Sandro Fernando Silva Cunha (born 5 December 1982) is a Portuguese former 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 played as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

Club career

Born in

Fafe Fafe (), officially the City of Fafe (), is a city and municipality in the northern Portuguese district of Braga. The population in 2021 was 48,502, in an area of approximately . The city itself had a population of 15,703 in 2011. The present ma ...

Braga District The district of Braga ( ) is a district in the northwest of Portugal. The district capital is the city of Braga, and it is bordered by the district of Viana do Castelo in the north, Vila Real in the east, Galicia (a Spanish autonomous commu ...

, Cunha spent five of his first six seasons as a senior in the third division, in representation of

AD Fafe Associação Desportiva de Fafe (abbreviated as AD Fafe) is a Portuguese professional football club based in Fafe, in the district of Braga. Background AD Fafe currently plays in the Campeonato Nacional de Seniores – Série A which is ...

FC Porto B Futebol Clube do Porto B, commonly known as Porto B, is a Portuguese professional football team, which serves as the reserve side of FC Porto. They compete in the Liga Portugal 2, the second division of Portuguese football, and play their home ...

, G.D. Tourizense and F.C. Lixa. In 2007 he upgraded to the Segunda Liga, where he first appeared with

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 ...

. In the 2010–11 campaign, Cunha contributed 29 games and two goals as Gil Vicente F.C. returned to the

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 ...

after an absence of five years. He made his debut in the competition on 12 August 2011, playing the full 90 minutes in the 2–2 home draw against

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 " ...

. His first goal arrived on 19 May 2013, but in a 1–3 home loss to

G.D. Estoril Praia Grupo Desportivo Estoril Praia (), commonly known as Estoril, is a Portuguese professional sports club from Estoril, Cascais, Lisbon. Founded on 17 May 1939, its Association football, football team currently plays in Primeira Liga and hold home g ...

. In the summer of 2014, after one season in the second tier with

Moreirense FC Moreirense Futebol Clube is a Portuguese professional football club based in Moreira de Cónegos, Guimarães Municipality, Minho. Founded on 1 November 1938, it plays in the Primeira Liga, holding home games at Parque de Jogos Comendador Joaqui ...

, Cunha signed for Varzim S.C. in

the third is a light novel series, that has also been made into manga and anime series by Ryo Hoshino and illustrated by Ariko Ito. The anime series goes under the name . According to the New York Comic Convention, ''The Third'' has been licensed by ...

. He won promotion in his debut campaign with a career-best seven goals, then spent a further four years with the club in division two. Cunha returned to Fafe in February 2020. He retired shortly after, however, going on to work as

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

in the lower leagues.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cunha, Sandro 1982 births Living people People from Fafe Portuguese men's footballers Men's association football defenders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players AD Fafe players FC Porto B players G.D. Tourizense players F.C. Lixa players S.C. Olhanense players F.C. Vizela players Gil Vicente F.C. players Moreirense F.C. players Varzim S.C. players Portuguese football managers Footballers from Braga District 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen