Vata Matanu Garcia

Vata Matanu Garcia (born 19 March 1961), known simply as Vata, is a retired Angolan footballer who played as a striker.

Vata
Personal information
Full name Vata Matanu Garcia
Date of birth (1961-03-19) 19 March 1961
Place of birth Damba, Angola
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1980–1983 Progresso
1983–1984 Águeda
1984–1988 Varzim 77 (26)
1988–1991 Benfica 92 (42)
1991–1992 Estrela Amadora 17 (3)
1992–1993 Torreense 23 (0)
1993–1994 Floriana 9 (5)
1996–1997 Gelora Dewata (14)
1998–1999 Persija
1999–2000 Gelora Dewata
Total (90)
International career
1985–1993 Angola 65 (20)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He spent most of his professional career in Portugal, most notably at Benfica.

Club career

Born in Damba, Uíge Province, Vata started his football career at Progresso Associação do Sambizanga. After a good run in Portugal with Varzim SC, he caught the eye of Primeira Liga club S.L. Benfica, signing with them for 1988–89 and being crowned the season's top scorer in his first year.

In the following campaign's European Cup campaign, Vata achieved his most (in)famous moment: after the 1–2 defeat at Olympique de Marseille in the semifinals, he scored from a left-side corner kick, putting the ball in the net with his right arm as Benfica won on the away goals rule with that single goal.[1][2]

After two more seasons in Portugal, with C.F. Estrela da Amadora and S.C.U. Torreense, 38-year-old Vata retired in 1999 after spells with Malta's Floriana Football Club and Gelora Dewata and Persija Jakarta (Indonesia, where he also would act as player-coach). In 1993–94 he also had a brief go at Futsal, in the United States.

As a full-time manager, Vata worked with Guntur Bali, winning the league in his only season and also coaching in that country Mitra Kukar F.C. and Kalimantan (in 2004–05). He also worked at the International School in Bali in 2000 and at the European Football Institute in Australia, as a high-performance coach of both the senior and reserve teams.

International career

Vata was capped 65 times on the Angola national team, including one 1990 FIFA World Cup qualifying match.[3]

Honours

Club
Benfica
Floriana
Deltras
  • Indonesian League: 1999–2000 (as coach)

Individual

References
  1. "European Champions' Cup 1989–90 – Details". RSSSF. Retrieved 10 December 2008.
  2. "Vata a-t-il bien marqué de la main?" [Did Vata score with the hand?] (in French). 20 Minutes. 10 March 2010. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  3. Vata – FIFA competition record (archived)
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