Jorge Cadete

Jorge Cadete

Personal information
Full name	Jorge Paulo Cadete Santos Reis
Date of birth	(1968-08-27) 27 August 1968
Place of birth	Pemba, Mozambique
Height
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
1983–1984	Académica Santarém
1984–1987	Sporting CP
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1987–1995	Sporting CP	164	(62)
1988–1989	→ Vitória Setúbal (loan)	29	(8)
1994–1995	→ Brescia (loan)	13	(1)
1996–1997	Celtic	37	(30)
1997–1998	Celta	36	(8)
1999–2003	Benfica	19	(3)
2000	→ Bradford City (loan)	7	(0)
2000–2001	→ Estrela Amadora (loan)	28	(2)
2004	Partick Thistle	5	(0)
2004–2005	Pinhalnovense	4	(0)
2005–2007	São Marcos
Total		342	(114)
International career
1989	Portugal U21	2	(0)
1990–1998	Portugal	33	(5)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Jorge Paulo Cadete Santos Reis (born 27 August 1968), known as Cadete, is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as a striker.

Born to Portuguese settlers, he was groomed in Sporting's prolific youth system, and later was noted while at Celtic, as he led the goalscoring charts in 1996–97.

Cadete amassed Primeira Liga totals of 233 games and 73 goals over the course of 12 seasons. A Portuguese international throughout the 90s, he represented the nation at Euro 1996.

Club career

Early career / Sporting

Born in Pemba, Portuguese Mozambique, Cadete began his footballing career with Associação Academica de Santarém at age 15, scoring an amazing 43 goals in just 18 games. His exploits alerted first division giants Sporting Clube de Portugal and S.L. Benfica, with the former winning the race to sign the promising youngster.

Cadete broke into the senior team at in the 1987–88 season, starting in four of his six appearances and subsequently being sent on loan to fellow top-divisioner Vitória F.C. for the following campaign, helping the Setúbal-based side to the fifth place. He thus returned to Lisbon, where he would play for the following five years uninterrupted and win the 1995 Portuguese Cup – 2–0 against C.S. Marítimo – his only piece of silverware; in the 1992–93 season he was the national championship's topscorer, with 18 goals, and finished his Sporting career with 70 goals in over 180 appearances overall.

Towards the end of his Sporting spell Cadete was also loaned, now to Italy's Brescia Calcio in November 1994. He remained with the Serie A club for exactly one year, and only managed one goal during his stint.

Celtic

In April 1996, after a lengthy transfer saga, Cadete's contract was rescinded and he signed for Celtic on a free transfer, in the middle of the 1995–96 campaign. His debut came against Aberdeen at Celtic Park as he came off the bench to score Celtic's fifth goal in a 5–0 win, thus becoming an instant hit; along with Pierre van Hooijdonk and Paolo Di Canio, he was labelled as one of the "Three Amigos" by club chairman Fergus McCann.

Cadete's transfer to Celtic turned out to be controversial. Despite being signed prior to the transfer deadline, the Scottish Football Association delayed processing his registration in time for the Scottish Cup semi-finals against Rangers at Hampden Park. Following a complaint from McCann, SFA chief Jim Farry was relieved of his duties after being found guilty of deliberately holding back the player's registration.

The following season, Cadete's only full in Scotland, was unarguably the greatest of his career, with the player finishing the year as the country's top scorer with 33 goals in 44 appearances in all competitions, without the aid of penalty kicks. Despite this, his team lost the league title to Glasgow arch-rivals Rangers; he played his last match against Dundee United, bowing to the Celtic fans before kissing the turf.

Celtic manager Tommy Burns made way for new coach Wim Jansen, and Cadete remained a Celtic player throughout the season. Then, citing mental health issues and a failure to adjust to life in Scotland without his family, he requested a transfer.

To Spain and beyond

After failing to show for pre-season training, Cadete was transferred to Celta de Vigo in La Liga for a fee of around £3,500,000, playing one full season for the Galicians and moving to Benfica alongside former Celtic teammate van Hooijdonk in January 1999. Exactly one year later he returned to the United Kingdom, joining newly promoted Premier League side Bradford City on loan until the end of the campaign. He made his debut for the club coming on as a substitute in a 1–1 draw against Aston Villa at Valley Parade, and amassed a further four games in the same predicament (plus two starts), without scoring.

For 2000–01, Cadete was loaned to Lisbon-based C.F. Estrela da Amadora. As newly promoted St. Mirren looked for a striker to bolster its chances of top flight survival, he almost made a return to the country, but the proposed January switch fell through and he remained in Estrela, subsequently seeing out his Benfica contract without any impact whatsoever.

Retirement / Return to football and Scotland

Following his release from Benfica, Cadete found himself without a club. After failing to find a new team he retired from football at the relatively young age of 33, going on to make an appearance on the celebrity version of the Big Brother reality TV show.

At the start of 2003–04 season, aged 35, Cadete decided to return to active. He returned to Scotland to make a guest appearance on Tam Cowan's Scottish football show "Offside", where he spoke of his love for Celtic and how he regretted leaving; he also invited Celtic boss Martin O'Neill to give him a trial for his former club.

Cadete's return to the public eye in Scotland prompted rookie co-managers Gerry Britton and Derek Whyte to take a gamble on the striker. He signed a short term contract for top division relegation battlers Partick Thistle in late January 2004, ending his 18-month exile from the game; the move was controversial however, as he had already agreed to sign for Raith Rovers, even being photographed in the team shirt by the media.

Cadete made his debut for the Jags on 22 February against former club Celtic, and received a mixed reception, with jeers from some Celtic fans as he came off the bench due to the manner of his departure six years earlier. Shortly after, he returned to old ways when he reported back for training 24 hours late, and was subsequently disciplined by the club; he did not manage to score for Thistle in four months, and was not offered a contract extension.

Later years

Cadete returned to his country in the 2004–05 campaign, joining third division's C.D. Pinhalnovense. He cited the major factor in signing for the club was working with coach Paco Fortes.

In the following two years, Cadete played amateur football in the Beja region, with FC São Marcos in São Marcos da Ataboeira, Castro Verde, being rejoined by some former professionals in the country, including Benfica and S.C. Farense's Hassan Nader.

International career

Cadete gained 33 caps for the Portuguese national team scoring five goals, 22 while at Sporting, nine while at Celtic and two as a Celta player. His first game came on 29 August 1990, in a 1–1 friendly draw with Germany.

Cadete was chosen for the UEFA Euro 1996 finals by António Oliveira, after playing the decisive last match in the qualifying rounds against Republic of Ireland and netting the last in a 3–0 win as a substitute. His final appearance was a 0–3 defeat to England on 22 April 1998, in another friendly.

Jorge Cadete: International goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	20 February 1991	Estádio das Antas, Porto, Portugal	Malta	5–0	5–0	Euro 1992 qualifying
2	28 April 1993	Estádio da Luz (1954), Lisbon, Portugal	Scotland	2–0	5–0	1994 World Cup qualification
3	28 April 1993	Estádio da Luz (1954), Lisbon, Portugal	Scotland	5–0	5–0	1994 World Cup qualification
4	19 June 1993	Estádio do Bessa, Porto, Portugal	Malta	4–0	4–0	1994 World Cup qualification
5	15 November 1995	Estádio da Luz (1954), Lisbon, Portugal	Republic of Ireland	3–0	3–0	Euro 1996 qualifying

External links

• Jorge Cadete at footballzz.co.uk
• Jorge Cadete profile at ForaDeJogo
• Jorge Cadete career statistics at Soccerbase
• Jorge Cadete profile at BDFutbol
• Jorge Cadete at National-Football-Teams.com
• Jorge Cadete – FIFA competition record
• Portugal stats at Eu-Football