In the early 2000s, Águas coached Vitória F.C. and acted as assistant at C.S. Marítimo and S.C. Braga. He managed six wins, three draws and nine losses for the first side in the 1999–2000 campaign, which ended in top-division relegation.

Águas was named Cape Verde coach in August 2014, replacing interim Men Ramires and signing a two-year contract. He led them to three draws in the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, in an eventual group phase elimination. He resigned from his position on 1 January 2016, alleging unpaid wages.

In February 2017, Águas was part of a candidate shortlist for the vacant Rwanda national team manager role. He returned to the Cape Verde helm in May of the following year.

Águas returned to club duties in late December 2019, being included in his compatriot Jesualdo Ferreira's staff at Santos FC of the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A.

Personal life

Águas' father, José, was a stellar footballer (also striker) for Benfica, mainly in the 1950s. He had two siblings, his sister Maria Helena (known as Lena d'Água) having a prolific career in the country's pop music. His cousin, Raul Águas, was also a footballer and manager for several years.

Águas met his wife, Leonor, in college as they were from the same class. They fathered three children, son André (born in 1985), daughter Mariana (1987, who went on to work as a reporter at CMTV) and son Martim (1993) who was also a footballer.

Career statistics

Club

Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Portimonense 1983–84 Primeira Divisão 26 3 1 0 27 3
1984–85 20 7 20 7
Subtotal 46 10 1 0 47 10
Benfica 1985–86 Primeira Divisão 22 10 8 6 3 1 33 17
1986–87 27 13 6 6 3 1 2 0 38 20
1987–88 25 12 3 2 8 4 2 0 38 18
Subtotal 74 35 17 14 14 6 4 0 109 55
Porto 1988–89 Primeira Divisão 33 13 3 1 3 2 2 0 41 16
1989–90 31 17 3 4 5 3 39 24
Subtotal 64 30 6 5 8 5 2 0 80 40
Benfica 1990–91 Primeira Divisão 37 25 3 1 2 0 42 26
1991–92 14 5 1 0 3 1 0 0 18 6
1992–93 23 6 6 2 4 0 1 0 34 8
1993–94 25 6 3 1 4 1 2 1 34 9
Subtotal 99 42 13 4 13 2 3 1 128 49
Estrela Amadora 1994–95 Primeira Divisão 9 4 9 4
Reggiana 1994–95 Serie A 12 0 12 0
Total 304 121 37 23 35 13 9 1 385 158
  1. ^ a b c d Appearance(s) in UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
  2. ^ a b c d e Appearance(s) in Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira
  3. ^ a b Appearance(s) in European Cup
  4. ^ a b c Appearance(s) in UEFA Cup

International

Portugal
Year Apps Goals
1985 1 0
1986 3 0
1987 1 0
1989 8 4
1990 3 2
1991 7 2
1992 1 0
1993 7 2
Total 31 10

International goals

Rui Águas: International goals
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 20 September 1989 Stade de la Maladière, Neuchâtel, Switzerland   Switzerland 1–2 1–2 1990 World Cup qualification
2 6 October 1989 Generali Arena, Prague, Czechoslovakia  Czechoslovakia 1–1 2–1 1990 World Cup qualification
3 11 October 1989 Ludwigsparkstadion, Saarbrücken, West Germany  Luxembourg 0–1 0–3 1990 World Cup qualification
4 11 October 1989 Ludwigsparkstadion, Saarbrücken, West Germany  Luxembourg 0–2 0–3 1990 World Cup qualification
5 29 August 1990 Estádio da Luz (1954), Lisbon, Portugal  West Germany 1–1 1–1 Friendly
6 17 October 1990 Estádio das Antas, Porto, Portugal  Netherlands 1–0 1–0 Euro 1992 qualifying
7 23 January 1991 Olympic Stadium (Athens), Athens, Greece  Greece 1–1 3–2 Euro 1992 qualifying
8 20 February 1991 Estádio das Antas, Porto, Portugal  Malta 1–0 5–0 Euro 1992 qualifying
9 24 January 1993 Ta' Qali National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta  Malta 0–1 0–1 1994 World Cup qualification
10 10 November 1993 Estádio da Luz (1954), Lisbon, Portugal  Estonia 3–0 3–0 1994 World Cup qualification

Managerial statistics

As of 27 December 2019.
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team Nat. From To Record Ref
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Estoril Portugal August 1999 January 2000 18 8 5 5 35 22 +13 044.44
Vitória Setúbal Portugal 16 January 2000 October 2000 24 8 5 11 19 28 −9 033.33
Cape Verde Cape Verde August 2014 1 January 2016 16 9 4 3 27 13 +14 056.25
Cape Verde Cape Verde May 2018 December 2019 12 3 6 3 12 11 +1 025.00
Career total 70 28 20 22 93 74 +19 040.00

Honours

Benfica

Porto

  • Primeira Liga: 1989–90
  • Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira runner-up: 1988

Individual

  • Primeira Liga top scorer: 1990–91
  • European Cup top scorer: 1987–88
  • Taça de Portugal top scorer: 1985–86

See also


This page was last updated at 2023-10-28 01:55 UTC. Update now. View original page.

All our content comes from Wikipedia and under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.


Top

If mathematical, chemical, physical and other formulas are not displayed correctly on this page, please useFirefox or Safari