He also held an Italian passport, and played professionally in five countries, mainly in Portugal – where he represented six teams in seven years, including a very brief spell with Benfica. He amassed Primeira Liga totals of 91 games and 15 goals over three seasons.
Manduca signed with APOEL in 2010 from AEK Athens, remaining with the former club until his retirement and winning eight major titles.
After four years of regular use at AEK, the 30-year-old Manduca signed a three-year contract with APOEL from Cyprus. In his debut season he won the First Division for the first national championship of his career, scoring ten goals and providing as many assists.
On 13 September 2011, in a home game against Zenit Saint Petersburg in the Champions League, Manduca scored the equaliser in the 73rd minute and, two minutes later, assisted compatriot Aílton for the final 2–1 win and the club's first ever in that stage of the competition.[16] On 1 November, he netted in the last minute against Porto (same competition, venue and result).[17] In the round-of-16's second leg against Lyon, on 7 March 2012, he scored the 1–0 at home which levelled the tie, being sent off before the penalty shootout victory.[18] On 4 April 2012, he scored his side's first goal in an eventual 5–2 quarter-final loss at Real Madrid (8–2 on aggregate).[19]
Manduca won his second Cypriot league in 2012–13, starting in all 32 league matches and scoring 12 times. On 31 May 2013, he agreed to a two-year extension.[20]
On 30 March 2015, aged 34, Manduca announced his immediate retirement from football due to a serious ankle injury.[26] The same day, he was appointed director of football at APOEL, signing a two-year contract with the club.[27]
Manduca left the GSP Stadium on 7 October 2015 after only six months in the post, by mutual consent.[28]
At the end of the 2015–16 season, Manduca agreed terms with Cypriot Second Division side Othellos Athienou to take over as coach. On 21 November 2016, after only a few months in charge, his contract was terminated due to a poor string of results.[32]
^Silva, Elisabete; Rita, Pedro (1 June 2007). "Cluij [sic] e AEK aguardam dispensas da Luz" [Cluj and AEK await on releases at the Luz]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 8 February 2022.
^Kotsoglou, Achilleas; Robolis, Christos (16 May 2007). ""Ήθελα να μείνω"" ["I wanted to stay"] (in Greek). Sport FM. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
^Τέλος ο Μαντούκα από τον Οθέλλο [End at Othellos for Manduca] (in Greek). Sport FM. 21 November 2016. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2016.