Anthony "Tony" da Silva (born 20 December 1980) 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 le ...

who played as a

right-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 ...

Playing career

The son of a Portuguese couple, Silva was born in Le Creusot,

Saône-et-Loire Saône-et-Loire (; Arpitan: ''Sona-et-Lêre'') is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the rivers Saône and Loire, between which it lies, in the country's central-eastern part. Saône-et-Loire is Bo ...

. After spending a decade in the youth academy of Paris Saint-Germain FC, he returned to his parents' hometown of Chaves in his teens, making his debut in professional football at the age of 20 with

G.D. Chaves Grupo Desportivo de Chaves, commonly known as Chaves (), is a Portuguese association football, football football team, club from Chaves, Portugal, Chaves currently playing in the Primeira Liga. They were founded in 1949 and currently play at Está ...

in the Segunda Liga and remaining four years with the club at that level. Silva made his

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

debut in the 2005–06 season, only missing two games as C.F. Estrela da Amadora easily retained their league status. In January 2007 he moved abroad, signing with CFR Cluj in Romania. During his spell at Cluj, Silva quickly became a fan favourite for his strong work ethic and dedication, eventually gaining team captaincy. During his stint he won six major titles, including two

Liga I The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...

championships, contributing a total of 50 appearances and one goal to those conquests (32 matches in 2007–08). In the following campaign he suffered a knee

ligament A ligament is the fibrous connective tissue that connects bones to other bones. It is also known as ''articular ligament'', ''articular larua'', ''fibrous ligament'', or ''true ligament''. Other ligaments in the body include the: * Peritoneal li ...

injury which sidelined him for several weeks, but he still recovered in time to help the club win the

domestic cup A domestic cup (also known as association cup or national cup) is a type of sports tournament, particularly common in association football. This tournament type is notable for its participation by professional and amateur teams from many levels of ...

for the second time in its history. Silva returned to his country in January 2011 and signed with Vitória de Guimarães, aged 30. In the same

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer win ...

but the following year, he joined fellow league side

F.C. Paços de Ferreira Futebol Clube Paços de Ferreira () is a Portuguese football club based in Paços de Ferreira, Porto district. Founded in 1950, the club competes in the Primeira Liga, holding home games at the 9,077-seater Estádio da Mata Real, a municipal stadi ...

. On 5 May 2013, Silva scored his only goal in the Portuguese top flight, netting through a rare header to help his team defeat Sporting CP 1–0 at home and cling on to a best-ever third position in the league, with the subsequent qualification to the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

. He finished his career in 2015, following a spell with

F.C. Penafiel Futebol Clube de Penafiel ( or ) is a Portuguese Association football, football club founded on 8 February 1951 and based in the city of Penafiel, Portugal, Penafiel. Brief history Penafiel first reached the Portuguese Liga, first division in Po ...

in the same tier.

Coaching career

After becoming a manager, Silva worked mainly in the lower leagues or amateur football. The exception to this was late into the 2015–16 season, when he went from assistant to

interim An interim is a period of temporary pause or change in a sequence of events, or a temporary state, and is often applied to transitional political entities. Interim may also refer to: Temporary organizational arrangements (general concept) *Provis ...

Académico de Viseu F.C. Académico de Viseu Futebol Clube is a Portuguese professional football club based in Viseu. Founded in 1914 as ''Clube Académico de Futebol'', the club went through several changes over the course of the years, folding in 2005 due to financial ...

after Ricardo Chéu was dismissed by the second division club. In October 2019, Silva left Chaves' youths and joined his compatriot

Toni Conceição António Conceição da Silva Oliveira (born 6 December 1961), known as Toni Conceição, is a Portuguese football manager and former player who played as a right-back. His playing career was spent mostly in the Primeira Liga at Braga, as well ...

's staff at the Cameroon national team, as a video analyst.

Honours

CFR Cluj *

: 2007–08, 2009–10 *

Cupa României The Cupa României ( en, Romanian Cup) is a Association football, football cup competition for List of football clubs in Romania, Romanian teams which has been held annually since 1933–34 Cupa României, 1933–34, except during World War II. I ...

: 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10 *

Supercupa României The Supercupa României ( en, Romanian Supercup) is a Romanian football championship contested by the winners of the Liga I and the Cupa României. It is usually played at the Arena Națională in Bucharest. The competition started off in 1994, ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Silva, Anthony Da 1980 births Living people French people of Portuguese descent Sportspeople from Le Creusot Portuguese footballers French footballers Footballers from Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Association football defenders Paris Saint-Germain F.C. players Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players G.D.R.C. Os Sandinenses players G.D. Chaves players C.F. Estrela da Amadora players Vitória S.C. players F.C. Paços de Ferreira players F.C. Penafiel players Liga I players CFR Cluj players Portuguese expatriate footballers French expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Romania Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Romania French expatriate sportspeople in Romania Portuguese football managers French football managers Liga Portugal 2 managers Académico de Viseu F.C. managers Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Cameroon French expatriate sportspeople in Cameroon