Valdo (footballer, born 1981)

Valmiro Lopes Rocha (born 23 April 1981), known as Valdo, is a former Cape Verdean professional footballer who played mainly as a winger.

Valdo
Valdo in action for Levante in 2011
Personal information
Full name Valmiro Lopes Rocha
Date of birth (1981-04-23) 23 April 1981
Place of birth Villablino, Spain
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Winger
Team information
Current team
 Izarra
Youth career
1993–2001 Pozuelo
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2003 Real Madrid B 60 (8)
2002–2003 Real Madrid 1 (0)
2003 → Osasuna (loan) 13 (1)
2003–2007 Osasuna 107 (18)
2007–2009 Espanyol 42 (5)
2009–2010 → Málaga (loan) 19 (2)
2010–2012 Levante 63 (8)
2012–2013 Atlante 4 (0)
2013 → Levante (loan) 13 (0)
2014 Asteras Tripoli 9 (0)
2015 Racing Santander 1 (0)
2015 Atlético Kolkata 9 (1)
2016–2017 Lealtad 19 (1)
2017–2018 Peña Sport 33 (6)
2019–2020 Izarra 32 (1)
International career
2003 Spain U21 6 (3)
2011 Cape Verde 2 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 26 February 2020

Valdo had played for several clubs in La Liga during his professional career, notably Osasuna, Espanyol and Levante. Over 12 seasons in the competition, he appeared in 258 matches and scored 34 goals.

Early years

Valdo was born in Villablino, León, in the region of Laciana, where his parents had moved after migrating from Cape Verde to work in the coal mines.[1]

He started playing football with the amateur side CF Pozuelo de Alarcón in Madrid and stayed there for the following seven years.

Club career

Real Madrid / Osasuna

In 2001, Real Madrid signed him for its reserve teams. He played in 2001–02 with Real Madrid Castilla and, also during that season, received first-team opportunities in La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the UEFA Champions League, with the Merengues eventually winning the latter competition.[2] In January 2003, Valdo moved to the league club CA Osasuna, first on loan,[3] where he developed as a top division player, scoring five goals in 35 games in his first full season.[4] On 11 April 2004, he scored in a 3–0 away win against his former club.[5]

In the 2005–06 season, although he featured much less mainly due to a groin ailment,[6] Valdo scored in a 2–1 home victory over FC Barcelona on 12 March 2006, as Osasuna qualified for the first time for the Champions League qualifying rounds. After the demotion to the UEFA Cup, he helped the team reach the last-four against Sevilla FC, scoring twice in ten matches.

Espanyol

RCD Espanyol signed Valdo at the end of 2006–07 to a four-year deal.[7] He played his first game for the Barcelona-based side against CF Peralada during the pre-season.

On 14 July 2009, after having appeared sparingly, Valdo moved to Málaga CF in a season-long loan. After being dropped from the squad for several months due to his bad performances, he was brought back on 27 February 2010; he scored his first goal for the club against Barcelona on the same day, but Málaga lost 1–2 away at Camp Nou.[8]

Levante

On 13 August 2010, Valdo left Espanyol and signed with Levante UD, reuniting with his Málaga teammates Gustavo Munúa and Xavi Torres.[9] He contributed heavily during his first season – 2,119 minutes, 25 starts – as Levante retained their top-flight status, scoring against Getafe CF in a 2–0 home win[10] and Villarreal CF for a 1–0 away victory.[11]

Valdo was even more important in 2011–12 and scored on six occasions as Levante qualified for the Europa League for the first time ever after finishing sixth. Two of those goals near the end of the season, in home defeats of Atlético Madrid (2–0)[12] and Granada CF (3–1).[13]

Later career

After leaving Levante, Valdo rarely settled with a club, playing in quick succession with Asteras Tripoli in Greece, Racing de Santander of Spain and Atlético de Kolkata of the Indian Super League.[14] On 1 September 2016, he returned to Spain to sign for CD Lealtad.[15]

International career

Valdo played for the Spanish under-21s in the early 2000s. In late August 2011, aged 30, he was called up by the Cape Verde national team for a match against Mali on 3 September, for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualificatiers,[16] and made his debut in the 0–3 away loss.[17]

Career statistics

Club
As of 8 October 2015
Club Season League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Real Madrid 2001–02[18] La Liga 10002[lower-alpha 1]030
2002–03[18] La Liga 00100010
Total 10102040
Osasuna (loan) 2002–03[18] La Liga 13100—131
Osasuna 2003–04[18] La Liga 35510—365
2004–05[18] La Liga 27562—337
2005–06[18] La Liga 192002[lower-alpha 2]0212
2006–07[18] La Liga 2661012[lower-alpha 3]2398
Total 120198214214223
Espanyol 2007–08[18] La Liga 31430—344
2008–09[18] La Liga 11152—163
Total 42582—507
Málaga (loan) 2009–10[18] La Liga 19230—222
Levante 2010–11[18] La Liga 29240—332
2011–12[18] La Liga 34610—356
Total 63850—688
Atlante 2012–13[19] Ascenso MX 4020—60
Levante (loan) 2012–13[18] La Liga 130003[lower-alpha 4]0160
Asteras Tripoli 2013–14[19] Super League Greece 9000—90
Racing Santander 2014–15[19] Segunda División 1000—10
Atlético Kolkata 2015[19] Indian Super League 21——21
Career total 2543223419229638
  1. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  2. Appearances in UEFA Cup
  3. Appearances in UEFA Cup and UEFA Champions League
  4. Appearances in UEFA Europa League

International goals
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.8 October 2011Estádio da Várzea, Praia, Cape Verde Zimbabwe2–1Win2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification[20]

References
  1. "El Bierzo no es Alcorcón" [El Bierzo is not Alcorcón]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 28 January 2007.
  2. "Aterrizaje de emergencia del Madrid en Moscú" [Emergency landing for Madrid in Moscow]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 30 October 2001. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
    - "Portillo deja huella" [Portillo makes a mark]. El País (in Spanish). 21 March 2002. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  3. "Valdo move made permanent". UEFA. 7 June 2003.
  4. "Regreso amargo del Albacete" [Bitter return for Albacete]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 31 August 2003. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  5. "Real Madrid 0–3 Osasuna". ESPN Soccernet. 11 April 2004.
  6. "Valdo falls victim to groin injury". UEFA. 23 March 2006.
  7. "Valdo jugará en el Espanyol las cuatro próximas temporadas" [Valdo to play in Espanyol the next four seasons]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 23 June 2007.
  8. "Barca battle back to stay top". ESPN Soccernet. 7 February 2010.
  9. "Valdo, nuevo fichaje del Levante UD" [Valdo, new Levante UD signing] (in Spanish). Levante UD. 13 August 2010. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011.
  10. "Valdo and Caicedo on target". ESPN Soccernet. 29 January 2011.
  11. "Villarreal shocked by Levante". ESPN Soccernet. 5 February 2011.
  12. "Granotas leap into top four". ESPN Soccernet. 8 April 2012.
  13. "Levante leap back into top four". ESPN Soccernet. 28 April 2012.
  14. "Doutie and Valdo, new players of Atlético Kolkata". Atlético Madrid. 3 July 2015. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  15. "Valdo completa la plantilla del Lealtad" [Valdo completes Lealtad roster] (in Spanish). Fútbol Asturiano. 1 September 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  16. "Keylor Navas y Valdo, convocados con Costa Rica y Cabo Verde" [Keylor Navas and Valdo called by Costa Rica and Cape Verde] (in Spanish). Levante UD. 22 August 2011. Archived from the original on 5 October 2011.
    - "Entrevista a Valdo, convocado con la selección de Cabo Verde" [Interview with Valdo, called by Cape Verde national team] (in Spanish). Levante UD. 23 August 2011. Archived from the original on 5 October 2011.
  17. "Futebol em directo: Mali 3–0 Cabo Verde (FINAL)" [Live football: Mali 3–0 Cape Verde (FINAL)] (in Portuguese). SAPO. 3 September 2011. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  18. "Valdo: Valmiro Lopes Rocha". BDFutbol. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  19. "Valdo". Soccerway. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  20. "Warriors disaster". NewsDay. 9 October 2011. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  • Valdo at BDFutbol
  • Valdo at National-Football-Teams.com
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