Manuel Cajuda

Manuel Ventura Cajuda de Sousa (born 27 June 1951) is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as a midfielder, and the manager of Leixões SC.

Manuel Cajuda
Personal information
Full name Manuel Ventura Cajuda de Sousa
Date of birth (1951-06-27) 27 June 1951
Place of birth Olhão, Portugal
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1967–1969 Olhanense
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1970–1971 Sambrasense
1971–1972 Olhanense
1972–1973 Sambrasense
1975–1976 Olhanense 29 (1)
1976–1983 Farense
Teams managed
1984 Farense
1987–1988 Portimonense
1988–1989 Olhanense
1989–1990 Louletano
1990–1991 Torreense
1991 O Elvas
1991–1993 Torreense
1993–1994 União Leiria
1994–1997 Braga
1997–1998 Belenenses
1998–2002 Braga
2002–2003 União Leiria
2003–2004 Marítimo
2004 Beira-Mar
2005–2006 Naval
2006 Zamalek
2006–2009 Vitória Guimarães
2009–2011 Sharjah
2011–2012 União Leiria
2013 Olhanense
2013 Chongqing
2014 Tianjin Songjiang
2015 Ajman Club
2015 BEC Tero Sasana
2017 Sichuan Longfor
2018–2019 Académico Viseu
2020 Leixões
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

In a career which spanned three decades, he managed nearly 20 teams in his own country, and also worked in Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, China and Thailand.

Playing career

Born in Olhão, Cajuda played exclusively in his native Algarve region during his career, starting out at S.C. Olhanense. In 1975 he joined what would be his main club, S.C. Farense also in the second division.

In the summer of 1983, even though the Faro side had just promoted to the Primeira Liga, 32-year-old Cajuda decided to retire from playing.

Coaching career

Immediately after retiring, Cajuda started working as a manager with Farense, leading the team through 12 games in their first-ever season in the top flight and managing to help them retain their league status after finishing 12th. He continued to work in his native region in the following years, with Portimonense SC, Olhanense and Louletano DC.

In 1994, after years of working almost exclusively in the second level – the exception being S.C.U. Torreense in the 1991–92 campaign – Cajuda signed for S.C. Braga, remaining in Minho for the following eight years (ranking in fourth place in 1997 and 2001), with two incomplete seasons with C.F. Os Belenenses in between. He managed to finish in the top six with his following two clubs, U.D. Leiria – he had already been in charge of them nine years before, in division two – and C.S. Marítimo.

Cajuda left the Madeira side only one game into the 2004–05 season, and joined S.C. Beira-Mar also of the top tier,[1] but only lasted an additional ten matches in Aveiro.[2] After a brief spell with Associação Naval 1º de Maio he left for Egypt with Zamalek SC, becoming its second Portuguese coach after Nelo Vingada.

Cajuda returned to Portugal midway through 2006–07 campaign joining Vitória de Guimarães – being announced on Christmas Day – which he led to promotion and a third position in the following year, just narrowly surpassing S.L. Benfica for the last UEFA Champions League berth and only to lose controversially in the last qualifying round against FC Basel of Switzerland.[3] He left at the conclusion of 2008–09 with an eighth-place finish, joining Al-Sharjah SCC of the United Arab Emirates.[4]

In late September 2011, Cajuda became Leiria's third coach of the season after the dismissed Pedro Caixinha and Vítor Pontes.[5] He was relieved of his duties on 14 March 2012, with the team ranking last in the league.[6]

After nearly a quarter of a century away, Cajuda returned to hometown club Olhanense on 8 January 2013, succeeding Sérgio Conceição.[7] He resigned on 1 May with the side having slipped from eighth to 14th, one place off the bottom.[8]

Following brief spells across Asia, namely in China, Thailand and the UAE, Cajuda returned to his country to take over at Académico de Viseu F.C. in February 2018, replacing Francisco Chaló at a team challenging for a place in the top flight.[9] Having finished that campaign in third, one place off promotion, he resigned the following 13 January them in 13th place.[10]

On 26 January 2020, Cajuda was hired at Leixões S.C. who were placed tenth in the second tier.[11] In six games he managed two victories, with the club finishing the championship in 9th place, before the club announced his departure on 9 May 2020.[12]

Personal life

Cajuda's sons, Hugo (born 1979) and João (1984), were both involved in sports: the former played twice for Braga in the top division – under the management of his father – mainly representing their reserves during a short spell. The latter was engaged in gymnastics in his youth, but later took up an acting career.[13][14]

References
  1. General news – September 2004; Football Portugal, 29 September 2004
  2. Beira Mar coach Cajuda resigns; ESPN Soccernet, 15 December 2004
  3. "Cajuda: «Temos que pensar no futuro»" [Cajuda: «We must think about the future»] (in Portuguese). Record. 1 September 2008. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  4. Cajuda rescinde com Al Sharjah (Cajuda rescinds with Al Sharjah); Jornal de Notícias, 21 May 2011 (in Portuguese)
  5. União de Leiria prescinde de Vítor Pontes e chama Manuel Cajuda (União de Leiria sack Vítor Pontes and call Manuel Cajuda); Região de Leiria, 26 September 2011 (in Portuguese)
  6. Dominguez sucede a Cajuda (Dominguez succeeds Cajuda); Record, 14 March 2012 (in Portuguese)
  7. "Manuel Cajuda regressa ao Olhanense" [Manuel Cajuda returns to Olhanense] (in Portuguese). Notícias ao Minuto. 8 January 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  8. "Manuel Cajuda deixa comando técnico do Olhanense" [Manuel Cajuda leaves Olhanense managerial position] (in Portuguese). Rádio e Televisão de Portugal. 1 May 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  9. "Manuel Cajuda regressa ao futebol português para treinar o Académico de Viseu" [Manuel Cajuda returns to Portuguese football to manage Académico de Viseu] (in Portuguese). Diário de Notícias. 7 February 2018. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  10. "Manuel Cajuda demite-se do Académico de Viseu" [Manuel Cajuda resigns from Académico de Viseu] (in Portuguese). Diário de Notícias. 13 January 2019. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  11. "OFICIAL: Manuel Cajuda é o novo treinador do Leixões" [OFFICIAL: Manuel Cajuda is the new manager of Leixões] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 26 January 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  12. Manuel Cajuda anuncia saída do Leixões, record.pt, 9 May 2020
  13. Manuel Cajuda: «Fiz a minha melhor época como treinador» (Manuel Cajuda: «I had my best season as a coach»); Record, 19 June 2000 (in Portuguese)
  14. João Cajuda é um dos bloggers de viagens mais influentes do mundo (João Cajuda is one of the world's most influential travel bloggers); Diário de Notícias, 28 March 2016 (in Portuguese)
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