Pintado (footballer)

Luís Carlos de Oliveira Preto (born 17 September 1965), commonly known as Pintado, is a Brazilian football coach and former player who played as a defensive midfielder.

Born in Bragança Paulista, São Paulo, Pintado started his career with hometown side Bragantino in 1983. He left the club in the following year after having unpaid wages, and spent a 45-day trial at Palmeiras before signing for São Paulo.

After featuring rarely, Pintado was loaned to Taubaté before returning to Braga in 1987, also on loan. Mainly a right back, he played in all positions in the defense before being converted into a defensive midfielder by manager Carlos Alberto Parreira.

Pintado as a Cruz Azul player in 1993

Upon returning, Pintado featured more regularly before moving abroad in 1993, with Mexican side Cruz Azul. He also had a short loan stint at Santos in 1995, but left Los Celestes permanently in 1997.

After a period with Minas Gerais sides América Mineiro and Atlético Mineiro, Pintado moved to Japan in 1998 with Cerezo Osaka. He would return to his home country in the following year, and subsequently represented Portuguesa, América Mineiro, Democrata de Governador Valadares, Internacional de Limeira, Bragantino, União São João, Pelotas, Santa Cruz and Brasiliense.

Shortly after retiring, Pintado started working as a manager at one of his former clubs, Inter de Limeira, where he won the Campeonato Paulista Série A2. After returning to former team América in July of that year, he was unable to avoid his side's relegation from the Série B.

Pintado subsequently worked at Atlético Sorocaba, Inter de Limeira, Rio Branco-SP, Taubaté, Rio Branco de Andradas and Noroeste before taking over Paraná on 18 May 2007. He left the club in July, after only nine matches after accepting an offer from an Emirati club.

Pintado took over Ituano in January 2008, but resigned on 24 February. The following day, he was appointed in charge of São Caetano, but was dismissed on 9 July. Six days later, he was named at the helm of Náutico, but was sacked on 8 August; he ended the year at Figueirense, after being named manager of the side in November.

Sacked by Figueira on 2 March 2009, Pintado had a short stint at Mirassol before taking over Ponte Preta on 25 May. He was relieved from his duties on 29 August, and returned to Mirassol on 28 October for the ensuing campaign.

Pintado resigned from Mirassol on 13 March 2010, and moved abroad with Club León on 1 September. He returned to Brazil on 1 December to join Santo André, but left his post the following 20 February. Two days later, he took over Linense.

Pintado left Linense on 16 April 2012, and was named manager of Guaratinguetá on 18 June. He opted to leave the club on 15 August, and was appointed in charge of CRB four days later; on 1 October, he was sacked.

Pintado worked at Penapolense, América de Natal and São Caetano during the 2013 season, before returning to Mexico to work as an assistant manager at Cruz Azul.

Pintado as an interim head coach of São Paulo in 2017

On 23 August 2015, Pintado was appointed Guarani manager, but left the following 3 April to return to former club São Paulo, as an assistant. While at the latter club, he was an interim manager on two occasions.

Pintado returned to managerial duties on 6 February 2018, after taking over São Caetano for a third spell. He was dismissed by the club after suffering relegation in the 2019 Campeonato Paulista, and returned to Figueirense on 14 October; he led the side to a nine-match unbeaten run, which helped them to avoid relegation, but still left on 6 December.

On 31 January 2020, Pintado was named manager of Água Santa, but left on 27 March to take over Juventude. The following 1 February, after achieving top tier promotion, he left the club and was named in charge of Ferroviária.

Pintado resigned from AFE on 26 April 2021, and took over Goiás three days later. He left the club on 18 July, and was appointed in charge of Chapecoense on 4 August.

On 26 October 2021, with Chape in the last position, Pintado left on a mutual agreement. The following 4 January, he took over Cuiabá also in the top tier.

Pintado won the Campeonato Matogrossense with Cuiabá, but was sacked on 12 May 2022. He then worked at his first club Inter de Limeira during the 2023 Campeonato Paulista, before returning to Juventude on 11 March of that year.

Pintado was sacked by Ju on 8 May 2023, after one win in five matches into the 2023 Série B. On 24 July, he returned to Ponte Preta after nearly 14 years, but was dismissed on 2 October.

On 9 February 2024, Pintado was announced as head coach of Portuguesa, replacing Dado Cavalcanti. He left after the end of the 2024 Campeonato Paulista, and returned to Guarani on 19 June.

On 26 July 2024, after 13 winless matches, Pintado was dismissed by Bugre. On 5 February of the following year, he was named in charge of Água Santa, but was unable to prevent relegation from the 2025 Campeonato Paulista.

On 29 April 2025, Pintado returned to Figueirense for his third spell as a head coach. He was dismissed on 11 August, after a five-match winless run.

As of 14 April 2026

São Paulo

• Campeonato Paulista: 1985, 1990 e 1992
• Copa Libertadores: 1992, 1993
• Intercontinental Cup: 1992

Cruz Azul

• Copa México: 1996–97

América Mineiro

• Copa Sul-Minas: 2000

Inter de Limeira

• Campeonato Paulista Série A2: 2004

Cuiabá

• Campeonato Mato-Grossense: 2022

• Pintado at J.League (archive) (in Japanese)