Sandro Fernando Silva Cunha (born 5 December 1982) is a

Portuguese 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 ...

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 le ...

who played as 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 ...

Club career

Born in

Fafe Fafe () is a municipality in the northern Portuguese district of Braga. The population in 2021 was 48,502, in an area of approximately (. The city itself had a population of 14,144 in 2001. The present mayor is Antero Barbosa, elected by the Socia ...

Braga District The district of Braga ( pt, Distrito de Braga ) is a district in the northwest of Portugal. The district capital is the city of Braga, and it is bordered by the district of Viana do Castelo in the north, Vila Real in the east, Spain ( Galicia) ...

, Cunha spent five of his first six seasons as a senior in the third division, in representation of

AD Fafe Associação Desportiva de Fafe (abbreviated as AD Fafe) is a Portuguese football club based in Fafe in the district of Braga in northern Portugal. Background AD Fafe currently plays in the Campeonato Nacional de Seniores – Série A whi ...

FC Porto B Futebol Clube do Porto B, commonly known as Porto B, is a Portuguese professional football team, which serves as the reserve side of FC Porto. They compete in the Liga Portugal 2, the second division of Portuguese football, and play their home ...

, G.D. Tourizense and

F.C. Lixa Futebol Clube da Lixa known as FC Lixa is a Portuguese football club from Lixa which was founded in 1934. They currently play in the Portuguese Second Division, Portuguese Second Division Serie A and last season they finished 14th place 2007/08. ...

. In 2007 he upgraded to the Segunda Liga, where he first appeared with

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 ...

. In the 2010–11 campaign, Cunha contributed 29 games and two goals as

Gil Vicente F.C. Gil Vicente Futebol Clube (), commonly known as Gil Vicente, founded in 1924, is a Portuguese football club that plays in Barcelos. It competes in the Primeira Liga, the top division of football in the country, and it is named after the Portugues ...

returned 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 an absence of five years. He made his debut in the competition on 12 August 2011, playing the full 90 minutes in the 2–2 home draw against

S.L. Benfica Sport Lisboa e Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional association football, football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football league system, Portuguese footba ...

. His first goal arrived on 19 May 2013, but in a 1–3 home loss to

G.D. Estoril Praia Grupo Desportivo Estoril Praia (), commonly known as Estoril, is a Portuguese sports club from Estoril, Cascais, Lisbon. Founded on 17 May 1939, its football team currently plays in Primeira Liga and hold home games at the Estádio António Coimb ...

. In the summer of 2014, after one season in the second tier with

Moreirense FC Moreirense Futebol Clube is a Portuguese professional football club based in Moreira de Cónegos, Guimarães Municipality, in Minho. Founded on 1 November 1938, it plays in the Liga Portugal 2, holding home games at Parque de Jogos Comendador Joa ...

, Cunha signed for

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 ...

the third is a light novel series, that has also been made into manga and anime series by Ryo Hoshino and illustrated by Ariko Ito. The anime series goes under the name . According to the New York Comic Convention, ''The Third'' has been licensed by ...

. He won promotion in his debut campaign with a career-best seven goals, then spent a further four years with the club in division two. Cunha returned to Fafe in February 2020. He retired shortly after, however, going on to work as

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

in the lower leagues.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cunha, Sandro 1982 births Living people People from Fafe Portuguese footballers Association football defenders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players AD Fafe players FC Porto B players G.D. Tourizense players F.C. Lixa players S.C. Olhanense players F.C. Vizela players Gil Vicente F.C. players Moreirense F.C. players Varzim S.C. players Portuguese football managers Sportspeople from Braga District