Oceano da Cruz

Oceano Andrade da Cruz (born 29 July 1962), known simply as Oceano, is a Portuguese former professional footballer.

A defensive midfielder with tremendous physical strength and leadership skills as his main assets, he was widely regarded as the best footballer ever hailing from Cape Verde, and represented most notably Sporting CP, appearing in more than 400 official matches for the club over 11 seasons (two separate spells).

Having earned more than 50 caps for Portugal, Oceano played with his adopted nation at Euro 1996. He later worked briefly as a manager.

Club career Born in São Vicente, Cape Verde, Oceano's family immigrated to Portugal when he was a child. He started his career at Almada in the lower leagues and, after spells in the Segunda Liga with Odivelas and Nacional, signed with Sporting CP for the 1984–85 season.

Both Oceano and Xavier returned to the Lions in the summer of 1994, and the former continued to perform at a consistent level until the end of the 1997–98 campaign, when he was 36; his Sporting trophies consisted, however, of a single Taça de Portugal, in 1995.

After retiring, Oceano worked as a color commentator for several TV networks. In early March 2011, he returned to his main club Sporting, joining newly appointed José Couceiro's coaching staff; exactly one year after, he moved in the same capacity to União de Leiria under another old Sporting acquaintance, José Dominguez.

Oceano started the 2012–13 season in charge of Sporting's reserves in the second division. On 4 October 2012, however, following Ricardo Sá Pinto's dismissal, he was named as caretaker manager of the first team.

Oceano's tenure as head coach of Sporting first consisted of three away games and losses – against Porto in the league (2–0), against Moreirense in the domestic cup (3–2) and at Genk in the group stage of the UEFA Europa League (2–1) – and his spell ended on 29 October 2012 with a 0–0 home draw with Académica de Coimbra in the Primeira Liga.

International career Oceano played 54 times for Portugal, scoring eight goals.

Following the Portuguese Football Federation's appointment of Carlos Queiroz in July 2008, Oceano took up a position within the scouting department. He worked alongside former Porto's José Alberto Costa and former IFA Premiership player Julian Ward.

In August 2009, Oceano was appointed head coach of Portugal under-21s, succeeding Rui Caçador. His first match was on the 11th, a 2–1 win over Northern Ireland.

After failing to qualify for the 2011 European Championship, Oceano was dismissed from his position. He again reunited with Queiroz in late March 2014, joining his coaching staff at the Iranian national side prior to the 2014 FIFA World Cup tournament. On 20 February 2019, the pair started working with Colombia.

+ Oceano da Cruz: International goals Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition

Managerial statistics

Honours Sporting CP Taça de Portugal: 1994–95 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 1987, 1995