Vítor Manuel Martins Baía, (born 15 October 1969), is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
His career was intimately connected with F.C. Porto, which he started representing professionally still in his teens, helping it to 26 titles, and eventually remaining with the club in an ambassadorial role.
Also having played for FC Barcelona, Baía appeared with the Portuguese national team in two European Championships and the 2002 World Cup.
FC Porto
Born in São Pedro da Afurada, Vila Nova de Gaia, Porto
District, Baía joined F.C. Porto's
youth ranks at thirteen, from also northern club Leça FC.[1]
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).[2]
It was between 1994 and 1996 that Baía 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,[3]
and improving to fifth in the following year.[4]
Consequently he was named in the Portuguese 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
Porto return
In my opinion, no country can
afford not to call the best European goalkeeper to its team, but that happened
to me.[1]
In January 1999, Baía returned to Porto, finding the #1 jersey
unavailable, so he picked #99 instead, with the sales of that number being a
success,[1]
as well as the club's game attendances, highly related to the player's return.[1]
When his career seemed back on track, he was injured again during the 1999–2000 season, needing a corrective
surgery on his knee.[5]
In the 2000 summer, Baía returned to Barcelona, being immediately
released and signing with Porto.[6]
After one season without playing due to injury, he made his comeback in 2001–02, in a reserves match against Vila
Real, on 26 November 2001.[7]
Sixteen days later, on 12 December, he made his competitive debut, against C.D. Santa
Clara for the cup.[8]
After a full recovery, he was included in the list for the 2002 World Cup.[9]
In the 2002–03 season, Baía was in a 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.[10]
It would not be until the 2003–04 season when Baía would regain 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).[10]
Consequently, he was selected as the "UEFA Club Best Goalkeeper of the Year",[11]
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.[12]
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."[1]
At the end of the season, he was named in the list for "IFFHS' World's Best Goalkeeper of the
Year 2004", finishing 8th in the voting, while Ricardo finished
in 19th place.[13]
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 2006–07 squad that won Porto's second
league in a row, Baía, in the last year of his contract, would make only one
league start, on the final day of the season, a 4–1 home win against Desportivo
das Aves, which would be his 700th official appearance, overall.
Upon retiring at nearly 38, on 14 June 2007,[14]
he became director of public relations with his main club,[1]
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
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