Vítor Baía

Club career

FC Porto

Born in Vila Nova de Gaia, Porto District, Baía joined FC Porto's youth ranks at thirteen, from also northern club Leça FC. In early 1989, he renounced to appear at the FIFA World Youth Championship, as he had relegated Pole Józef Młynarczyk to the bench and his club was still chasing the league title, which eventually eluded them (second place).

Baía made his first-team debuts in a game against Vítoria de Guimarães, and did not lose his starting place for the following seven seasons, winning five leagues and two domestic cups, and conceding only 116 goals (16,5 goals per year). It was between 1994 and 1996 that he made his name as a world-class goalkeeper, being voted for the "ESM Team of the Year" after the 1994–95 season and being named in the "IFFHS' World's Best Goalkeeper of the Year 1995" list, finishing sixth in the voting and improving to fifth in the following year; consequently he was named in the Portugal squad for Euro 1996, being transferred after this tournament to Spain's FC Barcelona, for the highest amount paid for a player in the position in the world.

Barcelona

While he only missed one La Liga game in his first season, as Barcelona finished second to Real Madrid, adding the campaign's UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, Baía also suffered from knee problems during his two 1/2-year spell.

Additionally, when Louis van Gaal took over at Barcelona for Bobby Robson, he was dropped from the team in favour of the manager's countryman Ruud Hesp, being subsequently loaned in mid-season back to Porto, filling the position some said he had "haunted" since his departure, as several goalkeepers had failed to perform in that position.

Porto return

In January 1999, Baía returned to Porto, finding the No. 1 jersey unavailable, so he picked No. 99 instead, with the sales of that number being a success, as well as the club's game attendances, highly related to the player's return. When his career seemed back on track, he was injured again during the 1999–2000 season, needing a corrective surgery on his knee.

In the 2000 summer Baía returned to Barcelona, being immediately released and signing with Porto. After one year on the sidelines due to injury, he made his comeback in the 2001–02 campaign, in a reserves match against SC Vila Real on 26 November 2001. Sixteen days later, on 12 December, he made his competitive debut, against C.D. Santa Clara for the cup; after a full recovery, he was included in the list for the 2002 World Cup.

In the 2002–03 season Baía was in great shape again, helping his club win the league title, the cup and the UEFA Cup, appearing in 11 of 13 matches in the latter competition, including the semifinals against S.S. Lazio where he saved a penalty kick, and the final against Celtic. It would not be until the following campaign when he regained full fitness again, and he would have one of the most impressive seasons of his career, winning the UEFA Champions League and his seventh league trophy – in the former competition, he played all matches and minutes as Porto beat AS Monaco FC in the final (3–0) and, consequently, he was selected as the "UEFA Club Best Goalkeeper of the Year", being the first Portuguese goalkeeper to win this individual title. This was not, however, good enough for Euro 2004 – played on home soil – selection, with Sporting Clube de Portugal's Ricardo Pereira being controversially preferred. Later, in 2007, in a FIFA.com interview, Baía said: "(...) It's kind of strange because I was voted as being the best goalkeeper in Europe in the 2003/04 season and a few days before the squad for UEFA EURO 2004 was announced I'd won the Portuguese championship and the UEFA Champions League and even then I wasn't called up"; at the end of the season he was named in the list for "IFFHS' World's Best Goalkeeper of the Year 2004", finishing eighth in the voting while Ricardo ranked 19th.

At the start of 2005–06, under Dutch coach Co Adriaanse, Baía initially started the season, but lost his status midway through, being replaced by Brazilian Helton. Although he was a part of the squad that won Porto's second league in a row the following campaign the player, in the last year of his contract, made only one league start, on the final league matchday, a 4–1 home win against C.D. Aves which would be his 700th official appearance; upon retiring at nearly 38, on 14 June 2007, he became director of public relations with his main club, leaving the post in late July 2010. He and Italian Stefano Tacconi were the only goalkeepers in history to have won the three main UEFA club competitions.

International career

Baía had his senior debut on 19 December 1990 in a 1–0 friendly win over the United States at the age of 21. He went on to make 80 appearances for the national team until 2002, playing in all the games in UEFA Euro 1996 and 2000 (except one in the latter, as Portugal was already qualified) and in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. In Euro 2000, he stopped Arif Erdem's penalty in the 2–0 defeat of Turkey in the quarterfinals.

After the failure in the 2002 World Cup, coach António Oliveira was sacked when he refused to quit. Luiz Felipe Scolari was hired as his replacement and Baía, a stalwart for the past ten years with a record of caps in his position, was ditched.

Personal life

In 2004 Baía founded a charity with his wife, Alexandra Rodrigues de Almeida, which would bear his own name and would be dedicated to helping underprivileged children and troubled teens.

Also that year, he would donate a pair of his autographed gloves to be included in the UEFA Jubilee time capsule, a collection of UEFA memorabilia that was sealed underground in September, only opened 50 years hence.

Baía published his autobiography entitled 99 – Vítor Baía in 2005. On 10 June 2008 he was made an Officer of the Ordem do Infante Dom Henrique by the president of Portugal, Aníbal Cavaco Silva.

In August, 2015, EA Sports announced Baía as part of their FIFA 16 Ultimate Team Legends, along with eight other former footballers.

Career statistics

Club

• Other includes matches in the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, UEFA Super Cup and Intercontinental Cup.

International

Honours

Club

Porto

• Primeira Liga: 1989–90, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1998–99, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07
• Taca de Portugal: 1990–91, 1993–94, 1999–2000, 2002–03, 2005–06
• Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 2003, 2004, 2006
• UEFA Champions League: 2003–04
• UEFA Cup: 2002–03
• Intercontinental Cup: 2004

Barcelona

• La Liga: 1997–98
• Copa del Rey: 1996–97, 1997–98
• Supercopa de España: 1996
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1996–97

Individual

• Portuguese Footballer of the Year: 1988–89, 1990–91
• Portuguese Golden Ball: 1991–92
• ESM Team of the Year: 1994–95
• UEFA Club Best Goalkeeper of the Year: 2003–04
• Best European Goalkeeper: 2004