Sandro Miguel Laranjeira Mendes (born 4 February 1977), known simply as Sandro as a player, is a Cape Verdean 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 midfielder
In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...
, currently a
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 ...
.
Most of his career was spent with
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 ...
, where he had three spells. In 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 ...
, he amassed totals of 195 matches and six goals over nine seasons.
Sandro was born in Portugal, and thus held
Portuguese citizenship
The primary law governing nationality of Portugal is the Nationality Act, which Coming into force, came into force on 3 October 1981. Portugal is a member state of the European Union (EU) and all Portuguese nationals are Citizenship of the Eur ...
. Internationally, he played for Portugal's under-20 and under-21 teams before representing
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 ...
at senior level.
Club career
Sandro was born in
Pinhal Novo
Pinhal Novo () is a town in Portugal situated in the Setúbal Peninsula halfway between Lisbon and Setúbal. It is a civil parish of the Palmela Municipality. The population in 2011 was 25,000,Setúbal District
The District of Setúbal ( ) is a district located in the south-west of Portugal. It is named for its capital, the city of Setúbal.
Geography
It is delimited by Lisbon District and Santarém District on the north, Évora District on the eas ...
, Portugal. He started his career at
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 ...
and made his
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 ...
debut in 1995, but moved to
Hércules CF
Hércules de Alicante Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team in Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded on 25 October 1922, it currently plays in Primera Federación and plays its home games ...
in the Spanish
Segunda División
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...
aged 19 in 1997.
In January 1999, Sandro joined
La Liga
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...
club
Villarreal CF
Villarreal Club de Fútbol, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D., usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Villarreal, in the Province of Castellón, Castellón province of easte ...
UD Salamanca
Unión Deportiva Salamanca, S.A.D. () was a historical Spanish football team based in Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castile and León.
Founded on 9 February 1923 and nicknamed ''Los Charros'', the club played in white shirts and black ...
.
After another five-year spell with Vitória Setúbal,
FC Porto
Futebol Clube do Porto, Order of Prince Henry, MHIH, Order of Merit (Portugal), OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional association footbal ...
acquired Sandro's services for 2005–06. Having failed to make a competitive appearance, he was loaned to
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
's
Manisaspor
Manisaspor is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Manisa. Originally formed in 1931 as Sakaryaspor, the club changed its name to Manisaspor on 15 June 1965.2009–10 season, Sandro played 26 matches and scored once, in a 2–1 away win against relegation rivals
Leixões S.C.
Leixões Sport Club (), commonly known as Leixões, is a Portuguese sports club from Matosinhos. It is organised into several departments for many sports, such as athletics, boxing, football, futsal, handball, karate, swimming, volleyball, wat ...
on 14 March 2010, as Setúbal retained top-flight status. In July 2010 the 33-year-old left for Spain again, signing for
Segunda División B
Segunda División B (English: 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 ...
side
AD Ceuta
Asociación Deportiva Ceuta was a Spanish football team based in the autonomous city of Ceuta. Founded in 1996, its last season was 2011–12 in Segunda División B, holding home matches at '' Estadio Alfonso Murube'', with a capacity of 6,500.
...
where he was joined by several compatriots.
Prior to the start of the 2011–12 campaign, Sandro signed with
Associação Naval 1º de Maio
Associação Naval 1º de Maio or Associação Naval 1893, commonly known as Naval, was a Portuguese Association football, football club based in Figueira da Foz, Coimbra District. Founded on 1 May 1893, it last played in the Division of Honour i ...
caps
Caps are flat headgear.
Caps or CAPS may also refer to:
Science and technology Computing
* CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters
* Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...
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 ...
as a senior, making his debut on 5 June 2004 in a 2–1 away loss to
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
in the
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...
After retiring, Mendes returned to Vitória de Setúbal as youth system coordinator and under-17 coach. In 2014, he was appointed manager of amateurs AC Alcacerense where he completed his coaching licence.
Mendes returned to the
Estádio do Bonfim
Estádio do Bonfim (Bonfim Stadium) is a multi-purpose stadium in Setúbal, Portugal. It is currently used primarily for football matches for Vitória F.C. The stadium was built in 1962 and was able to hold 18,694 spectators. Currently, holds 15,4 ...
in June 2016, again being in charge of the youth system. He then became Vitória's
director of football
A sporting director, or director of sport, is an senior management, executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many typ ...
.
On 25 January 2019, after the dismissal of
Lito Vidigal
José Carlos Fernandes Vidigal (born 11 July 1969), commonly known as Lito, is an Angolan professional football manager and former player who played as a defender.
He spent his entire playing career in Portugal, mainly with Belenenses in the ...
, Mendes was named head coach until the end of the season, and
Jorge Andrade
Jorge Manuel Almeida Gomes de Andrade (; born 9 April 1978) is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a centre-back.
After playing two years with Porto, he went on to represent Deportivo de La Coruña (169 official appear ...
was named as his assistant. On 26 October, following a 0–0 home draw against
C.S. Marítimo
Club Sport Marítimo MH M (), commonly known as Marítimo or Marítimo da Madeira, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in the city of Funchal, on the island of Madeira. Established in 1910, Marítimo is best known for its football team ...
that still left the team above the relegation zone, he was dismissed.
Mendes returned to active on 27 September 2021, taking charge of
Amora F.C.
Amora Futebol Clube, commonly known as simply as Amora, is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Amora, Setúbal. The club was founded on the 1 May 1921 and its founders were Mário de Carvalho, Guilherme Pestana, João Baptista, Julião G ...
In March 2013, Mendes was arrested by the National Counterterrorism unit of the
Judicial Police
The judicial police, judiciary police, or justice police are (depending on both country and legal system) either a branch, separate police agency or type of duty performed by law enforcement structures in a country. The term judiciary police is mo ...
, which was competent to investigate the crime of kidnapping. He was suspected of abducting his 31-year-old ex-wife and raping her, and also of the repeated practice of domestic violence on his former partner and mother of his youngest daughter.
Honours
Vitória Setúbal
*
Taça de Portugal
The Taça de Portugal (; ) is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Generali Tranquilidade since the 2024–25 seaso ...
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 ...