Following his three-year spell with Tirsense, his next few years of his managerial career would prove to be his most successful as he would go on to manage Vitória de Setúbal, F.C.

[3] Despite Artur Jorge's departure midway through the 1995–96 season, Neca would remain with Benfica under the management of Mário Wilson.

[4][5] In 1996, he left his assistant managerial role at Benfica and accepted an offer by the Angolan Football Federation to coach the Angola national team.

Angola would exit the tournament in the first round of the competition, following a third-place finish in the group phase after two draws and one loss.

[citation needed] He also spent a portion of the 2003 season in North America in the Canadian Professional Soccer League initially as a technical coordinator with Toronto Croatia.

[11] After a year in charge he would leave the national side and would return to Portugal to manage Aves for the fourth time in his career.

The next three seasons would see him manage four different clubs among those included Al-Salmiya SC, Gil Vicente, Liga Muçulmana and G.D. Estoril Praia.

[16] In December 2012, after one win in eight games, Neca was sacked as manager where he left the club in nineteenth place in the league.