Jorge Djaniny Tavares Semedo (born 21 March 1991), known as Djaniny, is a Cape Verdean 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 lea ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for

Saudi Pro League The Saudi Pro League (SPL), also known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Saudi Arabia and the highest level of the Saudi football league system. The SPL is regarded as th ...

club Al Fateh. After achieving 75 games and 12 goals in the Portuguese

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

for

União de Leiria União Desportiva de Leiria (), commonly known as União de Leiria, is a Portuguese professional Association football, football club based in Leiria. Founded on 6 June 1966, it currently plays in the Liga Portugal 2, holding home matches at Está ...

Olhanense Sporting Clube Olhanense (), commonly known as Olhanense, is a Portuguese sports club from Olhão, Algarve. Its football team was founded on 27 April 1912 and currently plays in the Algarve Football Association First Division, the fifth tier of ...

and

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

, he won club and individual honours with

Santos Laguna Club Santos Laguna S.A. de C.V., simply known as Santos Laguna or Santos, is a Mexican professional football club based in Torreón, Coahuila. The club competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Founded in 1983 as Club Santos I ...

in Mexico, Al Ahli in Saudi Arabia,

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional sports club located in the city of Trabzon, located in Black Sea region, northeastern Turkey. Established in 1967 through the merger of several local clubs, Trabzonspor is one of the most prominent A ...

of Turkey and

Sharjah Sharjah (; ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It is the capital of the Emirate of Sharjah and forms part of the D ...

in the United Arab Emirates. Djaniny was first

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the e ...

Cape Verde Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...

in 2012, and represented the country at the

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

and

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Club career

União Leiria

Born in Santa Cruz, Djaniny arrived in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

at the age of 18 to study

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

, immediately starting playing football with

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

-based Grupo Desportivo Velense, a regional league club from

Angra do Heroísmo Angra do Heroísmo (), or simply Angra, is a city and municipality on Terceira Island, Portugal, and one of the three capital cities of the Azores. Founded in 1478, Angra was historically the most important city in the Azores, as seat of the Roma ...

. On 18 July 2011, after scoring 50 goals in two seasons, the 20-year-old moved straight to the

, signing for three years with

U.D. Leiria União Desportiva de Leiria (), commonly known as União de Leiria, is a Portuguese professional football club based in Leiria. Founded on 6 June 1966, it currently plays in the Liga Portugal 2, holding home matches at Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pe ...

. He made his competitive debut on 21 August, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 away loss against F.C. Paços de Ferreira. Djaniny scored his first goal as a professional on 30 October 2011, in the 2–0 home win over

Vitória de Setúbal Vitoria or Vitória may refer to: People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Sofia Vitória (bor ...

. The following matchday he added another, in a 3–1 defeat at

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

Benfica

Djaniny agreed terms with

S.L. Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. Founded on 28 February 1904, as ''Sport Lisboa'', Benfica is one of the " ...

in January 2012, being assigned to the resurrected

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

which competed in the Segunda Liga in the 2012–13 campaign. On 31 August he moved teams again, being loaned to top division side

S.C. Olhanense Sporting Clube Olhanense (), commonly known as Olhanense, is a Portuguese sports club from Olhão, Algarve. Its Association football, football team was founded on 27 April 1912 and currently plays in the Algarve Football Association Portuguese Di ...

for one year. Djaniny failed to find the net in nine starts for the

Algarve The Algarve (, , ) is the southernmost NUTS statistical regions of Portugal, NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities (concelho, ''concelhos'' or ''município ...

team, who avoided relegation by one point.

Nacional

On 16 July 2013, Djaniny terminated his contract with Benfica and signed a permanent deal with

C.D. Nacional Clube Desportivo Nacional (), commonly known as Nacional da Madeira and sometimes just Nacional, is a Portuguese football club based in Funchal, on the island of Madeira. Founded on 8 December 1910, it currently plays in the Liga Portugal , P ...

also in the top flight. He scored eight goals in all competitions in his only season in

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

, including one in the

Taça da Liga The Taça da Liga (), known outside Portugal as Portuguese League Cup, is an annual club football competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) for teams competing in the top two tiers of Portuguese football – the ...

against Gil Vicente F.C. ( 2–2 group stage draw) and another in the league against Benfica (2–4 home loss).

Santos Laguna

Djaniny moved to Mexican club

on 24 June 2014, reuniting with his former Leiria coach

Pedro Caixinha Pedro Miguel Faria Caixinha (; born 15 November 1970) is a Portuguese professional football manager and former player who played as a goalkeeper. He started coaching in his late twenties, acting an assistant with Sporting CP, Al-Hilal, Panath ...

. He scored his first goal in the

Liga MX Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divis ...

on 10 August, but in a 3–2 defeat to

Querétaro F.C. Querétaro Fútbol Club, also known as Gallos Blancos de Querétaro, is a Mexican professional association football, football club based in Querétaro (city), Querétaro. It plays in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football league system, M ...

at the

Estadio Corona The Estadio Corona is a stadium in Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico, and the home stadium of Santos Laguna of Liga MX. History It was completed in 2009, it has a standard capacity of 30,000, with 20,000 for special events. The stadium's total cost ...

. In the 2018 Clausura, Djaniny netted 14 times to help his team be crowned national champions for the sixth time in their history. In the process, he became the first African player to win the competition's top scorer award.

Al Ahli

On 13 July 2018, Djaniny signed with

Al Ahli Saudi FC Al-Ahli Saudi Football Club (), commonly known as Al-Ahli, is a Saudi professional football club based in Jeddah. It competes in the Saudi Pro League, the top tier of Saudi football. Al-Ahli has won 52 official championships, the third mos ...

who paid his release clause. On 11 January of the following year, he scored all of his team's goals as they defeated

Ohod Club Ohod Club () is a Saudi Arabian professional football club based in Medina, which competes in the Saudi First Division League. History Ohod was named after Mount Uhud, hence the nickname "Al-Jabal". Ohod have won the Saudi First Division three t ...

5–1.

Trabzonspor

Djaniny joined

on a three-year contract on 4 October 2020. The following 27 January, he opened the 2–1 victory over

İstanbul Başakşehir F.K. İstanbul Başakşehir Futbol Kulübü (), commonly referred to as Başakşehir or, due to sponsorship reasons, Rams Başakşehir, is a professional football club based in the Başakşehir district of Istanbul, Turkey. Known for its vibrant ora ...

in the

Turkish Super Cup The Turkish Super Cup, known as Turkcell Super Cup () for sponsorship reasons, is a super cup tournament in Turkish football. Founded in 1966 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2025 by four teams: the winners ...

. In the 2021–22 campaign, Djaniny was an integral part of the squad that secured the club's first

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

title in 38 years, but moved on loan to

Sharjah FC Sharjah Football Club () is an Emirati professional football club based in Sharjah that competes in the UAE Pro League. Their home stadium is the Sharjah Stadium. Founded in 1966, Sharjah is considered to be one of the pioneers of complaining s ...

of the

UAE Pro League The UAE Pro League (), also known as the ADNOC Pro League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the highest level of the Emirati football league system. The first team to w ...

for the second half of

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

. On his debut on 10 February, he scored and assisted

Paco Alcácer Francisco "Paco" Alcácer García (; born 30 August 1993) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a striker for UAE Pro League club Sharjah. Having come through the Valencia youth ranks, he started playing with the first team in 2010 ...

in a 4–0 home defeat of

Ajman Club Ajman Football Club (Arabic: نادي عجمان), simply Ajman Club or Ajman FC, is an Emirati professional football club based in Ajman. In 2015, Ajman was relegated to the second division, but managed to climb back to the top flight in 2017. ...

to go top of the table. Fifteen days later, he featured in a 1–0 win over reigning league champions

Al Ain FC Al Ain Football Club (; Arabic transliteration, transliterated: Nady al-'Ayn) is a professional Football team, football club based in the city of Al Ain, Abu Dhabi (emirate), Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It is one of many sport sections of ...

in the

UAE Super Cup The UAE Super Cup () and Charity Champions Cup in the first edition (1989–90), is the curtain raiser of the United Arab Emirates football season. It is played between the previous season's UAE League, Pro-League winners and UAE President's Cup, P ...

Later career

Djaniny returned to the

in September 2023, on a two-year deal at

Al Fateh SC Al Fateh Sports Club () is a Saudi Arabian multi-sports club based in Al-Mubarraz, Al-Ahsa. It is mainly known for its professional football club. The club derives its nickname from the fact that almost all of its sections play in the nationa ...

International career

Djaniny received his first call-up for

in late 2011. He scored his first international goal in a

2013 Africa Cup of Nations The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange S.A., Orange Africa Cup of Nations South Africa 2013 for sponsorship reasons, held from 19 January to 10 February 2013, was the 29th Africa Cup of Nations, the Association football, footbal ...

qualifier against

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

, on 16 June 2012. In his next match, he concluded a 2–0 win over

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

on 8 September at the

Estádio da Várzea Estádio da Várzea is a multi-purpose stadium in Praia, Cape Verde, just west of the city center's plateau in the subdivision of Várzea, Praia, Várzea and on Avenida Cidade de Lisboa on its east side. It is currently used mostly for football ( ...

. Djaniny went to the Africa Cup of Nations in 2013 and

, helping to a quarter-final finish at the former tournament.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Cape Verde score listed first, score column indicates score after each Djaniny goal''

Honours

Santos Laguna *

: Clausura 2015, Clausura 2018 *

Copa MX Copa MX, also known as Copa Corona MX for sponsorship reasons, was an association football competition in Mexico and the domestic cup tournament for clubs at the highest and second levels of Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Copa ...

: Apertura 2014 *

Campeón de Campeones Campeón de Campeones () is an association football competition in Mexico and the domestic super cup between the Liga MX champions of the ''Apertura'' and ''Clausura'' tournaments. It was initially a super cup match between the league and cup cha ...

Trabzonspor *

: 2021–22 *

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Sharjah *

Individual *Liga MX top scorer: Clausura 2018 *

Saudi Professional League The Saudi Pro League (SPL), also known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Saudi Arabia and the highest level of the Saudi football league system. The SPL is regarded as th ...

Player of the Month: January 2019

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Djaniny 1991 births Living people 21st-century Cape Verdean sportsmen Cape Verdean men's footballers Men's association football forwards Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players U.D. Leiria players S.L. Benfica B players S.C. Olhanense players C.D. Nacional players Liga MX players Santos Laguna footballers Saudi Pro League players Al-Ahli Saudi FC players Al Fateh SC players Süper Lig players Trabzonspor footballers UAE Pro League players Sharjah FC players Cape Verde men's international footballers 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players 2015 Africa Cup of Nations players Cape Verdean expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in the United Arab Emirates Cape Verdean expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Cape Verdean expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Cape Verdean expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Cape Verdean expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates