Nando Maria Neves

Fernando "Nando" Maria Neves (born 9 June 1978) is a retired Cape Verdean football defender who played for the Cape Verde national football team.

Biography Neves played with Batuque of Mindelo in its youth team. He appeared in the Portuguese team of Amarante FC for a season in 1998, after he was a squad member of Portimonense for a season. He was elected the best central defender and the best foreign player of the season 2006-2007 in Tunisia, one of the first Cape Verdeans to be honoured, and he has recently signed a contract with a Qatar team, Al Sailiya, for the season 2007/2008. In July 2009 he moved to FC Baník Ostrava, he made 54 appearances and scored seven goals. In 2011, he played with LB Châteauroux for two seasons, he appeared 62 time and just scored a goal. He went back to the Czech Republic and played with Slavia Prague for a season, making 18 appearances and scoring no goals. A year later, he played with FK Příbram also for a season and had 16 appearances and scored a goal, this was his last club appearance.

International career Neves was a member of the Cape Verde national team in 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification. After Cape Verde were eliminated, he received a call-up in August 2009 for a friendly against Malta and Angola and in May 2010 played in the 0–0 draw with Portugal. Nando was the Cape Verdean team captain in the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, which marked the first participation for his country in this tournament. His performances throughout the tournament were rewarded by selection into the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament. His last international match was on February 2, 2013, against Ghana at the ACN quarter-finals, in which his team were beaten 2-0. After this defeat he announced his immediate retirement from the national team.

Honours Grasshoppers Swiss Super League: 2002–03 Individual Championnat de Tunisie Best Central Defender: 2006–07 Championnat de Tunisie Best Foreign Player: 2006–07 Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament: 2013