| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Joaquim Alberto Costa Milheiro e Silva | ||
| Date of birth | 8 February 1979 | ||
| Place of birth | Santa Maria da Feira, Portugal | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Benfica (academy director) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1991–1998 | Fiães | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1998–1999 | Fiães | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| 2018–2019 | Portugal U15 | ||
| 2019–2020 | Portugal U16 | ||
| 2020–2021 | Portugal U17 | ||
| 2021–2022 | Portugal U18 | ||
| 2022–2023 | Portugal U19 | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Joaquim Alberto Costa Milheiro e Silva (born 8 February 1979) is a Portuguese football manager. From 2011 to 2023 he worked with the youth teams of the Portuguese Football Federation, and was manager of the under-19 team that came runners-up at the 2023 UEFA European Under-19 Championship.
Born in Santa Maria da Feira, Milheiro played as a youth for Fiães before going into coaching. As a conditioning coach, he assisted Carlos Mozer at Interclube in Angola and Raja Casablanca in Morocco, as well as being assistant manager of the Portugal under-20 team that came runners-up at the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia. [1] In November 2011, Milheiro left his post at Leixões to assist Mozer at Portimonense. [2]
In January 2012, Milheiro joined Romanian Liga I club Vaslui as assistant to former Leixões manager Augusto Inácio. After finishing the season in second place, the head coach resigned due to the club president's imposition of a native assistant manager in place of Milheiro. [3] Returning home, he assisted the national under-17 and under-19 teams before being appointed coordinator of all youth teams in 2015. He said that the Portuguese Football Federation would prioritise intelligence over physicality. [4]
Working up from the under-15 side, Milheiro was Portugal's manager at the 2023 UEFA European Under-19 Championship in Malta, finishing runners-up to Italy. [5] In August that year, he ended a 12-year connection with the FPF by moving to the Qatar Football Association. [6] He became assistant manager of the Qatar under-23 team, working with fellow FPF veteran Ilídio Vale. [7]
Milheiro was technical director of Al Hilal in the Saudi Pro League for one year, resigning in July 2025. [8] He was then appointed academy director at Benfica. [9]