Daniel João Santos Candeias (born 25 February 1988) is a Portuguese 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 winger for Turkish club Kocaelispor. He was on the books of both

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

and Benfica, where he was mostly loaned out, and amassed most of his 134

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, ...

appearances and 15 goals while at

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

. He also played over 100 games in the Turkish

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

with Alanyaspor and Gençlerbirliği, and had spells in Spain, Germany, France and Scotland.

Club career

Porto

Born in Fornos de Algodres, Guarda District, Candeias started his professional career with

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, MHIH, 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 football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portu ...

in the 2008–09 season, after emerging through the club's youth ranks and having served a loan at

Varzim S.C. Varzim Sport Club () is a Portuguese football team based in Póvoa de Varzim, near Porto in the north of the country. The club was founded on 25 December 1915, and has played at the Estádio do Varzim Sport Club since it was founded. The club pl ...

in the Segunda Liga. He made his official debut for the former in late August, in the 2–0 defeat to Sporting CP in the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira. After having appeared scarcely throughout his first year (also playing ten minutes in the 4–0 loss against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in the group stage of 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 ...

), Candeias was loaned in late January to league strugglers Rio Ave FC, until the end of the campaign. For 2009–10 another loan ensued, as he moved to Recreativo de Huelva in the Spanish

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

. However, after a few months during which he appeared infrequently, Candeias returned to Portugal in late January 2010 to join

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 ...

, again on loan. His first match for his new team was a 1–2 home loss against

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 quarter-finals of the Taça de Portugal. His maiden appearance in the

for them occurred on 7 February, as he featured 12 minutes of the 2–1 away victory over Vitória de Guimarães.

Nacional

In October 2010, Candeias moved to

C.D. Nacional Clube Desportivo Nacional, commonly known as Nacional and sometimes Nacional da Madeira (), is a Portuguese football club based in Funchal, on the island of Madeira. Founded on 8 December 1910, it currently plays in the Liga Portugal 2, Portug ...

in the same league on a co-ownership deal. He was immediately loaned to

Portimonense SC Portimonense Sporting Clube is a Portuguese sports club based in Portimão. Founded on 14 August 1914, it is most notable for its professional football team, which currently plays in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. It a ...

, appearing regularly as a starter but suffering top-flight relegation. Upon returning to

Funchal Funchal () is the largest city, the municipal seat and the capital of Portugal's Madeira, Autonomous Region of Madeira, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean. The city has a population of 105,795, making it the sixth largest city in Portugal. Because of ...

, Candeias made his debut in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

second qualifying round against

Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar ( en, Hafnarfjörður Gymnastics Club), commonly referred to as FH, is an Icelandic multi-sports club based in Hafnarfjörður. The club competes in football, handball, athletics, and fencing. It was founded in 1929 ...

of Iceland; he came on as a late substitute in the second leg on 21 July 2011 and scored to conclude a 2–0 win (3–1 aggregate). He netted 15 more goals for the side, including the winner with his first touch from the bench in a 2–1 comeback against

C.S. Marítimo Club Sport Marítimo MH M, commonly known as Marítimo ( locally ), is a Portuguese sports club founded in Funchal, Madeira, in 1910. Marítimo is best known for its football team playing in Portugal's top-flight competition, the Primeira Liga. ...

in the Madeira derby on 21 April 2013, and the opener of a win of the same score against his former club Porto the following 30 March, in which he also assisted the decider by

Mario Rondón Mario Junior Rondón Fernández (; born 26 March 1986) is a Venezuelan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Liga I club Sepsi OSK. Club career Born in Los Teques, Miranda, Rondón arrived in Portugal at age 18, finishing his juni ...

at the

Estádio da Madeira Estádio da Madeira, formerly named Estadio Eng. Rui Alves and informally known as Estádio da Choupana is a Association football, football stadium in Funchal, Madeira, Portugal. It is primarily used as the home stadium for C.D. Nacional. The st ...

Benfica

On 3 July 2014, Candeias signed for Portuguese champions S.L. Benfica, promising to "give everything" for the club. He failed to appear in any competitive games, however, being successively loaned to

1. FC Nürnberg 1. Fußball-Club Nürnberg Verein für Leibesübungen e. V., often called 1. FC Nürnberg (, en, 1. Football Club Nuremberg) or simply Nürnberg, is a German association football club in Nuremberg, Bavaria, who currently compete in the 2. Bund ...

in Germany, Granada CF in Spain, FC Metz in France and Alanyaspor in Turkey.

Rangers

On 11 June 2017, Candeias joined Scottish club

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

on a two-year deal, for a reported transfer fee of £700,000. He made his debut 18 days later, playing 31 minutes in a 1–0 home win over FC Progrès Niederkorn in the

. Candeias scored his first goal for his new team on 9 August 2017, in a 6–0 rout of Dunfermline Athletic in the

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

. He netted in an

Old Firm The Old Firm is the collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are by far the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply em ...

game on 11 March 2018 to give Rangers a 2–1 lead in a 3–2 loss to

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

Ibrox Park Ibrox Stadium is a football stadium on the south side of the River Clyde in the Ibrox area of Glasgow, Scotland. The home of Rangers Football Club, Ibrox is the third largest football stadium in Scotland, with an all-seated capacity of . O ...

; three days later, he extended his contract until the summer of 2020.

Return to Turkey

On 22 July 2019, Candeias signed a two-year contract at

Gençlerbirliği S.K. Gençlerbirliği Spor Kulübü (pronounced ), commonly known as Gençlerbirliği, is a Turkish sports club based in Ankara. Formed in 1923, Gençlerbirliği are nicknamed ''Ankara Rüzgârı'' (The Wind of Ankara) or simply ''Gençler'' (The You ...

of the Turkish

. His three goals of his first season in

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

were all scored on 19 October in a 6–0 win at Antalyaspor, in which he added two assists to his

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

. Having suffered relegation, Candeias returned to Alanyaspor on a deal of the same length in June 2021. Accompanying compatriots

José Marafona José Carlos Coentrão Marafona (born 8 May 1987) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for F.C. Paços de Ferreira. He made 111 Primeira Liga appearances for Moreirense, Paços de Ferreira and Braga, as well as more ...

Wilson Eduardo Wilson Bruno Naval da Costa Eduardo (born 8 July 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Turkish club Alanyaspor. He was formed at Sporting CP, but spent most of his time out on loan. In 2015 he joined Braga, with whom h ...

and

João Novais João Pedro Barradas Novais (born 10 July 1993) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays for Turkish club Alanyaspor as a midfielder. He played 129 Primeira Liga games and scored 13 goals for Rio Ave and Braga, winning the 2019–20 Ta� ...

, he scored his first goal of his new spell away to

Galatasaray S.K. Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

on 19 September, coming off the bench to decide the game with three minutes remaining. Remaining in the same country, but now in its second tier, 35-year-old Candeias signed for Kocaelispor on 20 July 2023.

International career

After having made his Porto debut in 2008, Candeias was soon called up to the Portugal under-21 team. He won his first cap on 5 September of that year, coming on as a 58th-minute substitute for

Vieirinha Adelino André Vieira de Freitas (born 24 January 1986), known as Vieirinha (), is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a winger or a full-back for Greek club PAOK, for which he is captain. Ambidextrous, he started playing for ...

in a 2–0 away loss to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

for the 2009 UEFA European Championship qualifiers.

Career statistics

Honours

Porto *

: 2008–09 * Taça de Portugal: 2008–09 Individual *

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

top assist provider: 2017–18

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Candeias, Daniel 1988 births Living people People from Fornos de Algodres Sportspeople from Guarda District Portuguese men's footballers Men's association football wingers Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players FC Porto players Varzim S.C. players Rio Ave F.C. players F.C. Paços de Ferreira players Portimonense S.C. players C.D. Nacional players S.L. Benfica footballers La Liga players Segunda División players Recreativo de Huelva players Granada CF footballers 2. Bundesliga players 1. FC Nürnberg players Ligue 2 players FC Metz players Süper Lig players TFF First League players Alanyaspor footballers Gençlerbirliği S.K. footballers Kocaelispor footballers Scottish Professional Football League players Rangers F.C. players Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Germany Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in France Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Scotland