Chicão joins Dynamos, brings defensive stability and trophy luck

BRAZILIAN CENTRAL DEFENDER Anderson Sebastião Cardoso is the latest to sign for Delhi Dynamos, bringing with him 12 years' worth of professional football experience, and a bit of trophy luck that the Dynamos could probably use right now. 

Coming out of the youth system of Mogi Mirim, Cardoso, fondly called Chicão by his fans, got his senior team debut in 2000. He quickly became a central figure in the team, heling his club climb the division ladder and ending up in Serie B. His performance earned him a few short stints at clubs like Portuguesa Santista, America-SP, Juventude and Figueirense.

In 2008, he was signed up by Corinthians, and in his very first season played an important part in helping them win the Serie B and gain promotion to the Brazilian top division. He also helped them reach the Brazilian Cup final that same year. He spent 4 more seasons in that club and was a part of many trophy-winning campaigns. By the time he left for fellow Serie A club Flamengo, he had already played 245 matches for the Corinthians, scoring 42 goals. At Flamengo, he spent two seasons, playing 24 matches and scoring 3 goals. Early in 2015, he joined Bahia, and spent a few months over there before joining Delhi Dynamos. 

As a seasoned 5 foot 11 inch central defender, Chicão makes for a formidable defensive combo along with John Arne Riise. He is also known for building up attacks and taking some lethal free kicks, which is a bonus. But what makes him stand out is that most of seasons in professional football have been adorned with silverware. He won 8 trphies with Corinthians during his 5 years with them, and he collected 2 medals at Flamengo. He also has a reputation for helping significantly raise the quality of the game at his club, and after the rather foregttable stint at the inaugural ISL, that is just what Delhi Dynamos need. 

But on the flip side, this is the first time he will be playing outside Brazil. And he has not played regular football since summer 2014. Marquee manager Roberto Carlos will have his task cut out to help him get used to the new team and conditions well in time to have an immediate impact when the ISL kicks off in October.