Brandão was born in Luanda, Angola, but spent the first years of his life in Portugal before moving to England at the age of 9. He began his football career at Blackburn Rovers,[2] before joining Walsall in 2003.[3][4]
After three years with Walsall, Brandão signed for Manchester United on 21 October 2006, after impressing assistant manager Carlos Queiroz while on trial at the 2006 Under-17 Nike Cup.[5][6] He had to wait five months to make his debut for the under-18s, but played four of their last five games as the side finished fourth in the 2006–07 Premier Academy League, being offered a trainee contract in July 2007.
The following season, Brandão scored four goals in 18 appearances for the under-18 team, adding four in 15 matches the year after. He also made his debut for the reserves in 2008–09, coming on as a 69th-minute substitute for Magnus Wolff Eikrem in a Manchester Senior Cup game away to Bury.[7] However, he was unable to make any more of an impression at the club, and was released in June 2009.
Benfica
Brandão joined Braga in summer 2009[8] but, five months later, left to sign a two-and-a-half-year contract with Benfica.[9]
After failing to break into the Benfica first team, Brandão moved to Hungarian club Videoton in July 2011, coached by his former Portugal under-16 manager Paulo Sousa.[12] He scored his only Nemzeti Bajnokság I goal for the side on 20 August, contributing to a 4–1 home win against Pécs.[13]
Later career
On 30 August 2012, Brandão signed with Olhanense in the Portuguese top flight, on loan.[14] He scored his only goal in the competition on 15 December to help to a 2–2 home draw with Gil Vicente,[15] as his team went on to finish as the first above the relegation zone.
At youth level, Brandão earned 24 caps for Portugal. He switched allegiance to Angola as a senior, making his debut on 13 August 2014 by playing the last four minutes of a 0–0 friendly draw against Botswana.[28]
International goals
Scores and results list Angola's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Brandão goal.[29]
^Jorge, Artur (4 February 2016). "BC Branco: Evandro Brandão fecha plantel" [BC Branco: Evandro Brandão closes roster]. Reconquista (in Portuguese). Retrieved 23 March 2017.
^"אבנדרו ברנדאו האנגולי חתם במכבי פ"ת לעונה" [Angolan Evandro Brandão signs with Maccabi Petah for one season] (in Hebrew). One. 10 September 2019. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
