António dos Santos Ferreira André (born 24 December 1957) is a Portuguese retired 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 lea ...

who played as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. He was best known for his lengthy spell at

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

, winning several domestic and continental accolades with the club.

Club career

At the age of 13, André entered hometown

Rio Ave FC Rio Ave Futebol Clube, commonly known as Rio Ave (), is a Portuguese professional football club based in Vila do Conde, that competes in the Primeira Liga. The club is named after the Ave River, which flows through the town and into the Atlant ...

's youth system, as he complemented the sporting activities with fishing in the high sea, in which his family was involved; it was also one of the main activities at

Vila do Conde Vila do Conde (, ; "the Count's Town") is a municipality in the Norte Region, Portugal, Norte Region of Portugal. The population in 2011 was 79,533, in an area of 149.03 km2. The urbanized area of Vila do Conde, which includes the parishes of ...

, where he was born. André signed his first professional contract in 1978, also up north with

Varzim SC Varzim Sport Club () is a Portuguese football club based in Póvoa de Varzim. The club was founded on 25 December 1915, and has played at the Estádio do Varzim Sport Club since its foundation. The club plays in Liga 3, following relegation in ...

, although he continued to work with his family. Still, he produced four solid seasons at the side, scoring a career-high in the

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

ten goals in 1983–84. Under the advice of legendary manager

José Maria Pedroto José Maria Carvalho Pedroto, OIH (21 October 1928 – 7 January 1985) was a Portuguese football midfielder and manager. He amassed Primeira Liga totals of 227 matches and 57 goals over 11 seasons, at the service of Lusitano, Belenenses and Por ...

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, Order of Prince Henry, MHIH, Order of Merit (Portugal), OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional association footbal ...

signed André in summer 1984. After initial difficulties due to injuries, he was firmly installed in the team's central midfield, remaining there for nine consecutive years and helping them to win 18 titles. In his last two years, André was challenged for position by the player who regarded him as his role model,

Paulinho Santos João Paulo Maio dos Santos (born 21 November 1970), commonly known as Paulinho Santos, is a Portuguese former footballer who played mainly as a defensive midfielder. He spent 11 years of his professional career with Porto, playing in several ...

, and appeared less. He retired at the age of 37, winning the

in his last season as Porto were coached by

Bobby Robson Sir Robert William Robson (18 February 1933 – 31 July 2009) was an English football player and coach. His career included periods playing for and later managing the England national team and being a UEFA Cup-winning manager at Ipswich Town. ...

, in what would be the first of five national titles in a row for the club. André retired in June 1995 with 379 games in the top division, scoring 41 goals and adding to that 48 matches with four goals in European competition. He then continued to work with Porto as assistant for several coaches, and also as a

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

; he was chosen by Portuguese sports newspaper '' Record'' as one of the best 100 Portuguese football players ever.

International career

André earned 20

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 Java ...

for the Portugal national team, making his debut on 30 January 1985 in a friendly with

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

as the latter won 3–2 in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

. He represented the nation at the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...

, playing in the entire 1–0 win against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and also appearing against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, but Portugal exited in the group stage.

Personal life

André's son,

André André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries, as well in Portugal ...

, was also a footballer and a midfielder. He also played for Porto, Varzim and Portugal.

Honours

Porto *

: 1984–85, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1989–90, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1994–95 *

Taça de Portugal The Taça de 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 Generali Tranquilidade since the 2024–25 seaso ...

: 1987–88, 1990–91, 1993–94 *

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese association football, football match played since 1979 between the winners of the top-tier league (Primeira L ...

: 1984, 1986, 1990, 1993, 1994 *

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

: 1986–87 *

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, 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 offic ...

: 1987 * Intercontinental Cup: 1987

Bibliography

*Dias, Rui – ''Record – 100 Melhores do Futebol Português – Volume I'' (Record – The 100 best of Portuguese Football); EDISPORT, 2002

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Andre, Antonio 1957 births Living people 20th-century Portuguese sportsmen Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Vila do Conde Men's association football midfielders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Rio Ave F.C. players G.D. Ribeirão players Varzim S.C. players FC Porto players UEFA Champions League–winning players Portugal men's international footballers 1986 FIFA World Cup players FC Porto non-playing staff