António Paulo Sanches Semedo (born 1 June 1979) is a Portuguese retired

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 ...

. Operating as a winger or a

second striker Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

, he was nicknamed "the

Black Panther A black panther is the melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical rosettes are also present. They have been d ...

". After starting out at

Casa Pia :''This article refers to the institution. For the child abuse scandal, see Casa Pia child sexual abuse scandal.'' The Casa Pia is a Portuguese institution founded by Maria I, known as ''A Pia'' ("Mary the Pious"), and organized by Police Intendan ...

, Semedo amassed

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, ...

totals of 97 games and 11 goals over the course of three seasons with Estrela Amadora, where he played six years overall. He also competed professionally for

CFR Cluj Fotbal Club CFR 1907 Cluj, commonly known as CFR Cluj ( or ), is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, which competes in the Liga I. It was founded in 1907 as ''Kolozsvári Vas ...

, Steaua București and

Unirea Urziceni Asociația Sportivă Fotbal Club Urziceni, commonly known as FC Urziceni (), is a Romanian professional Association football, football Club (organization), club based in Urziceni, Ialomița County which currently plays in fourth division, Ialomi ...

in Romania,

Alki Larnaca Alki Larnaca ( el, ΑΛΚΗ Λάρνακας, ''ALKI Larnakas'') was a Cypriot football club based in the town of Larnaca. The club was founded in 1948 and it was dissolved on the 6th of May of 2014 due to financial issues. The club's colours wer ...

in Cyprus, and

Khazar Lankaran Khazar Lankaran FK ( tly, Xəzər Lankon Futboli Klub, script=Latn, az, Xəzər Lənkəran Futbol Klubu) is an Azerbaijani football club based in Lankaran that last played in the Azerbaijan Premier League during the 2015–16 season. Since the ...

in Azerbaijan. Internationally, Semedo earned 16

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 ...

for Portugal at under-21 level between 2000 and 2002.

Club career

After beginning his professional career in his local

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

area with modest

Casa Pia AC Casa Pia Atlético Clube is a Portuguese multi-sports founded in 1920 and based in Lisbon, Portugal, best-known for its football team, that competes in the Primeira Liga. The club is named after Casa Pia, a Portuguese children's charity, and many ...

, Semedo moved to C.F. Estrela da Amadora in 2000. He went on to establish himself as an important attacking element, whether as a starter or from the bench—in his last season he scored six goals in 32 games, helping the capital side finish ninth in the

after having promoted from the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

the previous campaign. In 2006–07, Semedo joined Romania's

, as the

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 ...

team was filled with Portuguese players. After good displays during two seasons, and a

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

in his last, he moved to

FC Steaua București FC Steaua București was a Romanian professional football club of which two current entities are claiming the records. The original ''FC Steaua București'' team was part of the namesake CSA Steaua București sports club and belonged to the Ministry ...

. On 13 September 2008, Semedo scored from a corner kick on his debut, as Steaua won 4–1 against FC Farul Constanța. The following week, he netted a brace in the 4–0 victory over CS Gaz Metan Mediaș. For 2009–10, Semedo was initially demoted to the B-squad. Several weeks later his contract was terminated, but he stayed in the country and signed with FC Unirea Urziceni. In the summer of 2011, Semedo penned a one-year contract with

FK Khazar Lankaran Khazar Lankaran FK ( tly, Xəzər Lankon Futboli Klub, script=Latn, az, Xəzər Lənkəran Futbol Klubu) is an Azerbaijani football club based in Lankaran that last played in the Azerbaijan Premier League during the 2015–16 season. Since the ...

from the

Azerbaijan Premier League The Azerbaijan Premier League ( az, Azərbaycan Premyer Liqası) is a professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Azerbaijan football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is conteste ...

. He retired at the end of the season, aged 33.

International career

Semedo played at the 2002 UEFA European Championship for the Portuguese under-21s, who finished third in their group.

Personal life

After retiring as a footballer, Semedo relocated to England with his wife and children.

Honours

;CFR Cluj *

: 2007–08 *

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

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Semedo, Antonio 1979 births Living people Portuguese people of Cape Verdean descent Footballers from Lisbon Portuguese men's footballers Men's association football wingers Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Casa Pia A.C. players C.F. Estrela da Amadora players Liga I players CFR Cluj players FC Steaua București players FCSB II players FC Unirea Urziceni players Cypriot First Division players Alki Larnaca FC players Azerbaijan Premier League players Khazar Lankaran FK players Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Azerbaijan Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Romania Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Azerbaijan