Sandro Miguel Laranjeira Mendes (born 4 February 1977), known simply as Sandro, is a Cape Verdean 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 ...
who played as a
central midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
, currently
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 ...
Vitória de Setúbal
Vitoria or Vitória may refer to :
People
* Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian
* Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer
* Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer
* Steven Vitória ...
, where he played for three separate spells. In the Primeira Liga, he amassed totals of 195 matches and six goals over nine seasons.
Sandro was born in Portugal, and holds
Portuguese citizenship
Portuguese nationality law details the conditions by which a person is a Nationality, national of Portugal. The primary law governing nationality regulations is the Nationality Act, which Coming into force, came into force on 3 October 1981.
P ...
Setúbal District
The District of Setúbal ( pt, Distrito de Setúbal ) is a district located in the south-west of Portugal. It is named for its capital, the city of Setúbal.
Geography
It is delimited by Lisbon District and Santarém District on the north, Év ...
, Portugal. He started his career at
Vitória de Setúbal
Vitoria or Vitória may refer to :
People
* Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian
* Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer
* Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer
* Steven Vitória ...
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' ...
club
Villarreal CF
Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Vila-real Club de Futbol, S.A.D.), usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF or simply Villarreal, is a professional football club based in Villarreal, in the Castellón province of eastern Spain, ...
UD Salamanca
Unión Deportiva Salamanca, S.A.D. () was a historical Spanish football team based in Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castile and León.
Founded on 9 February 1923 and nicknamed ''Los Charros'', the club played in white shirts and blac ...
.
After another five-year spell with Vitória Setúbal, FC Porto acquired Sandro's services for 2005–06. Having failed to make a competitive appearance, he was loaned to
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
's
Manisaspor
Manisaspor is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Manisa. Originally formed in 1931 as Sakaryaspor, the club changed its name to Manisaspor on 15 June 1965.2009–10 season, Sandro played 26 matches and scored once, in a 2–1 away win against relegation rivals
Leixões S.C.
Leixões Sport Club, commonly known as Leixões (), is a Portuguese sports club from Matosinhos. It is organised into several departments for many sports, such as football, boxing, karate, volleyball, swimming and billiards. It is most well kno ...
on 14 March 2010, as Setúbal retained top-flight status. In July 2010 the 33-year-old left for Spain again, signing for Segunda División B side
AD Ceuta
Asociación Deportiva Ceuta was a Spanish football team based in the autonomous city of Ceuta. Founded in 1996, its last season was 2011–12 in Segunda División B, holding home matches at ''Estadio Alfonso Murube'', with a capacity of 6,500. ...
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 ...
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
in the
2006 FIFA 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 th ...
After retiring, Mendes returned to Vitória de Setúbal as youth system coordinator and under-17 coach. In 2014, he was appointed manager of amateurs AC Alcacerense where he completed his coaching licence.
Mendes returned to the
Estádio do Bonfim
Estádio do Bonfim (Bonfim Stadium) is a multi-purpose stadium in Setúbal, Portugal. It is currently used primarily for football matches for Vitória F.C. The stadium was built in 1962 and was able to hold 18,694 spectators. Currently, holds 15 ...
in June 2016, again being in charge of the youth system. He then became Vitória's
director of football
A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...
.
On 25 January 2019, after the dismissal of
Lito Vidigal
José Carlos Fernandes Vidigal (born 11 July 1969), commonly known as Lito, is an Angolan professional football manager and former player who played as a defender.
He spent his entire playing career in Portugal, mainly with Belenenses in the P ...
, Mendes was named head coach until the end of the season, and
Jorge Andrade
Jorge Manuel Almeida Gomes de Andrade (; born 9 April 1978) is a Portuguese football manager and former professional player who played as a central defender.
After playing two years with Porto he went on to represent Deportivo (169 official ...
was named as his assistant. On 26 October, following a 0–0 home draw 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 Lig ...
that still left the team above the relegation zone, he was dismissed.
Mendes returned to active on 27 September 2021, taking charge of
Amora F.C.
Amora Futebol Clube, commonly known as simply as Amora, is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Amora, Setúbal. The club was founded on the 1 May 1921 and its founders were Mário de Carvalho, Guilherme Pestana, João Baptista, Julião Ga ...
in the
Portuguese third 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 ...
.
Criminal charges
In March 2013, Mendes was arrested by the National Counterterrorism unit of the
Judicial Police
The judicial police, judiciary police, or justice police are (depending on both country and legal system) either a branch, separate police agency or type of duty performed by law enforcement structures in a country. The term judiciary police is mo ...
, which was competent to investigate the crime of kidnapping. He was suspected of abducting his 31-year-old ex-wife and raping her, and also of the repeated practice of domestic violence on his former partner and mother of his youngest daughter.
Honours
Vitória Setúbal
*
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 ...