CARLOS Branco, the Portuguese national who arrived at Dynamos last week, has been more of an amateur footballer with very little professional experience.
BY HENRY MHARA
The 23-year-old arrived in the country on Friday evening for trials with the Harare giants at the request of Dynamos new coach and countryman Paulo Jorge Silva.
He played top-flight football in Iraq for Erbil in 2013, having represented Luton in England’s League Two the year before that.
He was 17 years old when he was on Luton’s books, which means he might have played for the club’s juniors.
But except for those two professional clubs, he has turned out for amateur teams most of his career.
Branco, who claims to have played junior football with English Premiership giants Leicester City and Stoke City, told the media on his arrival that he was coming from Portuguese Third Division side AE Óbidos.
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The Portuguese Third Division, which was the fourth-tier in that country’s league system, no longer exists after it was abolished three years ago and teams incorporated into district leagues.
AE Óbidos currently play in the district league called AF Leiria Division Honor, situated in the town of Leiria, some 100km from Silva’s home town of Odivelas.
They are currently seventh on their log standings, 19 points below leaders Marinhense, and their last match was a 1-0 home win over Mata Mourisquense on Sunday.
Before he arrived at AE Óbidos last season, the attacking midfielder was playing amateur football in England for Thurnby Nirvana FC, which competes in the United Counties League.
The club is based in Leicester.
Previously, Branco played for Oadby Town FC which also participates in the United Counties League, where he played for a number of seasons.
He also had a stint with another English club, Loughborough Dynamo FC, in 2013, which plays in the Northern Premier League Division One South, an eighth level of the overall English football league system, seven divisions below the Premier League.
Dynamos president Keni Mubaiwa yesterday said the player came at the request of Silva and the club would assess him in the friendly matches they will be playing in Malawi and Tanzania.
“He is here on trials and is part of the squad that is travelling to Malawi and then Tanzania for our friendly matches,” Mubaiwa said. “We will have a look at him and if he impresses, we will sign him.”
Mubaiwa said DeMbare were still looking to sign two more strikers to bolster the squad ahead of the new season, which commences early next month.
“There are no good strikers in the country, hence our teams struggle every time they play international football.”
