The news broke on Sunday, December 8, on Instagram. In a video, Luís Carlos Almeida da Cunha, known as Nani, announced the end of his career as a professional football player: “As everyone knows, everything has an end. I have made an important decision, perhaps the most important of my professional life. I stop being a professional player, with the feeling of accomplishment. The difficult times I recently experienced, with the death of my father, made me realize that I wanted to spend more time with my family. »
After a successful start to his career at Sporting, the winger joined Manchester United (230 matches, 41 goals, 70 assists between 2007 and 2015). In England, he won a Champions League in 2008, alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, and four Premier League titles. The Portuguese won Euro 2016 at international level (112 caps, 5e the country’s most capped player), thanks to a victory in the final against France.
A goal for his hometown
A globe-trotter, Nani then traveled, still in the first division, between Turkey (Fenerbahçe, Demirspor), Spain (Valencia), Portugal (Sporting), the United States (Orlando), Italy (Venice) , Australia (Melbourne). This summer, he settled in the city of his birth, Amadora, promoted to D1. He has scored one goal this season in nine games.
The Portuguese is not going to move away from football, however, since he created a football academy and owns 95% of SU Sintrense, 3e of his Portuguese D3 group.
