Kristopher Santos Da Graca (born 16 January 1998) is a

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

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Veikkausliiga Veikkausliiga (; sv, Tipsligan) is the premier division of Finnish football, the highest tier of the Finnish football league structure, comprising the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agency Veikka ...

club

KuPS Kuopion Palloseura (or KuPS) is a Finnish football club, based in the ninth most populated city of Finland, Kuopio. KuPS plays in Finland's Premier League, Veikkausliiga. KuPS has won the Finnish championship six times, the Finnish Cup 4 time ...

, on loan from

Sirius Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Greek word , or , meaning 'glowing' or 'scorching'. The star is designated α Canis Majoris, Latinized to Alpha Canis Majoris, and abbreviated Alpha CMa ...

. Born in Sweden, he plays for the

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

national team.

Club career

On 6 January 2021, Da Graca was transferred from Swedish side

IFK Göteborg Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or simply Göteborg, is a Swedish professional Football team, football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in ...

to Dutch club

VVV-Venlo VVV-Venlo (, ''VVV'' stands for ''Venlose Voetbal Vereniging'' meaning "Venlo Football Club") is a Dutch football club from Venlo, a city on the border with Germany. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, followin ...

. On 29 January 2022, Da Graca returned to Sweden and signed with

IK Sirius IK Sirius is a Swedish bandy club located in Uppsala, currently playing in Elitserien. IK Sirius were formed in 1907 and play their home games at Studenternas Idrottsplats. History IK Sirius' first success was becoming Swedish runners-up in ...

. On 27 July 2023, Da Graca was loaned out to Finnish club

HJK Helsinki Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (), commonly known as HJK Helsinki, or simply as HJK, is a professional football club based in Helsinki, Finland. The club competes in the Finnish Veikkausliiga. Founded in 1907, the club has spent most of its history ...

for the rest of the

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

season with a purchase option. After the season, he returned to Sirius. On 1 March 2024, Da Graca was loaned out to

Kuopion Palloseura Kuopion Palloseura (or KuPS) is a Finnish football club, based in the ninth most populated city of Finland, Kuopio. KuPS plays in Finland's Premier League, Veikkausliiga. KuPS has won the Finnish championship six times, the Finnish Cup 4 times ...

(KuPS) in

for the 2024 season, with a purchase option.

International career

Da Graca was born in Sweden to parents from

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

. He was a youth international for Sweden. In January 2020, he was selected for the Swedish national a-team's international training matches in Doha, Qatar against Moldova and Kosovo by head coach, Janne Andersson. He is still eligible to represent

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

due to his heritage. He made his international debut for the Sweden national team on 12 January 2020 in a friendly game against

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Eur ...

. On 4 October 2023, Da Graca got a call-up to Cape Verde national team for friendly matches against

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , religi ...

and Comoros, on 12 and 17 October 2023, respectively. On the 17 of October, 2023, Da Graca debuted with the Cape Verdean national side and was included in the starting lineup in a friendly match against Comoros hosted at

Stade Parsemain Stade Parsemain is a Multi-purpose stadium in Fos-sur-Mer, France. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of FC Istres Football Club Istres Ouest Provence (; commonly referred to as simply Istres) is a Frenc ...

Fos-sur-Mer Fos-sur-Mer (, literally ''Fos on Sea''; Provençal: ''Fòs'') is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France. Geography Fos-sur-Mer is situated about north west of Marseille, on the Mediterranean coast, and to the west ...

, France. His side lost the match 2–1.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Da Graca, Kristopher 1998 births Living people Footballers from Gothenburg Swedish men's footballers Sweden men's youth international footballers Swedish people of Cape Verdean descent Sportspeople of Cape Verdean descent Allsvenskan players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Hisingsbacka FC players IFK Göteborg players IK Sirius Fotboll players VVV-Venlo players Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi players Kuopion Palloseura players Veikkausliiga players Men's association football defenders Swedish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Swedish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Dual internationalists (men's football) Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Finland Expatriate men's footballers in Finland Cape Verdean expatriate sportspeople in Finland Cape Verdean expatriate men's footballers