Luís Carlos Almada Soares (born 16 April 1986), commonly known as Platini, 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 winger. He spent five years of his professional career in Portugal in addition to playing in seven other countries, and chose his name in honour of

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

international

Michel Platini Michel François Platini (born 21 June 1955) is a French football administrator and former player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Platini won the Ballon d'Or three times in a row, in 1983, 1984 and 1985, ...

. Platini made his international debut for

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

in 2012, and represented the country at two

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

tournaments.

Club career

Portugal

Born in

Praia Praia (, Portuguese language, Portuguese for "beach") is the capital and largest city of Cape Verde.

, Cape Verde, Platini started playing football for the local team

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 bas ...

, making his debut in 2006. 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 ...

in 2008, joining

Associação Académica de Coimbra The Associação Académica de Coimbra (AAC) is the students' union of the University of Coimbra (UC). Founded in Coimbra on November 3, 1887, it is the oldest students' union in Portugal. It is also the biggest Portuguese students' union belongi ...

. Platini never appeared officially for the Students, who loaned him to two

Portuguese Second Division Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

clubs in consecutive seasons, G.D. Tourizense and

Sertanense FC Sertanense Futebol Clube (), formerly Sertanense Foot-ball Club, is a Portuguese football club based in Sertã. Founded in 1934, it currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, holding home games at ''Campo de Jogos Dr. Marques dos Santos''. ...

. In the summer of 2010 he signed a three-year contract with

C.D. Santa Clara Clube Desportivo Santa Clara is a Portuguese football club from Ponta Delgada, Azores. They play in the 13,277-seat Estádio de São Miguel. They are the most successful football team from the Azores Islands as the only team from the archipelag ...

of the Segunda Liga, appearing in 19 games for the

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

team in his first year, 11 as a substitute; one of his two goals came on 31 October 2010, in a 2–0 home win against

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

Later years

On 22 June 2013, Platini joined

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and is thus officially ...

side

AC Omonia Athletic Club Omonia Nicosia ( el, Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Oμόνοιας Λευκωσίας, ΑΣΟΛ; ''Athlitikos Sillogos Omonias Lefkosias'', ''ASOL''), commonly known as Omonia Nicosia, or simply Omonia ("Harmony"; also trans ...

. In July of the following year, he signed for two seasons with

PFC CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia ( bg, ЦСКА София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. ''CSKA'' is an abbreviation for ''Central Sport ...

from Bulgaria. He returned to Africa to play for Egypt's

Al Ittihad Alexandria Club Al Ittihad Alexandria Club ( ar, نادي الإتحاد السكندري), simply known as Al Ittihad, is an Egyptian sports club based in Alexandria, Egypt. The club is mainly known for its professional football team, which currently plays in ...

, but left in January 2016 alleging that he had not been paid for five months. In the summer of 2017, after ending his contract with

Dibba Al-Hisn Sports Club Dibba Al-Hisn Sports Club is a sports club located in the city of Dibba Al-Hisn in the United Arab Emirates. The club was established in 1980. It currently competes in the UAE First Division League. History The first team to be founded in Dib ...

from the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

, Platini moved to

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

n club

CSM Politehnica Iași CSM may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Cantigas de Santa Maria'', a collection of medieval Galician-Portuguese vernacular songs and poems in praise of the Virgin Mary * Chaos Space Marines, in the ''Warhammer 40,000'' fictional universe * C ...

on a two-year deal. On 26 October, he scored the only goal in the 1–0 victory over

FC Steaua București FC Steaua București was a Romanian professional football club of which two current entities are claiming the records. The original ''FC Steaua București'' team was part of the namesake CSA Steaua București sports club and belonged to the Ministry ...

. Platini agreed to a one-year contract with

Sanat Naft Abadan F.C. , ''Brezil-e Irān'') Yellow Dragon ( fa, اژدهای زرد, ''Ezhdehā-ye Zard'') , shortname = صنعت نفت , founded = 11 January 1972; 49 years ago , dissolved = , ground = Takhti Stadium Abadan , capacity = 15,000 , owner = NIOC ...

of the

Iran Pro League The Persian Gulf Pro League ( fa, لیگ برتر خلیج فارس, ''Lig-e Bartar-e Xalij-e Fârs''), formerly known as the Iran Pro League ( fa, links=no, لیگ برتر ایران, ''Lig-e bartar-e Irân''), is the highest division of profe ...

on 29 June 2018. He played their first five matches of the season, then returned to Iași in September.

International career

Platini made his debut for

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

in 2012. He scored the Blue Sharks' first goal in the

2013 Africa Cup of Nations The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations South Africa 2013 for sponsorship reasons, held from 19 January to 10 February 2013, was the 29th Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized ...

– also a first-ever in the tournament – opening the scoring in the 1–1 draw against

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

Career statistics

International

International goals

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

Honours

Club

Sporting Praia * Cape Verdean Championship:

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

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; ...

Santiago South Premier Division The Santiago South Premier Division is a regional championship played in Santiago Island, Cape Verde and is a part of the Santiago South Zone Football Association. The winner of the championship plays in Cape Verdean football Championships of eac ...

: 2007–08

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Platini 1986 births Living people Sportspeople from Praia Cape Verdean footballers Association football wingers Sporting Clube da Praia players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players Associação Académica de Coimbra – O.A.F. players G.D. Tourizense players Sertanense F.C. players C.D. Santa Clara players Cypriot First Division players AC Omonia players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players PFC CSKA Sofia players Egyptian Premier League players Al Ittihad Alexandria Club players UAE First Division League players Dibba Al-Hisn Sports Club players Liga I players FC Politehnica Iași (2010) players Persian Gulf Pro League players Sanat Naft Abadan F.C. players Cape Verde international footballers 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players 2015 Africa Cup of Nations players Cape Verdean expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Expatriate footballers in Bulgaria Expatriate footballers in Egypt Expatriate footballers in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate footballers in Romania Expatriate footballers in Iran Cape Verdean expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Cape Verdean expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Cape Verdean expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria Cape Verdean expatriate sportspeople in Egypt Cape Verdean expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Cape Verdean expatriate sportspeople in Romania