Anderson Emanuel Castelo Branco Cruz (born 9 April 1996) is an Angolan professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a winger for

Petro de Luanda Petro is a masculine given name, a surname and an Ancient Roman cognomen. It may refer to: Given name * Petro Balabuyev (1931-2007), Ukrainian airplane designer, engineer and professor, lead designer of many Antonov airplanes * Petro Doroshenko ( ...

on loan from the Portuguese club

Rio Ave Rio Ave Futebol Clube, commonly known as Rio Ave (), is a Portuguese professional football club based in Vila do Conde, that competes in the Primeira Liga. The club is named after the Ave River, which flows through the town and into the Atla ...

, and the Angola national team.

Club career

Born in

Luanda Luanda () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major Angola#Economy, industrial, Angola#Culture, cultural and Angola#Demographics, urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atl ...

, Cruz moved to

Lisboa Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

at the age of four and finished his formation with

Varzim S.C. Varzim Sport Club () is a Portuguese football team based in Póvoa de Varzim, near Porto in the north of the country. The club was founded on 25 December 1915, and has played at the Estádio do Varzim Sport Club since it was founded. The club p ...

He made his senior debut with the reserves in the 2015–16 season. On 2 February 2016, Cruz signed for

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segunda División'', and the semi-professional ''Segunda Di ...

side

Verín CF Verín Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team based in Verín, in the autonomous community of Galicia. Founded in 1971, it plays in Primeira Autonómica, holding home matches at ''Campo de Fútbol Xosé Argiz'', which has a capacity of 2,000 ...

, on loan from

Ourense CF Ourense CF is a Galician football club from the city of Ourense. It was founded in 1977 as Ponte Ourense Club de Fútbol, and changed its name in 2014, after the dissolution of CD Ourense, and currently plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group ...

. He returned to his parent club for the 2016–17 campaign, scoring ten goals and achieving promotion to the fourth level. On 26 August 2017 Cruz moved to

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Fo ...

side

Rápido de Bouzas Club Rápido de Bouzas is a Spanish football team based in Bouzas, parish of Vigo, in the autonomous community of Galicia. Founded in 1914 it currently plays in Tercera División RFEF – Group 1, holding home games at ''Estadio Baltasar Pujales'' ...

, still owned by Ourense. The following 18 January, he signed a four-year contract with

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

side

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually abbreviated to Alavés, is a Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Founded on 1 July 1920 as Sport Friends Club, it ...

, being immediately loaned to parent club

NK Rudeš Nogometni Klub Rudeš ( en, Football Club Rudeš), commonly referred to as NK Rudeš or simply Rudeš, is a Croatian football club founded in 1957 in Zagreb's neighbourhood of Rudeš. The club competes in Croatia's second division. History Be ...

until the end of the season. Cruz made his professional debut on 11 February 2018, starting in a 2–2 away draw against

NK Lokomotiva Nogometni klub Lokomotiva Zagreb ( en, Lokomotiva Zagreb Football Club), commonly known as Lokomotiva Zagreb or simply Lokomotiva, is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. It competes in the Croatian First Football League, the ...

. Five days later he scored his first professional goal, as he netted the first in a 2–0 home win against

NK Inter Zaprešić Nogometni klub Inter Zaprešić was a Croatian professional football club based in Zaprešić, a town northwest of the capital Zagreb. The team are nicknamed ''Keramičari'' (The ceramics makers), because they were sponsored by a ceramics fact ...

. On 25 May 2018, Cruz was loaned to

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligu ...

side

FC Sochaux-Montbéliard Football Club Sochaux-Montbéliard (; commonly referred to as FCSM or simply Sochaux) is a French association football club based in the city of Montbéliard. The club was founded in 1928 and currently plays in Ligue 2, the second tier of Frenc ...

until the end of the 2018–19 season. On 27 July of the following year, he moved to Segunda División side

CF Fuenlabrada Club de Fútbol Fuenlabrada, S.A.D. is a football club based in Fuenlabrada, Community of Madrid, Spain, that currently competes in Primera División RFEF – Group 1, the third tier of the Spanish league system. It was founded in 1975. It holds ...

also in a temporary deal. On 1 September 2020, Cruz signed for

Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional The Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional (), also known as LaLiga (the abbreviation LFP was also used until the 2015-16 season), is a sports association responsible for administering the two professional football Football is a family of tea ...

side

Club Bolívar Club Bolívar () is a Bolivian professional football club that currently plays in the Bolivian Primera División. Founded in 1925 in honor of Venezuelan military leader Simón Bolívar, it is the most successful and popular club in the history of ...

. He made four

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

and four

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, named as ''Copa Sudamericana'' (; pt, Copa Sul-Americana ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club competition in South American fo ...

appearances for the Bolivian side. On 28 January 2021, Cruz returned to Portugal and signed a four-and-a-half-year deal with

. In January 2022, Cruz was loaned to Angolan club

and the loan was subsequently renewed for the 2022–23 season. On 4 July 2023, the loan deal was extended for a third season.

International career

Cruz debuted with the Angola national team in a 2–0

2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification The 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches were organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to decide the participating teams of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, the 33rd edition of the international men's football champion ...

win over

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...

on 29 March 2021.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz, Anderson 1996 births Footballers from Luanda Living people Angolan men's footballers Angola men's international footballers Men's association football wingers Ourense CF players Rápido de Bouzas players Deportivo Alavés players NK Rudeš players FC Sochaux-Montbéliard players CF Fuenlabrada footballers Club Bolívar players Rio Ave F.C. players Atlético Petróleos de Luanda players Campeonato de Portugal (league) players Segunda División B players Croatian Football League players Ligue 2 players Championnat National 3 players Tercera División players Primeira Liga players Girabola players Angolan expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Angolan expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Angolan expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Croatia Angolan expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Expatriate men's footballers in France Angolan expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in Bolivia Angolan expatriate sportspeople in Bolivia