João Pedro de Lemos Paiva (born 8 February 1983) is a Portuguese football coach and a former striker.

João Paiva
Personal information
Full name João Pedro de Lemos Paiva
Date of birth (1983-02-08) 8 February 1983 (age 41)
Place of birth Lisbon, Portugal
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
1993–1995 Olivais Moscavide
1995–2001 Sporting CP
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2003 Sporting B 50 (20)
2003–2004 Marítimo B 28 (6)
2004–2005 Espinho 9 (1)
2005–2007 Apollon Limassol 54 (16)
2008 AEK Larnaca 12 (2)
2008–2011 Luzern 72 (23)
2011–2013 Grasshoppers 25 (3)
2013–2014 Wohlen 34 (16)
2014–2016 Winterthur 63 (20)
2016 United Zürich 10 (2)
2017–2018 Dietikon 7 (4)
International career
2001–2002 Portugal U19 10 (0)
2003–2004 Portugal U20 9 (4)
Managerial career
2018–2021 FC Dietikon
2021 Bellinzona
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Portugal
UEFA European Under-17 Championship
Winner 2000 Israel
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He spent the vast majority of his professional career in Switzerland.

Club career

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Born in Lisbon, Paiva played almost exclusively lower league football in his country: having been under contract with both Sporting Clube de Portugal and Marítimo, he only appeared for both clubs' reserve sides. In the 2004–05 season he competed with Espinho in the second division, but featured in less than one third of the league games and his team was also relegated after ranking 18th and last.

Paiva then spent three years in Cyprus, with Apollon Limassol and AEK Larnaca (half a season with the latter). For 2008–09 he joined Luzern in Switzerland, scoring eleven goals in 23 matches in his first year as the side finished ninth in the Super League, only barely avoiding relegation.

In January 2011, Paiva agreed a contract with another club in the country, Grasshoppers, effective as of July.[1]

Coaching career

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Paiva was hired as the manager of Swiss club Bellinzona in July 2021.[2] He left Bellinzona on 23 August 2021 by mutual consent due to "diverging technical views", with Bellinzona winning 2 out of 3 games under his management.[3]

References

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  1. ^ Paiva to the Hoppers, Challenge League over Champions League; Just Can't Beat That, January 2011
  2. ^ "AL VIA LA STAGIONE 2021/22!" (in Italian). AC Bellinzona. 15 July 2021. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  3. ^ "COMUNICATO UFFICIALE ACB - 23.08.21" (in Italian). AC Bellinzona. 23 August 2021. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
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