Ruben Amorim‘s tumultuous 14-month stint at Manchester United came to a bitter end as the club confirmed his dismissal following a breakdown in relations with the Old Trafford hierarchy.
The Portuguese manager, who arrived with so much promise in November 2024 after establishing himself as one of Europe’s most exciting young coaches at Sporting CP, ultimately became another casualty of United’s post-Ferguson managerial merry-go-round.
Amorim’s ’emotional and inconsistent behaviour’ was cited as a key factor in the decision, along with his refusal to adapt his preferred 3-4-3 system. The sacking came less than 24 hours after his stunning post-match press conference following a 1-1 draw at Leeds, where he urged United bosses to “do your jobs.”
In his 63 games in charge, Amorim won just 25, oversaw United’s worst-ever Premier League finish of 15th place in his debut campaign, and lost the Europa League final to Tottenham.
Through all the turbulence, one person has remained a constant pillar of support in Amorim’s life: his wife, Maria Joao Diogo.
Maria Joao Diogo Amorim tied the knot with Ruben in 2013 and the two have been together since he was still a player. As the Portuguese footballer pursued to enhance his career on the football field, Maria Joao has been quite independent in her own right in terms of advancing her career as an ambitious business woman.
Maria Joao did her graduation in telecommunications engineering from the Universidade de Coimbra in Coimbra, Portugal. She also did a small course on telecommunications at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid after her undergraduate course to improve her qualifications before moving into a career.
Her first job was actually as a Driving Test Analysis and Performance Engineer for Lightbridge Communications Corporation Spain from September 2007-June 2008. After that, she had a stint working with Critical Healthcare.
She even worked for Chinese electronics manufacturers Huawei Technologies as a Network Planning and Optimization Engineer for five years from 2010-2015, where her work was to help Planning and Implementing Networks – which included assisting with the planning and implementation of hardware, software, and telecommunications equipment to maintain and enhance network.
But in October 2015, she left her job at Huawei, potentially as Amorim had to move away to Qatar for a short loan spell at Al-Wakrah. As Ruben prepared for a shift to coaching, Maria Joao also opted to help him in his ordeal and plan for a change in her career.
She has transitioned into an interior designer who is actually one of the two co-founders of the Portuguese company Dois Tons. Maria Joao operates this interior design company alongside Raquel Viana, who is the wife of former Sporting CP sporting director Hugo Viana – who worked closely with Ruben to help usher in a new era for the club.
The interesting thing is that Hugo Viana became Manchester City’s new sporting director in the summer of 2025. Maria Joao and Raquel, however, are the best of friends and partners in operating this interior design company. Dois Tons offers a range of services for their clients, which include interior design projects for residential and commercial spaces, temporary rentals and tourist exploration.
The company also offers Home staging projects, Lighting projects, Turnkey projects as well as the preparation of plans and layouts for the interior design execution.
Maria Joao is also the sister of former Paris Saint-Germain sporting director Antero Henrique, who was responsible for bringing Neymar to the club from Barcelona for a record-breaking £200 million fee. She and Ruben share one child together, a son. Maria has ensured to keep her business in check while also focusing on raising their son.
Despite being the face of a notable interior design company, Maria likes to keep her personal life a secret. She has only 600 followers on her Instagram account, which has been kept to private to ensure football fans or Amorim’s ‘admirers’ can’t follow her personal deeds.
Considering that Dois Tons is based out of Lisbon, Portugal and most of her clients are Portuguese, it’ll be a bit of a hassle for Maria Joao to ‘commute to work’ now that she’s moved to Manchester with Ruben.
With Amorim’s Manchester United chapter now closed after just 14 months, the future looks uncertain for the couple. Amorim’s tenure became the shortest reign of a permanent United manager since David Moyes was sacked eight months into his tenure in 2014. Whether the family returns to Portugal or Amorim pursues another managerial opportunity elsewhere in Europe remains to be seen.
What is certain is that Maria Joao will continue to be the steady force behind her husband as he navigates this setback. Her ability to balance running Dois Tons while supporting Amorim through the pressures of top-level football management speaks to the partnership that has sustained them since his playing days.
As Ruben contemplates his next move, he can count on Maria Joao’s unwavering support – just as she has provided throughout every twist and turn of his career.
