Oceano da Cruz
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Oceano Andrade da Cruz (born in São Vicente, Cape Verde on 29 July 1962) was a Cape Verdian born Portuguese footballer, one of the great midfielders of Portugal during the 1980s and 1990s.
His family emigrated from Cape Verde islands to Portugal, when he was a child. He is, however, probably, the greatest footballer player his origin country ever produced.
He started his career in Almada, before moving to Nacional, where he was noticed, and signed for Sporting. He was a Sporting player from 1982/83 to 1989/90, and from 1994/95 to 1997/98, where he was one of the best players, despite never having won a Championship and a single Cup of Portugal, in 1995. He played for Real Sociedad, from Spain, from 1990/91 to 1993/94, being one of the best players of the Spanish League.
He had 54 caps for Portugal National Team, scoring 8 goals. since his first appearance, in 30 January 1985, in a 2-3 defeat with Romania, to his final game, in 22 April 1998, in a 0-3 lost with England. However, only in the 1990s, he became a usual presence at the National Team, being a leading player at the Euro 1996, were Portugal reached the quarter-finals. He was also present at the World Cup 1998 campaign, were Portugal missed by few the qualification.
After leaving Sporting, he spent a final season at Toulouse, in France, in 1998/99, were he finally left football, aged 36.
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