Pepa (footballer)
Pedro Miguel Marques da Costa Filipe (born 14 December 1980), known as Pepa, is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as a forward, and is the current manager of Vitória de Guimarães. Playing career. Born in Torres Novas, Santarém District, Pepa joined S.L. Benfica's youth system in 1994, aged 13. He made his competitive debut with the main squad on 23 January 1999, scoring in a Primeira Liga 3–1 home win against Rio Ave FC. After being touted as an early promise, he went on to appear mainly for the reserve team, also being loaned in March  2000 to Lierse S.K. in Belgium for a fee of 50 million Portuguese escudos. In 2002, Pepa terminated his contract with Benfica which had four years remaining, following in the footsteps of fellow youth graduates Rui Baião and Jorge Ribeiro and signing with Varzim SC, a decision he later claimed as the worst mistake in his life. He ended his career in late 2007 at only 26, due to several knee injuries. Coaching career. In summer 2013, after two years working with Benfica's youth sides, Pepa had his first head coaching experience, being appointed at A.D. Sanjoanense in the  regional leagues and helping the club promote to the third division at the first attempt. In 2015–16 he achieved the same feat with C.D. Feirense of the LigaPro, even though he did not finished the season after being replaced by José Mota for the final two months. Pepa continued to work in the Portuguese top tier in the following years, with Moreirense F.C. and C.D. Tondela. During his two-year stint at the latter he successfully avoided relegation, but was not retained. Having started the 2019–20 campaign without a club, Pepa replaced Filó at the helm of F.C. Paços de  Ferreira after the fourth matchday, with the team last in the standings. In May 2021, after having led them to the fifth place and qualification to the inaugural edition of the UEFA Europa Conference League, he left the "Estádio da Mata Real". Days after leaving Paços, Pepa signed a three-year contract to manage Vitória de Guimarães.