Daniel João Santos Candeias (born 25 February 1988) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a winger for Turkish TFF First League club

Adanaspor Adanaspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional Association football, football club based in Adana; currently, they play in the TFF First League. The club was founded in 1954 by middle-class merchants and artisans in response to their perceived ali ...

. He was on the books of both

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 ...

and Benfica, where he was mostly loaned out, and amassed most of his 134

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 ...

appearances and 15 goals while at Nacional. He also played over 100 games in the Turkish

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

with Alanyaspor and Gençlerbirliği, and had spells in Spain, Germany, France and Scotland.

Club career

Porto

Born in Fornos de Algodres, Guarda District, Candeias started his professional career with

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 ...

in the 2008–09 season, after emerging through the club's youth ranks and having served a loan at Varzim S.C. in the Segunda Liga. He made his official debut for the former in late August, in the 2–0 defeat to

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

in the

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 ...

. After having appeared scarcely throughout his first year (also playing ten minutes in the 4–0 loss against Arsenal in the group stage of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

), Candeias was loaned in late January to league strugglers Rio Ave FC, until the end of the campaign. For 2009–10 another loan ensued, as he moved to Recreativo de Huelva in the Spanish

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

. However, after a few months during which he appeared infrequently, Candeias returned to Portugal in late January 2010 to join F.C. Paços de Ferreira, again on loan. His first match for his new team was a 1–2 home loss against G.D. Chaves in the quarter-finals 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 ...

. His maiden appearance in the

for them occurred on 7 February, as he featured 12 minutes of the 2–1 away victory over Vitória de Guimarães.

Nacional

In October 2010, Candeias moved to C.D. Nacional in the same league on a co-ownership deal. He was immediately loaned to Portimonense SC, appearing regularly as a starter but suffering top-flight relegation. Upon returning to

Funchal Funchal () officially Funchal City (), is the capital, largest city and a Municipality (Portugal), municipality in Portugal's Madeira, Autonomous Region of Madeira, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean. The city has a population of 105,795, making it ...

, Candeias made his debut in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

second qualifying round against Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar of Iceland; he came on as a late substitute in the second leg on 21 July 2011 and scored to conclude a 2–0 win (3–1 aggregate). He netted 15 more goals for the side, including the winner with his first touch from the bench in a 2–1 comeback against C.S. Marítimo in the Madeira derby on 21 April 2013, and the opener of a win of the same score against his former club Porto the following 30 March, in which he also assisted the decider by Mario Rondón at the Estádio da Madeira.

Benfica

On 3 July 2014, Candeias signed for Portuguese champions S.L. Benfica, promising to "give everything" for the club. He failed to appear in any competitive games, however, being successively loaned to 1. FC Nürnberg in Germany, Granada CF in Spain, FC Metz in France and Alanyaspor in Turkey.

Rangers

On 11 June 2017, Candeias joined Scottish club Rangers on a two-year deal, for a reported transfer fee of £700,000. He made his debut 18 days later, playing 31 minutes in a 1–0 home win over FC Progrès Niederkorn in the

. Candeias scored his first goal for his new team on 9 August 2017, in a 6–0 rout of Dunfermline Athletic in the

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...

. He netted in an Old Firm game on 11 March 2018 to give Rangers a 2–1 lead in a 3–2 loss to Celtic at Ibrox Park; three days later, he extended his contract until the summer of 2020.

Return to Turkey

On 22 July 2019, Candeias signed a two-year contract at Gençlerbirliği S.K. of the Turkish

. His three goals of his first season in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

were all scored on 19 October in a 6–0 win at

Antalyaspor Antalyaspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional multi-sport club based in Antalya, southern Turkey. The club's colours are red and white. The association football, football side play their home matches at the Antalya Stadium. In Turkey, the cl ...

, in which he added two assists to his

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

. Having suffered relegation, Candeias returned to Alanyaspor on a deal of the same length in June 2021. Accompanying compatriots José Marafona, Wilson Eduardo and João Novais, he scored his first goal of his new spell away to Galatasaray S.K. on 19 September, coming off the bench to decide the game with three minutes remaining. Remaining in the same country, but now in its second tier, 35-year-old Candeias signed for Kocaelispor on 20 July 2023.

International career

After having made his Porto debut in 2008, Candeias was soon called up to the Portugal under-21 team. He won his first cap on 5 September of that year, coming on as a 58th-minute substitute for Vieirinha in a 2–0 away loss to

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 ...

for the 2009 UEFA European Championship qualifiers.

Career statistics

Honours

Porto *

: 2008–09 *

: 2008–09 Individual * Scottish Premiership top assist provider: 2017–18

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Candeias, Daniel 1988 births Living people People from Fornos de Algodres Sportspeople from Guarda District 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen Portuguese men's footballers Men's association football wingers Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players FC Porto players Varzim S.C. players Rio Ave F.C. players F.C. Paços de Ferreira players Portimonense S.C. players C.D. Nacional players S.L. Benfica footballers U.D. Oliveirense players La Liga players Segunda División players Recreativo de Huelva players Granada CF footballers 2. Bundesliga players 1. FC Nürnberg players Ligue 2 players FC Metz players Süper Lig players TFF 1. Lig players Alanyaspor footballers Gençlerbirliği S.K. footballers Kocaelispor footballers Adanaspor footballers Scottish Professional Football League players Rangers F.C. players Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Germany Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in France Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Scotland