Nené (footballer, born 1979)

Adriano Barbosa Miranda da Luz (born 24 August 1979), commonly known as Nené, is a Cape Verdean professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder.

Nené
Personal information
Full name Adriano Barbosa Miranda da Luz[1]
Date of birth (1979-08-24) 24 August 1979[1]
Place of birth Lisbon, Portugal[1]
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1989–1991 Águias da Póvoa
1991–1994 Ponte Frielas
1994–1997 Odivelas
1997–1998 Boavista
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–1999 Marco 25 (2)
1999–2000 Vilafranquense 35 (2)
2000–2002 Gondomar 45 (5)
2002 Braga B 11 (2)
2002–2005 Braga 38 (0)
2004 → Çaykur Rizespor (loan) 5 (0)
2004–2005 → Aves (loan) 31 (3)
2005–2006 União Leiria 5 (0)
2006 → Aves (loan) 13 (3)
2006–2007 Aves 18 (1)
2007 Al Arabi
2008 Enosis Neon 12 (0)
2009 Pontevedra 18 (0)
2009–2010 Braşov 9 (0)
2010–2012 Arouca 49 (0)
2012–2013 Covilhã 47 (1)
2014 Famalicão 14 (2)
2014–2019 Vilaverdense 159 (20)
National team
2004–2008 Cape Verde 14 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 5 May 2019

Club career

Born in the capital Lisbon, Nené spent most of his professional career in Portugal. After starting out in the lower leagues, he signed in early 2002 with Primeira Liga club S.C. Braga from Gondomar SC, 31 of his 38 league games with the Minho team coming in the 2002–03 season, in a 14th-place finish.

After definitively leaving Braga (which also loaned him twice during his spell), Nené signed with U.D. Leiria which in turn loaned him to C.D. Aves, with the latter side promoting to the top division at the end of 2005–06. The move was subsequently made permanent, and the player was relatively used the following campaign – 1,131 minutes, one goal in a 1–2 away loss against Boavista FC,[2] whom he had represented as a youth – which ended in immediate relegation.

Nené rarely settled in the following years, playing in Kuwait, Cyprus, Spain and Romania. In 2010–11, aged 31, he returned to his birth nation and joined F.C. Arouca, promoted for the first time ever to the second tier. On 12 July 2012, he switched to S.C. Covilhã of the same league.[3]

In the summer of 2014, following a brief spell with F.C. Famalicão, Nené moved to the lower leagues with Vilaverdense FC, going on to retire well past his 30s.[4][5]

International career

Nené was part of the Cape Verde squad which progressed to the second stage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, appearing in six out of 12 possible matches. The national team finished second bottom in their group, failing to qualify for both the competition in Germany and the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations.[6]

References
  1. "Nené" (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  2. "Boavista-Aves, 2–1 (Ricardo Silva 74, Linz 90+2; Nené 9)". Record (in Portuguese). 4 November 2006. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  3. "Nené chegou a acordo por uma época" [Nené agreed to one season] (in Portuguese). SAPO. 12 July 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  4. Nogueira, Carlos (12 December 2017). "Vilaverdense em Alvalade para "continuar a fazer história"" [Vilaverdense at Alvalade to "keep making history"]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  5. Sepúlveda, António (20 June 2018). "Nené continua no Vilaverdense FC" [Nené continues in Vilaverdense FC]. Desportivo Vale do Homem (in Portuguese). Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  6. Nené – FIFA competition record
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