António Manuel Viana Mendonça (born 9 October 1982) is an Angolan retired

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

right winger 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. ...

Club career

Born in

Luanda Luanda ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Angola, largest city of Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Ang ...

, Mendonça moved to

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 ...

in January 2000 at only 17, signing with

Varzim S.C. 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 ...

in the second division, and scored ten goals in 30 games in his first full season to help to

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 ...

promotion. He appeared in 28 matches in the following campaign (18 starts, two goals), with the Póvoa do Varzim side retaining their league status. From 2003 to 2007, after a brief loan, Mendonça appeared regularly for Varzim, with the club again in the second level. He returned to the top flight in 2007–08, but played in only 14 games for

C.F. Os Belenenses Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses (), commonly known as Os Belenenses or simply 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 19,856 ...

and C.F. Estrela da Amadora combined, which prompted a return to his previous team, still in division two; whilst with Varzim, on 10 February 2007, he scored the 2–1 home winner that ousted giants

S.L. Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. Founded on 28 February 1904, as ''Sport Lisboa'', Benfica is one of the " ...

from 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 ...

. In the 2009 offseason, Mendonça returned to his country and signed with G.D. Interclube. The following year he joined

C.D. Primeiro de Agosto Clube Desportivo 1º de Agosto is a multisports club from Luanda, Angola. The club, founded 1 August 1977, is attached to the Angolan armed forces, which is its sponsor. Its main team competes in men's football, and its professional Primeiro de ...

, his first club as a senior.

International career

Mendonça made his debut for

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 ...

in April 1999, before his 17th birthday. He was chosen the best player at the

2001 African Youth Championship The African Youth Championship 2001 was held in Ethiopia. It also served as qualification for the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship. Qualification Preliminary round Eritrea and Guinea Bissau withdrew. As a result, Kenya and Gambia advanced to th ...

. Mendonça was picked for the squad that appeared at the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

, a first-ever for the country. He played in all three group stage games – 270 minutes – as the ''Palancas Negras'' managed two points; additionally, he participated in two

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

tournaments.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Angola's goal tally first.''

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mendonca, Antonio 1982 births Living people Footballers from Luanda Angolan men's footballers Men's association football wingers Girabola players C.D. Primeiro de Agosto players G.D. Interclube players F.C. Bravos do Maquis players Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Varzim S.C. players G.D. Chaves players C.F. Os Belenenses players C.F. Estrela da Amadora players Angola men's international footballers 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players Angolan expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Angolan expatriate sportspeople in Portugal