Sandro (footballer, born March 1987)

Alessandro Ferreira Leonardo (born 10 March 1987), commonly known as Sandro (Chinese: 辛祖), is a Brazilian-born Hong Kong professional football player who currently plays as a forward for Campeonato Carioca club Madureira.

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Ferreira and the second or paternal family name is Leonardo.
Sandro
Personal information
Full name Alessandro Ferreira Leonardo
Date of birth (1987-03-10) 10 March 1987
Place of birth Rio Novo, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
 Madureira
Youth career
Centro de Futebol Zico
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2011 Citizen 51 (27)
2011–2012 Metro Gallery 17 (12)
2012 Pegasus 9 (1)
2013 Citizen 9 (1)
2013–2014 Yuen Long 19 (7)
2014–2015 Wong Tai Sin 16 (4)
2015–2018 Kitchee 46 (35)
2018 PSM Makassar 11 (4)
2019 Tai Po 14 (12)
2020–2021 Eastern 22 (12)
2022 Guangxi Pingguo Haliao 7 (1)
2023– Madureira 0 (0)
International career‡
2015–2019 Hong Kong 29 (7)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 11 February 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 14 December 2019

Club career

Citizen

Sandro was sent off after a second bookable offence in the match against South China, when he pressured Zhang Chunhui to take his goal kick quickly and was considered by the referee to have obstructed the goalkeeper. Citizen lost the match 2–1.[1]

Sandro scored a hat-trick against Tai Po on 2 May 2009 to help the club win 4–1 and end the 2008–09 season in third place in the league.[2] On 25 October 2009, Sandro scored 5 goals for Citizen against Happy Valley at Siu Sai Wan Sports Ground, including a 50-yard lob.[3]

With Citizen, Sandro won the Hong Kong Senior Shield after defeating South China in the final on penalties. But his contract was not renewed by the club at the end of the season.

Sandro playing for Rangers in 2012.

Sandro joined Metro Gallery/Rangers for the 2011–12 season. He scored on his debut for the club in the 1–4 defeat away to Pegasus. He scored again in the second game against his old club Citizen to tie the match 2–2.

Pegasus

Sandro joined Pegasus for an undisclosed fee before the start of 2012–13 season. However, he only scored 1 goal in 10 matches and was released by the club on 31 December 2012.[4]

Citizen

Sandro re-joined Citizen as a free transfer after he was released by Pegasus.

Kitchee

On 15 July 2015, Sandro was formally signed as a Kitchee player.[5] There was controversy surrounding the move as he had signed a pre-contractual agreement with Eastern nine months prior. While Sandro claimed, through his lawyer's advice that the agreement was not legally binding, Eastern's Executive Director Peter Leung took league action after the Hong Kong Football Association was unable to resolve the situation.[6] Eventually the situation was resolved.

During the 2016–17 season, Sandro scored 21 goals en route to winning the Golden Boot. He was rewarded with a new contract on 11 July 2017.[7]

Tai Po

After spending the latter half of 2018 with Indonesian club PSM Makassar, Sandro returned to Hong Kong. He joined Tai Po on 6 February 2019 ahead of their 2019 AFC Cup campaign.[8]

On 4 May 2019, Sandro scored two goals in the second to lead Tai Po to a 2–1 comeback victory against title rivals R&F.[9] The win clinched Tai Po's first league title in club history.

On 26 December 2019, after the match against Lee Man in the semi-final of the Senior Shield, Sandro announced that he would leave the club with immediate effect.[10]

Eastern

On 1 January 2020, less than a week after leaving Tai Po, Sandro signed with Eastern.[11] He scored on his debut for the club in a 2–1 win over Lee Man.[12]

On 1 June 2021, Sandro left the club.

Guangxi Pingguo Haliao

On 2 March 2022, Sandro signed with China League One club Guangxi Pingguo Haliao.[13]

Madureira

On 11 February 2023, Sandro returned to Brazil after 15 years and joined Madureira.

International career

Sandro was born and raised in Brazil, but became a naturalized Hong Kong citizen through residency. Sandro made his international debut and scored his first goal for Hong Kong against Myanmar on 7 November 2015.

Career statistics

Club
As of matches played 6 July 2022.
Club Season League FA Cup & Shield League Cup AFC Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Citizen 2008–09 20 15 - - - - - - 20 15
2009–10 17 9 - - - - - - 17 9
2010–11 14 3 1 0 - - - - 15 3
Metro Gallery 2011–12 17 12 2 0 1 0 - - 20 12
Pegasus 2012–13 9 1 1 0 - - - - 10 1
Citizen 9 1 1 1 - - - - 10 2
Yuen Long 2013–14 19 7 2 0 - - - - 21 7
Wong Tai Sin 2014–15 16 4 4 4 3 1 - - 23 9
Kitchee 2015–16 12 4 3 0 5 3 - - 20 7
2016–17 20 21 7 3 - - 2 1 29 25
2017–18 15 10 4 5 - - 2 0 20 15
PSM Makassar 11 4 - - - - - - 11 4
Tai Po 2018–19 8 6 1 1 - - 8 1 17 8
2019–20 6 6 2 1 - - - - 8 7
Eastern 5 1 4 4 - - - - 9 5
2020–21 17 11 - - - - - - 17 11
Guangxi Pingguo Haliao 2022 5 1 0 0 - - - - 5 1
Total 220 116 32 19 9 4 12 2 273 141

International
As of matches played 14 December 2019.
National teamYearAppsGoals
Hong Kong 201531
201692
201782
201852
201940
Total297

International goals
Scores and results list Hong Kong's goal tally first.[14]
NoDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.7 November 2015Mong Kok Stadium, Mong Kok, Hong Kong Myanmar4–05–0Friendly
2.1 September 2016Mong Kok Stadium, Mong Kok, Hong Kong Cambodia3–14–2Friendly
3.6 November 2016Mong Kok Stadium, Mong Kok, Hong Kong Guam2–03–22017 EAFF E-1 Football Championship qualification
4.5 September 2017Hang Jebat Stadium, Malacca City, Malaysia Malaysia1–01–12019 AFC Asian Cup qualification
5.5 October 2017Mong Kok Stadium, Mong Kok, Hong Kong Laos4–04–0Friendly
6.16 November 2018Taipei Municipal Stadium, Taipei, Taiwan Mongolia1–05–12019 EAFF E-1 Football Championship qualification
7.3–1

Honours

Club
Citizen
Eastern
Kitchee
Tai Po

Individual

References
  1. 快意空調甲組聯賽 公民摘球證亂判　南華贏得險 Apple Daily. 12 January 2009. (in Chinese)
  2. (in Chinese)公民奪聯賽季軍完美煞科 Wen Wei Po. 3 May 2009.
  3. bma甲組聯賽 港足哀歌　愉園普高被狂炒 Apple Daily. 26 October 2009. (in Chinese)
  4. "本地體壇 飛馬巴援 冇得留低". Metro Daily Hong Kong. 31 December 2012. (in Chinese)
  5. "梁子成被搶　辛祖鬧雙胞 東方發火轟南傑". Apple Daily. Retrieved 15 July 2015. (in Chinese)
  6. "東傑續激鬥 挖角挖出火 辛祖轉會鬧雙胞 梁守志：法庭見". Ming Pao. Retrieved 15 July 2015. (in Chinese)
  7. "辛祖棄外流續約傑志　期待向盧卡斯送助攻". HK01. Retrieved 11 July 2017. (in Chinese)
  8. Tsui, Chut Yin. "大埔簽入辛祖 增兵挑戰亞協盃". HK01. Retrieved 6 February 2019. (in Chinese)
  9. Ng, Ka Ki. "福將辛祖轟入兩球 大埔作客2：1氣走富力首奪港超聯冠軍". Upower. Retrieved 4 May 2019. (in Chinese)
  10. Chiu, Chi Chun. "辛祖完成大埔最終戰　一個因素成轉會首要考慮". HK01. Retrieved 26 December 2019. (in Chinese)
  11. "東方龍獅新鋒線　堅Sir：「辛盧」有保證！". on.cc. Retrieved 1 January 2020. (in Chinese)
  12. Ng, Ka Kei. "葉鴻輝「上身」守住3分 港超聯東方2：1險勝理文". Upower. Retrieved 18 January 2020. (in Chinese)
  13. 广西平果哈嘹足球俱乐部. "欢迎港籍归化球员辛祖加盟广西平果哈嘹". weibo. Retrieved 2 March 2022. (in Chinese)
  14. "Sandro". National Football Teams. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
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