Davidson Renato da Cruz Coronel (born 14 April 1986), known as Bijou, is a Cape Verdean former

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 played as a

central midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He spent his entire professional career in Portugal.

Club career

Bijou was born in Praia. After being spotted at local

Sporting Clube da Praia Sporting Clube da Praia, short form: Sporting Praia ( Capeverdean Crioulo, ALUPEC or ALUPEK as well as Badiu: ''Sporting Klubi di Praia'') is a professional football club that plays in the Santiago South Premier Division in Cape Verde. It is ...

scouts Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpack ...

from

S.L. Benfica Sport Lisboa e 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'', Be ...

he moved to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, playing his first year as a senior with the reserve side in the third division. Benfica B folded after that season and Bijou was loaned, alongside teammate Nicolás Canales, to Gondomar S.C. of the second level, where he only played one league game. Released by his parent club in the summer of 2007, he met the same fate at his next team, C.D. Fátima in the same tier, having to resume his career in the lower leagues of the country. On 29 March 2017, nearly one year after leaving his last club,

Sport Benfica e Castelo Branco Sport Benfica e Castelo Branco, commonly referred to as Benfica e Castelo Branco is a semi-professional football club based in Castelo Branco. Founded on 24 March 1924, the club has traditionally worn a red and white home kit since inception. ...

, Bijou announced his retirement at the age of 30.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bijou 1986 births Living people Sportspeople from Praia Cape Verdean footballers Association football midfielders Sporting Clube da Praia players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players S.L. Benfica B players Gondomar S.C. players C.D. Fátima players C.D. Pinhalnovense players AD Fafe players F.C. Arouca players Atlético Clube de Portugal players Varzim S.C. players Sport Benfica e Castelo Branco players Cape Verdean expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Portugal Cape Verdean expatriate sportspeople in Portugal