José Manuel Monteiro da Veiga (born 18 December 1976) is a retired Cape Verdean

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

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. He competed professionally in the second divisions of Portugal and Spain, also appearing for several teams in the lower leagues of England. Born in Portugal, Veiga played for the Cape Verde national team, winning 14 caps in three years.

Club career

Portugal and Spain

Born in

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 ...

, Veiga was brought up in local S.L. Benfica's youth system, but only managed to be third choice in the 1995–96 season. He then spent two years with neighbouring

Alverca Alverca do Ribatejo () is a city (''cidade'') and a former civil parish in the municipality of Vila Franca de Xira, Portugal. In 2013, the parish merged into the new parish Alverca do Ribatejo e Sobralinho. It covers an area of and had a pop ...

in 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 ...

, after which he moved to Spain and joined

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. (, ca-valencia, Llevant Unió Esportiva ) is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community. Founded on 9 September 1909, Levante ...

in the country's third level. With the Valencian team Veiga rarely missed a game, being essential in their promotion in his first season, as champions, and helping them maintain their

division two NCL Division Two The NCL or National Conference League Division Two (known as the Kingstone Press NCL Division Two) League winners {, class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" , - , colspan=4 style="text-align:center;" , NCL DIVISION TWO , ...

status in the following three years. In the January

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 ...

of 2001–02, he was loaned to

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid () or Valladolid, is a professional football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish league system. The club colo ...

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

, but failed to make any competitive appearances. Veiga wrapped up his career in Portugal playing three years for C.F. Estrela da Amadora – in the 2003–04 campaign he had his first and only top flight experience, but the team ranked 18th and last – and one for

S.C. Olhanense Sporting Clube Olhanense () is a Portuguese sports club from Olhão, Algarve. Its football team was founded on 27 April 1912 and currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, the fourth tier of Portuguese football. It holds home matches at the ...

(second tier).

Tamworth

Veiga trained with English clubs

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

and

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

, before having trials at Tamworth during the 2006–07 pre-season. He had to wait for international clearance before boss Mark Cooper could bring him to The Lamb Ground but, on 11 November 2006, the player signed for the

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

side. Despite Tamworth's relegation, Veiga signed a one-year contract extension on 10 July 2007. On 14 March of the following year, it was announced that he would be leaving at the end of 2007–08: he missed most of the campaign after dislocating his shoulder during training, and was told by manager Gary Mills that he did not figure in his long-term plans.

Hereford United

Veiga signed for League One's

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'The ...

on 26 December 2008, on non-contract terms as emergency goalkeeping cover. He was an unused substitute for the match against Tranmere Rovers, and made his debut in a 4–2 away defeat against

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

on 4 April 2009.

Macclesfield Town

On 4 August 2009, Veiga agreed to a one-year contract with

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional association football, football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was liquidation, wound-up after a High Court of Justice, High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially kno ...

. He went on to become the regular starter for the

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

team's reserves that season and also played in five league matches, keeping a

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

in the final game, a 0–0 at Lincoln City. He also played in an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

contest at Milton Keynes Dons. Veiga's performances for the reserves were enough to secure him a further one-year contract with Macclesfield. In May 2011 he signed a further one-year deal with the club but, exactly one year later, was released due to the expiry of his contract.

International career

A Cape Verde international since 2004, Veiga had a falling out with the national team's management in March 2007, and was left out of the squad for the

2008 Africa Cup of Nations The 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the MTN Africa Cup of Nations due to the competition's sponsorship by MTN, was the 26th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial football tournament for nations affiliated to the Confederat ...

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against

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

in favour of Ernesto Soares. He did however receive a re-call for the game against

Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

on 16 June, in the same competition. In late May 2010, Veiga was picked for a

friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

with

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 ...

, who were preparing for the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

. As the 117th-ranked team managed an historic 0–0 draw in Covilhã, he remained on the bench.

Honours

Levante *

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Foot ...

: 1998–99 Individual * Tamworth Player of the Year: 2006–07

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Veiga, Jose 1976 births Living people Portuguese people of Cape Verdean descent Footballers from Lisbon Portuguese men's footballers Cape Verdean men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players S.L. Benfica footballers F.C. Alverca players C.F. Estrela da Amadora players S.C. Olhanense players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Levante UD footballers Real Valladolid players English Football League players National League (English football) players Southern Football League players Northern Premier League players Tamworth F.C. players Atherstone Town F.C. players Hereford United F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players Harrogate Town A.F.C. players Worcester City F.C. players Nantwich Town F.C. players Redditch United F.C. players Rushall Olympic F.C. players Hednesford Town F.C. players Portugal men's youth international footballers Cape Verde men's international footballers Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Cape Verdean expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in England Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in England Cape Verdean expatriate sportspeople in Spain