Luiz Fernando da Silva Monte (born 14 April 1991), commonly known as Fernando Karanga, is a Brazilian

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 ...

Career

Early career

Karanga began his professional career with Santa Cruz, but failed to cement a first team place and spent loan spells with

Bragantino Red Bull Bragantino () is a Brazilian football club based in Bragança Paulista, São Paulo. It competes in the Série A, the top tier of the Brazilian football league system, as well as in the Campeonato Paulista Série A1, the highest level ...

and

Belo Jardim Belo Jardim (''Beautiful Garden'') a Brazilian municipality in the state of Pernambuco. It has an estimated population in 2020 of 76,687 and a total area of 647.7 km2. It is located at 608 meters above the sea level and 182 km away fr ...

before joining Trindade on a permanent basis.

CSKA Sofia

Karanga signed a two-and-a-half-year deal with

CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. ''CSKA'' is an abbreviation for ''Central Sports Club of the Army'' ...

on 2 February 2017. On 29 April he scored a goal in the

Eternal derby of Bulgarian football The Eternal derby of Bulgarian football or simply The Eternal derby () is the name of the local derby Association football, football match between the two most popular and successful football clubs in Sofia and Bulgaria: PFC Levski Sofia, Levski ...

, netting the third in CSKA's 3–0 win over

Levski Sofia PFC Levski Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded on 24 May 1914 by a group of high sc ...

. Karanga began the 2017–18 season with a goal in the first league game against

Slavia Sofia PFC Slavia Sofia 1913 () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which currently competes in the top tier of the Bulgarian football league system, the First League. Slavia's home ground is the Stadion Aleksandar Sh ...

on 15 July, which ended in a 1–1 draw. Two weeks later he scored his first hat-trick in Bulgaria during a 6–2 away win over

Botev Plovdiv Profesionalen Futbolen Klub Botev AD, commonly referred to as Botev Plovdiv (, ), or simply Botev (within its associated city), is a Bulgarian professional Association football, football club based in Plovdiv. It competes in the First Professiona ...

. Karanga continued his scoring run in the following games, scoring 12 goals in his first 11 league matches of the campaign. He also scored on his Bulgarian Cup debut against Botev Vratsa in the 1/8 finals. The Brazilian finished the year with a total of 23 goals in 30 league games for the Reds, in addition to 2 games and 1 goal in the Bulgarian Cup. He continued his fine performances during the first months of 2018, but sustained an injury in the second leg of a Bulgarian Cup match against

on 25 April (after a rough tackle), which sidelined him until the end of the season and was a factor in him finishing in second place for the top goalscorer award in the league. Karanga is the highest scoring foreign player in the league fixtures of

The Eternal Derby The Eternal derby of Bulgarian football or simply The Eternal derby () is the name of the local derby football match between the two most popular and successful football clubs in Sofia and Bulgaria: Levski Sofia and CSKA Sofia. The dominant forc ...

with four goals under his belt. He quickly emerged as a favourite with the CSKA Sofia fans.

Henan Jianye

On 12 July 2018, Karanga was transferred to

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

side

Henan Jianye Henan Football Club (), currently known as Henan F.C. Jiuzu Dukang () for sponsorship reasons, is a Chinese professional football club based in Zhengzhou, Henan, that competes in . Henan plays their home matches at the Hanghai Stadium, located wi ...

(later simply known as

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

) for a reported transfer fee of $4 million. He suffered from serious

splenic injury A splenic injury, which includes a ruptured spleen, is any injury to the spleen. The rupture of a normal spleen can be caused by trauma, such as a traffic collision. Signs and symptoms In minor injuries with little bleeding, there may be abdomi ...

in October after a match against

Beijing Guoan Beijing Guoan Football Club (), known in AFC competitions as Beijing FC, is a Chinese professional football club based in Beijing, that competes in . Beijing Guoan plays its home matches at the Workers' Stadium, located within Chaoyang Distr ...

, and received

splenectomy A splenectomy is the surgical procedure that partially or completely removes the spleen. The spleen is an important organ in regard to immunological function due to its ability to efficiently destroy encapsulated bacteria. Therefore, removal of ...

. He discharged from hospital in November, and returned to Brazil for further treatments and recoveries. In March 2019, he was loaned to

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 ...

. In July 2019, he recovered from the previous incident, and rejoined Henan Jianye. On 1 July 2023, he mutually terminated his contract with Henan.

Jinan Xingzhou

On 19 July 2023, Karanga signed with

China League One The Chinese Football League 1 (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (), is the second level of professional football in China, under the Chinese Super League. The league is under the auspices of the Chinese Football Association ...

club Jinan Xingzhou.

Return to CSKA Sofia

On 16 January 2024, Karanga returned to

. During his second stay with the "redmen", he managed to find the net on 5 occasions, becoming the foreign player with the most goals in the league for the team, but his stint was marked by disciplinary issues, resulting in two red cards, for the latter of which, received in a heated match against

Ludogorets Razgrad Professional Football Club Ludogorets 1945 (), commonly known as Ludogorets Razgrad or simply Ludogorets, is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Razgrad, which currently competes in the First Professional Football League ...

, he was handed a six-match ban. He left the team in June 2024, upon the expiration of his contract.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

;Santa Cruz *

Campeonato Pernambucano The Campeonato Pernambucano is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco. It is run by the Pernambuco Football Federation (FPF). History The first edition of the Campeonato Pernambucano was played i ...

: 2011 ;Individual *Best forward in the

Bulgarian First League The First Professional Football League (), commonly known as Parva Liga or Bulgarian First League (currently known as the efbet League for sponsorship reasons), is a professional association football league in Bulgaria and the highest level of t ...

: 2017 *Best foreign player in the

: 2017

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Karanga, Fernando 1991 births Living people Brazilian men's footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Santa Cruz Futebol Clube players Boa Esporte Clube players Jeju SK FC players K League 1 players Criciúma Esporte Clube players PFC CSKA Sofia players Henan F.C. players Nacional Atlético Clube (SP) players Jinan Xingzhou F.C. players Dalian Yingbo F.C. players Chinese Super League players China League One players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in South Korea Expatriate men's footballers in South Korea Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria Expatriate men's footballers in Bulgaria Expatriate men's footballers in China Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in China Men's association football forwards People from Camaragibe Footballers from Pernambuco 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen