António Manuel Tavares "Tony" Fonseca (born 30 January 1965) is a Portuguese former

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

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

, and a technical director for the

Canadian Soccer Association The Canadian Soccer Association (; branded as Canada Soccer) is the governing body for soccer in Canada. Headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, the federation is a full member of FIFA and governs Canadian soccer at the international, professional, a ...

. Over 11 seasons, he amassed

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 ...

totals of 199 games and two goals, representing in the competition Benfica,

Vitória de Guimarães 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 * Sofia Vitória (bor ...

and

Estrela da Amadora Club Football Estrela Amadora SAD (), sometimes just Estrela da Amadora, is a Portuguese professional sports club (predominantly football) based in Amadora, northwest of Lisbon. The team is currently competing in the Primeira Liga, after winnin ...

. He finished his career in Canada, where he started working as a manager in 1999.

Club career

Born 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 ...

, Fonseca played youth football for five clubs, finishing his grooming at local Benfica. From 1983 to 1987 he competed in the Segunda Liga, after which the former bought him from Tirsense. During his three-year tenure with Benfica, Fonseca was first-choice in the 1988–89 campaign as the team won the

championship and also reached the final of the

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 ...

, but played second-fiddle to

Álvaro Magalhães Álvaro Monteiro Magalhães (born 3 January 1961), known simply as Álvaro as a player, is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a left-back, currently a manager. In 11 seasons in the Primeira Liga, he appeared in 224 matches and score ...

and Samuel Quina in the other two. In eight of the following nine seasons he continued to play in the top flight, with

and

, appearing regularly for both sides and reuniting at the latter with former Benfica teammates

Edmundo Edmundo is variation of the English name Edmund, meaning “protector of prosperity or riches.” It is common in Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries. Some individuals include: * Edmundo Alves de Souza Neto (born 1971), former Brazilian foot ...

, José Carlos, Fernando Mendes and Paulinho. Fonseca retired from football in 2000 at the age of 35, after two years with the

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March 18, ...

in the

USL A-League The USL First Division (USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It was organized by the United Soccer League as its premier league for men from 1996 to 2010, above the USL Second Di ...

, with whom he later worked as a manager.

International career

Fonseca earned four

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

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, over one year. He made his debut on 29 March 1989, playing the entirety of a 6–0 friendly win over

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

with marked the 75th anniversary of the

Portuguese Football Federation The Portuguese Football Federation ( , FPF) is the governing body of Association football, football in Portugal. The federation was formed in 1914 as Portuguese Football Union (, UPF) by the three existing regional associations of Lisbon Footbal ...

. During five years, Fonseca served as assistant to Stephen Hart and Dale Mitchell at the Canada national team, while also being in charge of the under-23s. Already as a technical director for the

, he acted as interim for the full side following the departure of Colin Miller, who later replaced him after two friendlies.

Personal life

Fonseca married a Portuguese-Canadian woman, fathering two children.

References

Bibliography *

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fonseca, Antonio 1965 births Living people Footballers from Lisbon Portuguese men's footballers Men's association football defenders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players C.D. Cova da Piedade players G.C. Alcobaça players F.C. Tirsense players S.L. Benfica footballers Vitória S.C. players C.F. Estrela da Amadora players A-League (1995–2004) players Vancouver Whitecaps (1986–2010) coaches Vancouver Whitecaps (1986–2010) players Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's international footballers Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Canada Portuguese football managers Canada men's national under-20 soccer team managers Canada men's national soccer team managers Expatriate soccer coaches in Canada 20th-century Portuguese sportsmen