José Calado


José António Calado da Silva, known as Calado, is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a central midfielder.
After coming to prominence in his own country with Benfica, he spent the rest of his 19-year career with two teams in Spain and two in Cyprus. He amassed Primeira Liga totals of 184 games and seven goals, over eight seasons.

Club career

Calado was born in Lisbon. During his early career, started with local Casa Pia AC, he represented C.F. Estrela da Amadora and S.L. Benfica, reaching international status with the latter club.
In the summer of 2001 Calado, alongside teammate João Tomás, joined La Liga side Real Betis, but both failed to settle, with the midfielder only appearing 20 times during two seasons. From 2003 to 2005 he played on loan with Segunda División team Polideportivo Ejido, and the move was subsequently made permanent.
After 100 league matches with 15 goals, Calado moved to Cyprus, first with APOP Kinyras FC, joining AEP Paphos FC for 2008–09. He appeared regularly for both clubs during his Cypriot First Division spell, eventually leaving the latter in early 2010 and retiring at age 36.

International career

Calado won four caps for the Portugal national team during four years, and also represented the nation at the 1996 Summer Olympics.

Honours

Benfica