Carlos Daniel Silveira da Graça (born 5 January 1988), known as Kay, is a Cape Verdean 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 plays as a centre back.

Club career

Portugal

Born in Nossa Senhora da Luz (São Vicente), Kay spent the first seven years of his senior career in Portugal, also playing youth football in the country with S.L. Benfica and Académica de Coimbra. He competed in lower league or amateur football until the age of 24, representing

G.D. Tourizense Grupo Desportivo Tourizense is a Portuguese football club based in Touriz, Tábua Municipality. Founded in 1975, it plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, holding home games at '' Estádio Visconde do Vinhal'', with a 1,200-seat capacity. Histor ...

, Grupo Desportivo Tabuense,

S.C. Mineiro Aljustrelense Sport Clube Mineiro Aljustrelense is a Portuguese football club that competes in the Beja FA. They were founded in 1933. __TOC__ History At the end of the 20s, a group of young people, They decided to get together to create a club, but it was o ...

and CD Operário. In early 2012, Kay agreed to a contract with Segunda Liga club

C.F. Belenenses Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses, commonly known as Os Belenenses (), is a Portuguese sports club best known for its association football, football team. Founded in 1919, it is one of the oldest Portuguese sports clubs. It is based in the 25,000- ...

effective as of 1 July. He contributed with 35 games and five goals in his first season, helping to a return to the

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, ...

after a three-year absence. Kay made his debut in the Portuguese top division on 26 August 2013, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–2 away loss against S.C. Braga.

Universitatea Craiova

In June 2014, Kay signed with

CS Universitatea Craiova U Craiova 1948 Club Sportiv, commonly known as Universitatea Craiova (), CS U Craiova, or simply U Craiova, is a Romanian professional football team based in Craiova, Dolj County, which competes in the Liga I, the top tier of the Romanian leagu ...

in the Romanian

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 ...

. His maiden appearance in the competition took place on 25 July, in a 1–1 home draw against

CS Pandurii Târgu Jiu Clubul Sportiv Pandurii Lignitul Târgu Jiu (), commonly known as Pandurii Târgu Jiu or simply Pandurii, was a Romanian football club based in Târgu Jiu, Gorj County, which competed last time in the Liga IV. Founded in 1962 following the merg ...

. In the 2015–16 season, Kay scored once in 21 matches to help his team finish in eighth position. His teammates included countrymen

Rambé Ramilton Jorge Santos do Rosário (born 4 October 1989), known as Rambé, is a Cape Verdean professional footballer who plays for Académica do Mindelo as a striker. Club career Rambé was born in São Vicente. He started out in his native co ...

and Nuno Rocha, and he was released from contract on 1 April 2017.

Later years

On 26 June 2017, Kay joined AC Omonia on a two-year deal. On 9 July 2019, he moved to

Liga II The Liga 2, most often spelled as Liga II, is the second level of the Romanian football league system. The league changed its name from Divizia B just before the start of the 2006–07 Liga II, 2006–07. It is currently Sponsor (commercial), sp ...

club

FC Universitatea Cluj Fotbal Club Universitatea Cluj (), commonly known as Universitatea Cluj or simply as U Cluj, is a Romanian professional football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, that competes in the Liga I, the first tier of the Romanian ...

from

FK Senica FK Senica () is a Slovak football team, based in the town of Senica. The club was founded in 1921. History FK Senica was founded in 1921. Newly created partition was rapidly progressed, but the boom dampened dark period World War II. World war ...

of the Slovak Super Liga.

International career

Kay earned his first cap for

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

on 8 June 2013, in a 2–1 home win over

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea ( es, Guinea Ecuatorial; french: Guinée équatoriale; pt, Guiné Equatorial), officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea ( es, link=no, República de Guinea Ecuatorial, french: link=no, République de Guinée équatoria ...

for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

qualifiers (later awarded 3–0). Selected for the

2015 Africa Cup of Nations The 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations, Equatorial Guinea 2015 for sponsorship reasons, was the 30th staging of the Africa Cup of Nations, the international men's football championship of Africa. It was orga ...

finals by manager Rui Águas, he was an unused squad member in an eventual group stage exit. Kay scored his first goal for the Blue Sharks on 6 September 2015, helping to a 2–1 success in

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

for the

2017 Africa Cup of Nations The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2017 or CAN 2017), known as the Total 2017 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 31st edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football champions ...

qualifying phase.

International goals

(Cape Verde score listed first, score column indicates score after each Kay goal)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kay 1988 births Living people Cape Verdean footballers Association football defenders People from São Vicente, Cape Verde Batuque FC players Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players G.D. Tourizense players C.F. Os Belenenses players Liga I players Liga II players CS Universitatea Craiova players FC Universitatea Cluj players AC Omonia players Slovak Super Liga players FK Senica players Cape Verde international footballers 2015 Africa Cup of Nations players Cape Verdean expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Romania Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Expatriate footballers in Slovakia Cape Verdean expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Cape Verdean expatriate sportspeople in Romania Cape Verdean expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Cape Verdean expatriate sportspeople in Slovakia