Cristiano Cordeiro

Cristiano Preigchadt Cordeiro (born 14 August 1973) is a former professional footballer who played as a centre back. He is currently the assistant coach of Hong Kong Premier League club Eastern.

Born in Brazil, he represented Hong Kong at international level.

Club career
Cordeiro started his career at Rio Grande do Sul playing at Sport Club Internacional since he was 14. Before he moved to Hong Kong, he played for Brasil de Farroupilha and Fortaleza EC.

Cordeiro joined Hong Kong First Division club South China in 1998. In the 2003–04 season, due to the all-Chinese policy induced by the club, he transferred to another First Division club Sun Hei.

Cordeiro was twice the Hong Kong Footballer of the Year (2000–01 and 2004–05) and he has gained many awards since then.

In May 2012, Cordeiro announced his retirement from professional football.

International career
In September 2006, he became a Hong Kong permanent resident, applied for the Hong Kong SAR passport and has been playing for the Hong Kong national team. He gained his first cap on the 2007 AFC Cup Qualifying round against Qatar on 11 October 2006.

Coaching career
Cordeiro joined Eastern in the 2013–14 season as an assistant coach. On 9 October 2013, he was appointed as the head coach of Eastern until June 2015.

In 2016, Cordeiro joined Kitchee as an assistant coach.

On 25 June 2019, Cordeiro's resigned from Kitchee in order to join Southern as an assistant under his former teammate Cheng Siu Chung. On 16 March 2020, following the departure of Cheng, Cordeiro became the co-head coach at Southern along with Pui Ho Wang. On 29 June 2020, Cordeiro left Southern.

International

 * Updated 9 October 2009

Individual

 * Hong Kong Footballer of the Year (2): 2001, 2005