Marco António Simões Caneira (born 9 February 1979) is a Portuguese former 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 ...

. Preferably a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, he was equally at ease on the right or left flank. A youth graduate at

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

, he started his career at the club, also appearing briefly for Benfica in his country, and represented

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

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' ...

for a couple of years before returning to Sporting. Over ten seasons, he amassed Primeira Liga totals of 126 matches and one goal. He retired in 2015, after a four-year stint with Videoton. Internationally, Caneira appeared for

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 ...

at two

World Cups A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

and earned 25

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 Ja ...

in six years.

Club career

Early years

Born in the village of Negrais in

Sintra Sintra (, ) is a town and municipality in the Greater Lisbon region of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera. The population of the municipality in 2011 was 377,835, in an area of . Sintra is one of the most urbanized and densely populat ...

, Lisbon, Caneira began his career at the

youth system, eventually graduating to the senior squad and making his first-team debut while still only a junior (aged 17). After signing a professional contract, he immediately went on loan to fellow Primeira Liga club

S.C. Beira-Mar Sport Clube Beira-Mar () is a Portuguese sports club based in Aveiro, Portugal. Its football team currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, the fourth national level, having gained promotion by winning the Aveiro FA First Division 2018/19 ...

. Caneira, along with fellow Sporting players

Paulo Costa Paulo Henrique Costa (born 21 April 1991) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Middleweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of August 1, 2022, he is #6 in the UFC middleweight ...

and Vasco Faísca, was then involved in a somewhat complicated 2000 transfer between F.C. Alverca, who now owned 50% of their rights, and

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is ...

. He was immediately sent to

Reggina Calcio Reggina 1914 S.r.l., commonly referred to as Reggina, is an Italian football club based in Reggio Calabria. Founded in 1914, they currently play in Serie B, and play their home matches at the 27,763 seater Stadio Oreste Granillo. They are nic ...

, in a co-ownership bid. After a season, he was bought back from Reggina and sent to

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 ...

on a one-year-long loan.

Bordeaux and Valencia

Caneira left for another loan spell in summer 2001, this time with FC Girondins de Bordeaux. At the end of the campaign, the French signed him to a four-year contract. After his second season, Caneira was loaned out again, this time to

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol (, ca-valencia, València Club de Futbol ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the Spa ...

which had faced Bordeaux twice in the 2003–04 edition 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 competi ...

. The move was made permanent on 13 June 2005.

Sporting CP

After one and a half seasons at Valencia, Caneira returned to Portugal and Sporting in January 2006, where he displayed consistent defensive performances, also scoring a rare goal against former owners Inter Milan in the following season's Champions League, in a 12 September home win (1–0). In August 2007, although he had reached an agreement for a further five-year loan with the ''Lions'', he returned to the

Quique Sánchez Flores Enrique "Quique" Sánchez Flores (; born 5 February 1965) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a right-back, currently manager of Getafe. He began his professional career with Valencia in 1984, going on to amass La Liga totals of 304 ga ...

-led team. After appearing rarely on the second Valencia stint, Caneira returned for a third one with Sporting, for

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

3.5 million, signing a four-year deal on 25 June 2008. He appeared in 32 official games in his first season (21 in the league, helping his team to the second place), but fell out of favour in the following years, inclusively not being given a jersey for the 2010–11 campaign, and he left the club in June 2011.

Later career

On the last day of the 2011 summer

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 wi ...

, the 32-year-old Caneira signed with

Videoton FC Videoton may refer to: * Videoton (company), Hungarian electronics company *Fehérvár FC, formerly known as Videoton FC, Hungarian football club See also *Vidéotron Vidéotron is a Canadian integrated telecommunications company active in cable ...

in Hungary, sharing teams with three compatriots including former international teammate

Paulo Sousa Paulo Manuel Carvalho de Sousa, CavIH (; born 30 August 1970) is a Portuguese football manager and former professional player who played as a defensive midfielder. Starting his career at Benfica, he also represented Sporting CP in his countr ...

, who acted as the club's manager. On 25 October 2012 he scored only his fourth goal as a professional, netting from close range after a

corner kick A corner kick is the method of restarting play in a game of association football when the ball goes out of play over the goal line, without a goal being scored and having last been touched by a member of the defending team. The kick is take ...

in an eventual 2–1 home victory against

FC Basel Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel, FCB, or just Basel, is a Swiss football club based in Basel, in the Canton of Basel-Stadt. Formed in 1893, the club has been Swiss national champions 20 times, Swiss Cup winners 13 times, a ...

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. ...

group stage. Caneira left the Sóstói Stadion at the end of the 2014–15 season, having contributed only three appearances to the club's second

Nemzeti Bajnokság I The Nemzeti Bajnokság (, "National Championship"), also known as NB I, is the top level of the Hungarian football league system. The league is officially named OTP Bank Liga after its title sponsor OTP Bank. UEFA currently ranks the league 28th ...

conquest. After one year out football, the 36-year-old came out of retirement and joined amateurs SRD Negrais in the

Lisbon Football Association The Lisbon Football Association (''Associação de Futebol de Lisboa'', abrv. ''AF Lisboa'') is the district governing body for the all football competitions in the Portuguese district of Lisbon. It is also the regulator of the clubs registered in ...

International career

A Portugal international since 2002, Caneira was selected for the squad that appeared in that year's

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 ...

, but did not play in the tournament held in Japan and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

. He made his debut on 27 March, in a 1–4 friendly loss to

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

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 ...

. Left out of the squad for

UEFA Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. The ...

, Caneira returned for the

2006 World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

, playing in Portugal's last group stage match against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

(2–1 win).

Personal life

On 16 January 2005, Caneira's 8-month-old daughter was a victim of sudden death, shortly before Valencia's

match against

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club in Pamplona, Navarre. Founded on 24 October 1920, the club currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at the 23,576-capacity El S ...

, which ended 0–0. In October 2009, while still an active player, Caneira ran for office in the Almargem do Bispo civil parish in his native Sintra, losing the election by 32 votes.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Club

Sporting CP *

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 sea ...

: 2006–07 *

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese football match played since 1979 between the winners of the Portuguese League (Primeira Liga) and Portuguese ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

* Taça da Liga runner-up: 2008–09 Beira-Mar *Taça de Portugal: 1998–99 Valencia *

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

: 2007–08 *

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was original ...

: 2004 Videoton *

: 2014–15 * Szuperkupa: 2011, 2012 *

Ligakupa The Hungarian League Cup ( hu, Magyar Ligakupa) was an annual football tournament contested by clubs in the Hungarian League. It was created in 2007 and the competition only lasted for 8 seasons, being cancelled in 2015/2016. Ligakupa Finals The ...

: 2011–12

International

Portugal *

UEFA European Under-16 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship or simply UEFA Under-17 Championship, is an annual Association football, football competition contested by the European men's under-17 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain national under ...

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

Orders

*Medal of Merit,

Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa The Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa (also known as The Order of Our Lady of Conception of Vila Vicosa; pt, Ordem de Nossa Senhora da Conceição de Vila Viçosa) is a dynastic order of knighthood of the House of Braganza, the f ...

( House of Braganza)

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Caneira, Marco 1979 births Living people People from Sintra Sportspeople from Lisbon District Portuguese footballers Association football defenders Primeira Liga players Segunda Divisão players S.C. Salgueiros players Sporting CP footballers S.C. Beira-Mar players F.C. Alverca players S.L. Benfica footballers Serie A players Reggina 1914 players Ligue 1 players FC Girondins de Bordeaux players La Liga players Valencia CF players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Fehérvár FC players Portugal youth international footballers Portugal under-21 international footballers Portugal B international footballers Portugal international footballers 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players Portuguese expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Hungary Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Italy Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in France Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Hungary