Born in Porto, Sá Pinto made his professional debut with local S.C. Salgueiros and soon represented the Portuguese under-21s, helping the side reach the 1994 UEFA European Championship final. He first appeared in the Primeira Liga with the former on 30 August 1992, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 0–2 away loss against S.C. Farense. In the 1994–95 season, Sá Pinto joined Sporting CP. After some solid performances he attracted the attention of La Liga's Real Sociedad, scoring in his first official game for his new club, a 3–3 home draw against Real Oviedo on 30 August 1998. After 70 matches and six goals in Spain, Sá Pinto returned to Sporting where he played six further years, troubled by many injuries, although he eventually gained team captaincy. In the 2006–07 campaign he joined fellow Portuguese international Sérgio Conceição at Standard Liège – with Jorge Costa having retired at the clubin the summer – in the Belgian top level, and retired at almost 35.
International
Sá Pinto received 45 caps for Portugal, 25 with Sporting and 20 for Real Sociedad, scoring nine times. His first game was on 7 September 1994 in a 2–1 win over Northern Ireland in Belfast, in which he netted the second goal; he played at UEFA Euro 1996, equalising against Denmark in the group stage opener, and Euro 2000. He scored six times in qualification for the latter tournament, including a hat-trick in an 8–0 demolition of Liechtenstein in Coimbra on 9 June 1999. On 26 March 1997, Sá Pinto assaulted national team coach Artur Jorge upon hearing the news of not having been picked up for a match. The player travelled to Estádio Nacional in Lisbon where the team was practicing, and punched the manager in the face, being banned for one year from all national and international competitions. Sá Pinto's last appearance was in the 6–0 win over Cyprus for the 2002 FIFA World Cupqualifiers, on 6 June 2001. An injury prevented him from being present at the finals.
Coaching career
In early November 2009, Sá Pinto returned to Sporting, replacing former teammate Pedro Barbosa as director of football as coach Paulo Bento was sacked following a string of poor performances/results. On 21 January 2010, following a physical confrontation with club player Liédson in the team's locker room after the 4–3 home win against C.D. Mafra for the Taça de Portugal, he immediately presented his resignation. Sá Pinto had his first coaching experience in 2010, being named assistant manager at U.D. Leiria under Pedro Caixinha. On 13 February 2012, after a spell with Sporting's under-19, he was appointed first-team manager, replacing fired Domingos Paciência. On 25 May 2012, even though Sporting could only rank fourth in the league and lost the domestic cup final, Sá Pinto signed a new two-year contract with the Lions. On 4 October, however, following a 0–3 away loss against Videoton FC – led by former national teammate Paulo Sousa – in that season's UEFA Europa League, he was relieved of his duties. Sá Pinto was appointed at Serbian giants Red Star Belgrade on 18 March 2013, winning the first eight SuperLiga matches in charge of the club but resigning his post on 19 June, in disagreement with its board of directors. From October 2013 to February 2015 he worked in the Superleague Greece with OFI Crete F.C. and Atromitos FC. Sá Pinto returned to Portugal and its capital in June 2015, after agreeing to become C.F. Os Belenenses manager in replacement of Lito Vidigal whilst signing a two-year contract. On 15 December, however, after a 3–4 away loss against Académica de Coimbra and failure to qualify from the Europa League group stage, he resigned from his position. On 29 May 2016, Sá Pinto was appointed manager of Al-Fateh SC. On 11 June 2017, after a second spell with Atromitos and even though he had agreed to a new deal after an eighth-place finish, he left for Standard Liège; in spite of initially underperforming in the Belgian League, he led his team to the conquest of the domestic cup in his first year as well as a final runner-up league position, but left on 20 May 2018. In August 2018, Sá Pinto was announced as the new manager of Legia Warsaw after signing a three-year contract with the Ekstraklasa club. He was sacked the following April with the team in second, five points off Lechia Gdańsk with three games remaining. On 3 July 2019, Sá Pinto returned to his country for the first time in four years, taking over S.C. Braga on a two-year contract. He was dismissed on 23 December with the team eighth in the league, despite winning their Europa League group.
