Orlando Carlos Braga de Sá (born 26 May 1988) is a Portuguese retired professional footballer who played as a striker.
After spending his early career with Braga and Porto, appearing sparingly for both, he travelled abroad in 2011, going on to represent clubs in England, Cyprus, Poland, Israel, Belgium, China and Spain and win the Ekstraklasa and the Polish Cup with Legia Warsaw.
During his period in Braga, Sá gained attention from English club Chelsea,[5] but nothing ever materialised.
Porto
On 1 June 2009, Sá moved to league championsFC Porto for an estimated fee of €3 million. Braga retained 20% economic rights on any future transfer fee,[6] with an additional 20% being held by unknown parties.[7] Having arrived still injured from his previous club, he only made his competitive debut on 2 January 2010, starting in a 2–0 away victory over U.D. Oliveirense in the fourth round of the Taça de Portugal.[8]
Sá spent 2010–11 on loan to C.D. Nacional,[9] appearing sparingly due to injury and technical decisions. His highlight was scoring the winner in a 2–1 home defeat of S.L. Benfica on 21 August 2010,[10] and he finished the season with six official goals, plus one for the Portuguese under-23.
Sá scored his first and only goal for Fulham on 31 December 2011, putting the visitors ahead in the seventh minute of the tie against Norwich City, in an eventual 1–1 draw.[14] Early into the season, he struggled with the pace of the English game, but went on to adapt physically after a few months in the country, also stating he was improving his ability in the English language.[15]
Before the 2012–13 campaign started, Sá said he was going to improve at Fulham and told the club's official website: "I feel that this is a really important pre-season for me, I want to be really prepared ahead of the new campaign because I want this year to be my year. I hope that I can score more goals like the one I got against Norwich. That was a good moment for me and I hope I will have many more moments like the one I experienced at Carrow Road".[15] On 30 June 2012, however, his contract was terminated by mutual agreement.[16]
On 14 February 2014, Sá moved to Poland by joining Legia Warsaw on a three-and-a-half-year deal.[23] He had arrived in Warsaw to undergo a medical the previous day.[24]
Sá made his Ekstraklasa debut on 22 February 2014, in a 3–0 win over Górnik Zabrze.[25] He scored his first goal on the last day of the regular season and contributed to a 3–1 victory at Zagłębie Lubin,[26] as the Legionaires eventually won their tenth national championship.
Sá scored his first goal on 29 August, heading home in a 3–1 away win against Brentford.[29] In the following match, he hit a hat-trick in a 5–1 rout of Ipswich Town at the Madejski Stadium.[30] He totalled five goals from 21 appearances across all competitions, with his presence eventually limited by new manager Brian McDermott.[31]
Maccabi and Standard
On 26 January 2016, Sá signed a three-and-a-half-year deal with Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. for an undisclosed fee.[31] On 31 August, however, he joined Standard Liège for four seasons.[32] He scored a career-best 17 goals – 20 across all competitions – in his first season with the latter, but they could only finish in ninth position in the Belgian First Division A.[33]
Sá moved teams and countries again on 13 August 2020, after agreeing to a one-year deal with Málaga CF of the Spanish Segunda División.[36] On 26 May 2021, exactly on his 33rd birthday, he announced his retirement from professional football due to an achilles tendon injury.[37]