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Fernando Manuel Silva Couto (; born 2 August 1969) is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a centre back.
During a 21-year professional career, he played in a number of top clubs in Portugal, Spain and Italy (12 seasons in the latter country), appearing in nearly 600 competitive matches and winning the double in each country, as well as three UEFA trophies.
At international level, Couto represented the Portugal national team in 110 games, taking part in the 2002 World Cup as well as three European Championships.
Couto returned to Porto in 1990, being an instrumental defensive unit in the conquest of six titles during his four-year spell. He subsequently moved to Italy with Parma AC, scoring a career-best four goals in 27 games in his first season and adding the campaign's UEFA Cup, in a 2–1 aggregate victory over fellow Serie A side Juventus FC
In summer 1996, Couto signed a four-year deal with FC Barcelona, moving alongside former Porto teammate Vítor Baía and English manager Bobby Robson as Luís Figo was also playing for the La Liga club. Regularly used during his early stint, he was less played by the next coach Louis van Gaal, but managed to appear in one of the two UEFA finals the Catalonia won, the 1996–97 edition of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.
After two seasons at the Camp Nou, Couto left Barça and joined Rome's SS Lazio in late June 1998 as teammate Iván de la Peña. He appeared in 22 matches in his first year to help his team to the second place in the league, and featured one minute in the final of the last Cup Winners' Cup, in a 2–1 win against RCD Mallorca at the Villa Park in Birmingham.
In 2001, Couto failed a Drug test for the steroid nandrolone. He denied having taken forbidden substances, but his "B" test confirmed the finding and he eventually served four months out of a nine-month worldwide ban for the offence. He continued to appear regularly for Lazio in the following seasons.
In 2005, aged 36, Couto returned to Parma after 11 years as Lazio was unable to match his wage demands for a contract renewal. After two seasons of regular use he played just 17 matches in 2007–08, with the Emilia-Romagna side also suffering top-flight relegation; as his contract expired, he decided to retire from football.
In June 2010, two years after his retirement, Couto was named general manager at S.C. Braga. He was appointed the club's assistant manager for the 2012–13 campaign, leaving in February 2014.
Always as first choice, Couto represented the nation at UEFA Euro 1996– scoring the game's only goal for the eventual quarter-finalists in a group stage fixture against Turkey– Euro 2000 and the 2002 FIFA World Cup, partnering former Porto teammate Jorge Costa in the last two tournaments, the latter of which ended in group stage exit.
Couto became the first Portuguese player to reach 100 caps (in a total of 110) on 11 October 2003, in a 5–3 friendly defeat of Albania. He was selected as captain for Euro 2004, which was played on home soil, starting in the first game against Greece but eventually being relegated to the bench by Ricardo Carvalho; Portugal went on to reach the final of the tournament, in which the team suffered a defeat against the same opponent.
| + Appearances and goals by club, season and competition | ||||
| FC Porto | 1987–88 | Primeira Divisão | 0 | |
| Famalicão | 1988–89 | |||
| Académica | 1989–90 | Segunda Divisão | 2 | |
| Porto | 1990–91 | Primeira Divisão | 3 | |
| 1991–92 | 2 | |||
| 1992–93 | 6 | |||
| 1993–94 | 1 | |||
| Parma | 1994–95 | Serie A | 7 | |
| 1995–96 | 0 | |||
| FC Barcelona | 1996–97 | La Liga | 2 | |
| 1997–98 | 0 | |||
| SS Lazio | 1998–99 | Serie A | 2 | |
| 1999–00 | 0 | |||
| 2000–01 | 0 | |||
| 2001–02 | 1 | |||
| 2002–03 | 1 | |||
| 2003–04 | 3 | |||
| 2004–05 | 3 | |||
| Parma | 2005–06 | Serie A | 0 | |
| 2006–07 | 1 | |||
| 2007–08 | 0 | |||
| + Appearances and goals by national team and year | |
| Portugal | 0 |
| 0 | |
| 0 | |
| 1 | |
| 1 | |
| 0 | |
| 3 | |
| 0 | |
| 1 | |
| 0 | |
| 0 | |
| 0 | |
| 0 | |
| 1 | |
| 1 | |
| + List of international goals scored by Fernando Couto |
Parma
Barcelona
Lazio
Portugal U20
Portugal
Orders
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