Evandro Brandão


Evandro Elmer de Carvalho Brandão is an Angolan former professional footballer who played as a forward.

Club career

England

Brandão was born in Luanda, Angola, but spent the first years of his life in Portugal before moving to England at the age of 9. He began his football career at Blackburn Rovers, before joining Walsall in 2003.
After three years with Walsall, Brandão signed for Manchester United on 21 October 2006, after impressing assistant manager Carlos Queiroz while on trial at the 2006 Under-17 Nike Cup. He had to wait five months to make his debut for the under-18s, but played four of their last five games as the side finished fourth in the 2006–07 Premier Academy League, being offered a trainee contract in July 2007.
The following season, Brandão scored four goals in 18 appearances for the under-18 team, adding four in 15 matches the year after. He also made his debut for the reserves in 2008–09, coming on as a 69th-minute substitute for Magnus Wolff Eikrem in a Manchester Senior Cup game away to Bury. However, he was unable to make any more of an impression at the club, and was released in June 2009.

Benfica

Brandão joined Braga in summer 2009 but, five months later, left to sign a two-and-a-half-year contract with Benfica.
After spending a year in the Benfica academy, he went out on loan twice in 2010–11, first to Fátima and then to Gondomar, for whom he netted ten times in 12 games.

Hungary

After failing to break into the Benfica first team, Brandão moved to Hungarian club Videoton in July 2011, coached by his former Portugal under-16 manager Paulo Sousa. He scored his only Nemzeti Bajnokság I goal for the side on 20 August, contributing to a 4–1 home win against Pécs.

Later career

On 30 August 2012, Brandão signed with Olhanense in the Portuguese top flight, on loan. He scored his only goal in the competition on 15 December to help to a 2–2 home draw with Gil Vicente, as his team went on to finish as the first above the relegation zone.
Subsequently, Brandão represented in quick succession Tondela, Libolo, Kabuscorp – both from the Angolan Girabola– and Benfica e Castelo Branco, totalling only eight goals. On 12 July 2016, he agreed to a deal at Fafe from the Portuguese second tier.
Brandão scored his first hat-trick at the professional level on 15 January 2017, in a 4–1 victory over Braga B at the Estádio Municipal de Fafe. In June, following relegation, he signed for Leixões also of the second division.
On 10 September 2019, Brandão joined Israeli Liga Leumit club Maccabi [Petah Tikva F.C.|Maccabi Petah Tikva]. He returned to Portugal and its division two in the 2021 January transfer window, on a one-and-a-half-year contract at Vilafranquense.
In January 2022, Brandão moved to the Liga 3 with Alverca. In the 2023 off-season, both he and his teammate Tavinho signed with RANS Nusantara in the Indonesian Liga 1.
Brandão joined PSIS Semarang of the same country and league in August 2024. On 26 March 2025, he decided to terminate his contract citing unpaid wages for more than four months.

International career

At youth level, Brandão earned 24 caps for Portugal. He switched allegiance to Angola as a senior, making his debut on 13 August 2014 by playing the last four minutes of a 0–0 friendly draw against Botswana.

International goals

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
18 June 2019Estádio Municipal 25 de Abril, Penafiel, Portugal1–02–0Friendly

Honours

Videoton
Libolo
Maccabi Petah Tikva