Fernando Couto

Fernando Manuel Silva Couto, <small>OIH</small> ( or ; born 2 August 1969) is a retired Portuguese footballer who played as a central defender.

During a 21-year professional career, he played in a number of top teams in Portugal, Spain and Italy (12 seasons in the latter country), appearing in nearly 600 official games and winning the national league title of each country, as well as three other UEFA club trophies.

At the international level, Couto represented the Portuguese national team in more than 100 games, taking part in the 2002 World Cup as well as three European Championships.

Club career

Born in Espinho near Porto, Couto joined F.C. Porto's youth system at the age of 17. On 2 June 1988, he made his first-team - and first division - debut, playing 90 minutes in a 1–0 away win against Académica de Coimbra, in what would be his only appearance of the season for the national champions. He was then released by the club, playing one season apiece with F.C. Famalicão and Académica.

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 season's UEFA Cup, in a 2–1 aggregate win against fellow Serie A outfit Juventus FC.

In the 1996 summer, Couto joined FC Barcelona in Spain, alongside former Porto teammates Vítor Baía and Bobby Robson (manager), as Luís......
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