Armando Miguel Correia de Sá (born 16 September 1975) is a Mozambican

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager and former player who serves as assistant coach of Canadian club

Pacific FC Pacific Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Greater Victoria, British Columbia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League, playing home matches at Starlight Stadium located in Langford. History On May 5, 20 ...

. As a player, he played mainly as a

right 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 ...

. He also held a

Portuguese passport A Portuguese passport () is an identity document issued to citizens of Portugal for the purpose of international travel. The passport, along with the Citizen Card (Portugal), Citizen Card allows for free rights of movement and residence in any ...

, and played professionally in four countries in a 16-year professional career: Portugal (six teams, including a two-and-a-half-year spell with Benfica), Spain, England (five months with

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

) and Iran.

Club career

Sá was born in

Maputo Maputo () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088,449 (as of 2017) distributed ov ...

. After playing for most of his early career with modest Portuguese clubs he joined Rio Ave F.C. for the 1998–99 season, and his performances there attracted attention from S.C. Braga. In December 2001, after having played with the

Minho Minho or Miño may refer to: People * Miño (surname) * Choi Min-ho, South Korean singer and actor known mononymously as Minho Places * Minho (river) or Miño, in Portugal and Spain Jamaica * Rio Minho, a river Portugal * Minho Province ...

side for only four months he, alongside teammates Ricardo Rocha and Tiago, left for 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 ...

with

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 " ...

. Though not an undisputed starter at the latter team, he still managed to appear in a good number of games. Sá subsequently moved to

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

with

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D., usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Villarreal, in the Province of Castellón, Castellón province of easte ...

in 2004–05, helping to a third-place finish after which he signed with fellow Spaniards

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...

. He finished 2006–07 on loan at

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, i ...

, which eventually ranked last. He made his debut for the

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

-based team as a substitute in a 1–3 away loss against

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

for the campaign's

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

, and ended up playing in several positions: right back, left back and also in

midfield In many sports, midfield is the part of a sports field that is near the line that is equally far from the end lines. That is, in American football it is the part of the field near the 50-yard line; in association football (soccer) and field hoc ...

. In July 2007, Sá signed for Foolad FC, who competed in Iran's second level and were led by Portuguese coach

Augusto Inácio Augusto Soares Inácio (born 30 January 1955) is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as a left back, and a manager. Having represented both Sporting and Porto as a professional player, he went on to have a lengthy managerial career that ...

, his father-in-law. After achieving promotion in his first season he switched to another club in the country, Sepahan FC.

International career

Sá was

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the e ...

six times for the Mozambique national team.Mambas prepare for Cosafa Cup
BBC Sport, 25 May 2004

Managerial career

As of 2022, Sá holds

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

A and

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

A coaching licenses. In 2019, he became the owner and technical director of PRO11 Soccer Academy in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. On 10 March 2022, Sá signed with

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; ) is a professional Association football, soccer league in Canada and the highest level of the Canadian soccer league system. The league comprises eight teams, from five of provinces and territories of ...

side

as an assistant coach.

Honours

Benfica *

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 ...

: 2003–04 Villarreal *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Espanyol *

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

: 2005–06 Sepahan *

Iran Pro League The Persian Gulf Pro League (, ''Lig-e Bartar-e Xalij-e Fârs''), formerly known as the Iran Premier League (, ''Lig-e bartar-e Irân''), is a professional association football league in Iran and the highest level of the Iranian football league s ...

: 2009–10

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sa, Armando 1975 births Living people Footballers from Maputo Mozambican men's footballers Men's association football defenders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players U.D. Vilafranquense players GD Bragança players Rio Ave F.C. players S.C. Braga players S.L. Benfica footballers La Liga players Villarreal CF players RCD Espanyol footballers English Football League players Leeds United F.C. players Persian Gulf Pro League players Foolad F.C. players Sepahan S.C. footballers Mozambique men's international footballers Mozambican expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Iran Mozambican expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Mozambican expatriate sportspeople in Spain mozambican expatriate sportspeople in England Mozambican expatriate sportspeople in Iran Mozambican football managers Expatriate soccer coaches in Canada Pacific FC non-playing staff