Nené (footballer, born 1979)
Adriano Barbosa Miranda da Luz, commonly known as Nené, is a Cape Verdean former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder.
Club career
Born in the capital Lisbon, Nené spent most of his professional career in Portugal. After starting out in the lower leagues, he signed in early 2002 with Primeira Liga club S.C. Braga from Gondomar SC, 31 of his 38 league games with the Minho team coming in the 2002–03 season, in a 14th-place finish.After definitively leaving Braga, Nené signed with U.D. Leiria which in turn loaned him to C.D. Aves, with the latter side promoting to the top division at the end of 2005–06. The move was subsequently made permanent, and the player was relatively used the following campaign – 1,131 minutes, one goal in a 2–1 away loss against Boavista FC, whom he had represented as a youth – which ended in immediate relegation.
Nené rarely settled in the following years, playing in Kuwait, Cyprus, Spain and Romania. In 2010–11, aged 31, he returned to his birth nation and joined F.C. Arouca, promoted for the first time ever to the second tier. On 12 July 2012, he switched to S.C. Covilhã of the same league.
In the summer of 2014, following a brief spell with F.C. Famalicão, Nené moved to the lower leagues with Vilaverdense F.C., going on to retire well past his 30s.