Custódio Castro

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Dias and the second or paternal family name is Castro.

Custódio Miguel Dias de Castro (born 24 May 1983), known simply as Custódio, is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder, currently manager of Primeira Liga club Alverca.

Custódio

Custódio playing for Portugal in 2013
Personal information
Full name	Custódio Miguel Dias de Castro[1]
Date of birth	(1983-05-24) 24 May 1983 (age 42)[1]
Place of birth	Brito, Portugal
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team	Alverca (manager)
Youth career
1993–1994	Torcatense
1994–2000	Vitória Guimarães
2000–2001	Sporting CP
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2001–2003	Sporting CP B	48	(5)
2002–2007	Sporting CP	95	(4)
2007–2008	Dynamo Moscow	9	(0)
2009–2010	Vitória Guimarães	27	(0)
2010–2015	Braga	87	(8)
2015–2017	Akhisar Belediyespor	76	(4)
Total		342	(21)
International career
1999	Portugal U15	5	(0)
2000	Portugal U16	11	(2)
2000	Portugal U17	7	(1)
2001–2003	Portugal U19	8	(3)
2003	Portugal U20	10	(4)
2003–2006	Portugal U21	13	(0)
2006	Portugal B	1	(0)
2012–2013	Portugal	10	(0)
Managerial career
2020	Braga
2022–2025	Braga B
2025–	Alverca
Medal record Men's football Representing  Portugal UEFA European Championship 2012 Poland-Ukraine UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2004 Germany UEFA European Under-17 Championship Winner 2000 Israel
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Over 12 seasons, he amassed Primeira Liga totals of 209 matches and 12 goals, representing in the competition Sporting CP, Vitória de Guimarães and Braga. He reached the 2011 Europa League final with the latter club, and also played in Russia and Turkey.

Custódio was part of the Portugal squad at Euro 2012, earning a total of ten caps in one year.

Club career

Custódio was born in the village of Brito, Guimarães.^[2] From 2001 to 2007 he played for Sporting CP, making his Primeira Liga debut on 23 March 2002 in a 2–0 home win against Salgueiros;^[3] he finished the 2003–04 season with 27 league appearances.

In the 2006–07 campaign, coach Paulo Bento named Custódio captain in recognition of his history at Sporting and consistent displays in the previous seasons.^[4] Incidentally, in that timeframe, he also fell out of favour in the team's rotation^[5] and, in June 2007, was sold to Russian Premier League side Dynamo Moscow.^[6]

Custódio returned to Portugal in January 2009, re-joining childhood club Vitória de Guimarães along with Cícero Semedo.^[7] On 31 August of the following year, he moved to Minho neighbours Braga.^[2]

In his first season at the Estádio Municipal de Braga, Custódio battled for first-choice status with Brazilians Leandro Salino and Vandinho,^[8] but managed to appear in 21 competitive matches. On 5 February 2011 he scored from close range in a 2–1 away win against Marítimo,^[9] helping his team finish fourth in the league. On 5 May he netted arguably the most important goal of his career, heading from a corner kick for the game's only in a home victory over Benfica in the UEFA Europa League semi-finals second leg, with Braga qualifying for the final on the away goals rule.^[10]

Custódio spent the first half of 2011–12 on the sidelines, nursing a serious knee injury.^[11] When he returned to full fitness, however, he benefitted from Djamal Mahamat's presence in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations and begun appearing regularly in the starting XI, scoring against Marítimo (2–1 away win) and former team Guimarães (4–0, at home).^[12]

In May 2017, after two and a half seasons in the Turkish Süper Lig with Akhisar Belediyespor, the 34-year-old Custódio retired and returned to Braga, being named assistant manager at the reserve side.^[13] On 3 March 2020, he left the under-17s and was appointed at the helm of the first team, replacing Sporting-bound Ruben Amorim.^[14] On his debut three days later, he managed a 3–1 home victory over Portimonense.^[15]

Custódio resigned on 1 July 2020 with five games left of the season, having won two and lost three of his six fixtures.^[16] Two years later, he was put in charge of the reserves.^[17]

International career

A Portugal under-21 international, Custódio appeared in two UEFA European Championship editions, 2004 and 2006. He was selected by full side manager Paulo Bento for his 23-man squad for UEFA Euro 2012,^[18] and made his debut on 2 June, a 1–3 friendly loss with Turkey in Lisbon.^[19] In the finals in Poland and Ukraine, he played 20 minutes in the decisive 2–1 group stage defeat of the Netherlands after replacing the injured Raul Meireles.^[20]

Career statistics

Club

^[21][22]

Club	Season	League		Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Sporting CP B	2001–02	15	2	–	–	–	–	–	–	15	2
	Total	15	2	–	–	–	–	–	–	15	2
Sporting CP	2001–02	1	0	0	0	–	–	0	0	1	0
	2002–03	0	0	0	0	–	–	0	0	0	0
	Total	1	0	0	0	–	–	0	0	1	0
Sporting CP B	2002–03	33	3	–	–	–	–	–	–	33	3
	Total	33	3	–	–	–	–	–	–	33	3
Sporting CP	2003–04	27	0	1	0	–	–	3	0	31	0
	2004–05	25	4	3	0	–	–	8	3	36	7
	2005–06	27	0	4	0	–	–	2	0	33	0
	2006–07	15	0	4	1	–	–	2	0	21	1
	Total	94	4	12	1	–	–	15	3	121	8
Dynamo Moscow	2007	9	0	1	0	–	–	–	–	10	0
	Total	9	0	1	0	–	–	–	–	10	0
Vitória Guimarães	2008–09	10	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	12	0
	2009–10	15	0	2	0	5	0	–	–	22	0
	2010–11	2	0	0	0	0	0	–	–	2	0
	Total	27	0	2	0	7	0	0	0	36	0
Braga	2010–11	13	1	0	0	1	0	7	1	21	2
	2011–12	17	3	0	0	3	0	2	0	22	3
	2012–13	28	2	2	0	5	1	8	0	43	3
	2013–14	21	2	4	0	3	1	1	0	28	3
	2014–15	8	0	2	0	1	0	–	–	11	0
	Total	87	8	8	0	13	2	18	1	126	11
Akhisar Belediyespor	2014–15	15	2	1	0	0	0	–	–	16	2
	2015–16	33	0	9	0	0	0	–	–	42	1
	2016–17	17	0	2	0	0	0	–	–	19	0
	Total	65	2	12	0	0	0	-	-	77	3
Career Total		298	20	26	1	20	2	33	4	377	27

International

Portugal[23]
Year	Apps	Goals
2012	6	0
2013	4	0
Total	10	0

Managerial statistics

As of match played 17 February 2024

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	Nat	From	To	Record								Ref
				G	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Braga		5 March 2020	1 July 2020	6	2	1	3	11	11	+0	033.33	[24]
Braga B		9 June 2022	Present	50	21	11	18	63	52	+11	042.00
Total				56	23	12	21	74	63	+11	041.07	—

Honours

Sporting CP

• Primeira Liga: 2001–02
• Taça de Portugal: 2006–07
• UEFA Cup runner-up: 2004–05

Braga

• Taça da Liga: 2012–13
• Taça de Portugal runner-up: 2014–15
• UEFA Europa League runner-up: 2010–11

Portugal U16

• UEFA European Under-16 Championship: 2000

Portugal U21

• Toulon Tournament: 2003