Nilton Rogério Cardoso Fernandes (born 7 March 1979), known simply as Nilton, is a Cape Verdean former footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent most of his career in Portugal, amassing Primeira Liga totals of 110 matches and one goal with four teams. Club career Born in the island of Brava, Nilton played youth football with Portuguese club Boavista FC, who loaned him to Gondomar S.C. and AD Esposende to kickstart his senior career. Upon his return, he appeared in 12 Primeira Liga games in the 1999–2000 season, helping to a fourth-place finish. In the following years, Nilton alternated between the top division and the Segunda Liga, representing C.D. Aves (where he scored his first goal, contributing to a 3–2 home win against C.F. Estrela da Amadora on 13 May 2001 as his team was eventually relegated), Gil Vicente FC, F.C. Marco, S.C. Salgueiros and F.C. Penafiel. He left the country in the summer of 2006, scoring a career-best six goals for FC Koper and winning the Slovenian Football Cup. From 2007 until his retirement five years later, aged 33, Nilton played for Ethnikos Achna FC (Cyprus), NK Maribor (Slovenia), PFC Chernomorets Burgas (Bulgaria), Akritas Chlorakas (Cypriot Second Division) and Maccabi Ironi Bat Yam FC (Israeli second level). Honours Koper Slovenian Football Cup: 2006–07 Maribor Slovenian PrvaLiga: 2008–09 External links 1979 births Living people People from Brava, Cape Verde Cape Verdean footballers Association football midfielders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players Boavista F.C. players Gondomar S.C. players A.D. Esposende players C.D. Aves players Gil Vicente F.C. players F.C. Marco players S.C. Salgueiros players F.C. Penafiel players Slovenian PrvaLiga players FC Koper players NK Maribor players Cypriot First Division players Cypriot Second Division players Ethnikos Achna FC players Akritas Chlorakas players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players PFC Chernomorets Burgas players Liga Leumit players Cape Verde international footballers Cape Verdean expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Slovenia Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Expatriate footballers in Bulgaria Expatriate footballers in Israel Cape Verdean expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Cape Verdean expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria