Tony Menezes
FullnameAnthony Santos Menezes
Birth dateNovember 24, 1974 (age 51)
Birth placeMississauga, Ontario, Canada[1]
Height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
PositionDefender
Years 11996
Clubs 1Madureira
Years 21997–1998
Clubs 2America
Years 31999
Clubs 3Bangu
Years 41999
Clubs 4CRB
Years 52000–2001
Clubs 5Botafogo
Years 62001
Clubs 6Botafogo/SP
Caps 65
Goals 60
Years 72002
Clubs 7Gansu Nongken
Caps 719
Goals 70
Years 82003
Clubs 8Nanjing Yoyo
Caps 817
Goals 83
Years 92004
Clubs 9Zhejiang Lucheng
Caps 922
Goals 94
Years 102006
Clubs 10Toronto Lynx
Caps 106
Goals 100
Years 112006
Clubs 11SC Ulbra (RS)
Years 122006–2007
Clubs 12Mahindra United
Years 132008–2010
Clubs 13Porto Alegre FC
Pcupdate17:47, 24 February 2007 (UTC)
Nationalyears 11998–2003
Nationalteam 1Canada
Nationalcaps 127
Nationalgoals 10
Nationalyears 22005
Nationalteam 2Canada Beach Soccer
Nationalcaps 23
Nationalgoals 20
Ntupdate22 November 2009

Anthony Santos Menezes (born November 24, 1974) is a retired Canadian professional soccer player, who predominantly played as a defender and represented Canada national football team on 27 occasions between 1998 and 2003.

Personal life

A 6'1, 180 lb (82 kg) defender, Menezes was born in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. He has a Brazilian mother and Portuguese father. When he was 10, he and his family immigrated to Brazil.

Club career

Brazil

Menezes began his professional club career at Madureira EC in 1996 and appeared in Campeonato Carioca Série B1. He later moved to another Brazilian team America FC Rio in 1997 and played until 1998.

In 1999, he appeared with two different lower league clubs in Brazil, Bangu Atlético and Clube de Regatas Brasil before his stint in top flight side Botafogo between 2000 and 2001.[citation needed]

He signed with Campeonato Brasileiro Série A outfit Botafogo in Rio de Janeiro and appeared in 6 Campeonato Carioca league matches.

China

In 2002, he moved to Asia and joined Gansu Tianma F.C., where he appeared in 19 league matches. He then signed with China League One side Nanjing Yoyo and played in 17 league matches, scoring 3 goals.[2] He again signed with a China League One outfit Zhejiang Lucheng in 2004. Menezes played as a defender but scored 4 goals in 22 league matches.

Canada

On April 19, 2006 he signed with a Canadian club for the first time, joining Toronto Lynx in the USL League Two.[3][4] He played there for only one season.

In 2006, he returned to Brazil and played for SC Ulbra (RS). He with the club, competed in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série C, but was eliminated in the second stage of the competition.[5]

India

In November 2006, he signed with the defending champions Mahindra United[6][7] of Indian National Football League as their third foreign player. He debuted for the Jeepmen at the 2006 Durand Cup tournament in Delhi.[8]

"Mahindra United is the best team in India and I'm proud to be part of the team. There is a professional attitude at this club which governs the functioning right up to the president. Also I found the team to be a tight knit bunch and bound like a family."

— —Menezes on joining Mahindra United FC[9]

With Mahindra United, he appeared in two competitive seasons and won the IFA Shield in 2006. In the 2006–07 National Football League season, Mahindra finished 3rd in the league table. He has also represented Mahindra at the 2007 AFC Cup, where they qualified for the knockout stages, finishing 2nd in the Group-E behind Singapore Armed Forces but lost in the QF to Al-Najmeh of Lebanon (4–5 aggregate).[10][11]

Back to Brazil

After two years in India, Menezes went back to his homeland Brazil and signed in January 2008 with Porto Alegre FC[12] and played until 2010.

International career

He made his debut for Canada in a May 1998 friendly match against North Macedonia and earned a total of 27 caps, scoring no goals.[13] He has represented Canada in four 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification matches between 2000 and 2001[14] and was a member of the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup title-winning squad. Winning the CONCACAF Gold Cup, is the biggest achievement of his long playing career. He has also represented Canada at the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup in Japan.[15]

His final international was a January 2003 friendly match against the United States, which ended with a 4-0 defeat.[16]

He later appeared for the Beach soccer national team of Canada and played 3 matches in 2005.

Honours

Mahindra United

Canada

References

  1. ^ Anthony Santos Menezes: Canadian player profile, clubs and stats Worldfootball.net. Retrieved 21 March 2021
  2. ^ All Washed Up? Time.com. Retrieved 21 March 2021
  3. ^ Lynx add former Canadian international Menezes Archived 2008-09-20 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "TONY MENEZES SIGNS WITH LYNX". Archived 2016-10-26 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2009-03-14.
  5. ^ 2006 Campeonato Brasileiro Série C at RSSSF Archived November 18, 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ "Season ending transfers 2006". Indianfootball.de. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  7. ^ "Mahindra United » Players from A–Z". WorldFootball.net. Archived 27 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  8. ^ "Mahindra sign up Canada-born Brazilian Meneze". Outlook India. Archived 28 March 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  9. ^ Defending champions Mahindra United signed Tony Menezes as their 3rd foreigner Archived 2023-03-28 at the Wayback Machine The Hindustan Times. Retrieved 21 March 2021
  10. ^ "THE DEATH OF MAHINDRA UNITED". inbedwithmaradona.com. Archived 28 December 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  11. ^ "Mahindra United - Al Nejmeh: AFC Cup 2007 Quarter Finals (09/18/2007)". Tribuna.com. Archived 28 March 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  12. ^ Canadian Arena Team Announces Players for Montreal arenaleague.com. Retrieved 21 March 2021
  13. ^ Tony Menezes international career for Canada: Archive Archived 2023-03-28 at the Wayback Machine globalsportsarchive.com. Retrieved 21 March 2021
  14. ^
  15. ^ CONCACAF Championship, Gold Cup 2000 - Full Details Archived 2009-11-14 at the Wayback Machine - RSSSF
  16. ^ Tony Menezes in Canada national soccer team (games and statistics) Archived 2021-06-24 at the Wayback Machine National-Football-Teams. Retrieved 21 March 2021
  17. ^ "CONCACAF Championship, Gold Cup 2000 - Full Details". Retrieved April 20, 2025.
  18. ^ "CONCACAF Championship, Gold Cup 2002 - Full Details". Retrieved April 20, 2025.