Luis Pedro Cavanda


Luis Pedro Cavanda is a Belgian professional footballer who most recently played as a right back for Belgian club Standard Liège in the Belgian Pro League. He plays internationally for the Belgian national football team.
He was born in Angola and also holds Belgian and Congolese citizenship.

Career

Youth

Cavanda moved to Belgium at a young age and began playing for the Belgian club Standard Liège. In January 2007, Cavanda joined Lazio. With Lazio, Cavanda spent three-and-a-half years with the youth side.

Lazio

In 2009, Cavanda made a substitute appearance in a 4–0 win away to Bulgarian club Levski Sofia in the UEFA Europa League. He got his first start in the return match at the Stadio Olimpico, which Lazio lost 0–1.
On 29 August 2010, Cavanda made his Serie A debut, replacing Simone Del Nero in the second half of Lazio's opening day 2–0 loss to Sampdoria at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.
His first league start for Lazio came at the Stadio Olimpico against eventual champions Milan. Cavanda earned plaudits with an impressive display against former FIFA World Player of the Year and World Cup winner Ronaldinho.
In January 2011, he was loaned to Torino until the end of the season. Cavanda returned to Lazio after making just three appearances for the Turin club.
Having played regularly in Serie A and in the Europa League during the 2011–12 season, Cavanda cemented his spot as a first choice in the 2012–13 season, replacing Abdoulay Konko. Predominantly playing at right back, Cavanda also played at left back, making him a very versatile full back. Cavanda matured under manager Vladimir Petkovic and became an important player in Lazio's squad.

Trabzonspor

On 12 July 2015, Cavanda signed for Turkish side Trabzonspor.

Galatasaray

Cavanda signed a three-year contract with Turkish club Galatasaray on 9 August 2016 for an initial fee of €1.8 million.

Standard Liege

On 17 March 2018, he played as Standard Liege beat Genk 1–0 in extra time to win the 2018 Belgian Cup Final and qualify for the UEFA Europa League.

International career

On 10 October 2015, he made his senior debut for the national team in a 4–1 win in a UEFA Euro 2016 qualification match against Andorra.

Personal life

Cavanda was born in Angola, to an Angolan father and a Congolese mother, and migrated to Belgium at a young age. He holds Belgian nationality. Despite having made youth level appearances for Belgium, Cavanda remained eligible to represent the Angolan and the Congolese national teams. Even though he initially opted for the latter in March 2015, he was called up by the Belgian national football team on 2 October 2015. He plays in the UEFA qualifying game for the nation cup in France against Andorra. This means he only can play for Belgium now.

Statistics

Statistics accurate as of match played 26 October 2015

Honours

Standard Liège