Internationally, Semedo earned 16
caps for Portugal at
under-21 level between 2000 and 2002.
Club career
Casa Pia and Estrela Amadora
António Semedo was born on 1 June 1979 in
Lisbon, Portugal where he started playing junior level football in 1996 at
Casa Pia, two years later starting to play for the club's senior side in the
fourth league, helping the team earn promotion to the
third league in the
1999–2000 season.[1][2]
In 2000, he went to play for
Estrela Amadora, making his
Primeira Liga debut on 20 August when coach
Quinito sent him in the 59th minute in order to replace
Jorge Cadete in a 2–0 away loss with
Leiria.[1][2][3] He scored his first goal in the league on 14 October in a 4–0 home win over
Campomaiorense, scoring another three goals in three draws against
Braga,
Paços Ferreira and
Beira-Mar, however the team relegated to the
second league at the end of the season.[1][2][4] Semedo stayed with the club in the second league, helping it promote back to the first league after two seasons.[1][2] In the
2003–04 season he appeared regularly for the team scoring one goal in a 2–1 away loss with Braga, the team relegating once more at the end of the season.[1][2][5] After one year in the second league, he earned another promotion with Estrela back to the first league.[1][2] In the
following season, Semedo had his last and also most prolific season in the Primeira Liga, scoring a brace in a 2–0 win over
Belenenses and another three goals in three 1–0 wins over
Penafiel,
Vitória de Guimarães and
Vitória Setúbal, one in a 2–0 with Vitória de Guimarães, helping the team finish on the 9th place, having a total of 97 matches with 11 goals in the competition.[1][2][6]
Semedo started the
following season by opening the score in a 2–2 with
Politehnica Timișoara.[1][11] By the end of the season he continued to score five more goals, one against each of
Politehnica Iași, UTA Arad,
Universitatea Craiova and a double in a 2–1 with
Dinamo București, all the games ending with victories.[1][2][12] Semedo ended his second season with CFR by helping the club win
The Double which were the first trophies in the club's history, contributing with six goals in the 28 league matches coach
Ioan Andone used him.[1][2][13] He was used by Andone in all the minutes from the
2008 Cupa României final, scoring the decisive goal in the 2–1 win over
Unirea Urziceni after defeating goalkeeper
Bogdan Stelea who defended his first shot but got defeated after his second one from six meters, also he made his debut in a European club competition, playing in both legs of the 3–1 loss on aggregate in front of
Anorthosis from the
UEFA Cup second qualifying round.[1][14]
For the 2009–10 season, Semedo was initially demoted to
Steaua's B-squad alongside several other teammates but eventually in August 2009 he became free of contract.[19]
Unirea Urziceni
Shortly after he left Steaua, Semedo signed a four-year contract with
Unirea Urziceni where he was wanted by coach
Dan Petrescu.[20] On 30 November 2009 he scored his first league goal for his new team in a 2–0 home win over
Gloria Bistrița, then he scored two more goals in the following two rounds in victories with
Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț and Politehnica Iași.[1][21] In the second half of the season he scored two more goals in a 4–4 with Dinamo București and a 4–1 away victory against "U" Craiova.[1][22] He also made four appearances in the
2009–10 Champions League group stage, playing against
Sevilla,
Rangers and
VfB Stuttgart, scoring a goal in a 3–1 loss against the latter, helping the team earn 8 points and finishing third, thus qualifying to the sixteenths-finals of the
Europa League where he played in the second leg of the 4–1 loss on aggregate in front of
Liverpool.[1][23] In the
following season he scored his last three goals in Liga I which were the only one in a victory with his former team, Steaua, one in a loss with
Victoria Brănești and the last in a win with
Sportul Studențesc București, having a total of 132 games with 24 goals scored in the competition, also during his period spent in Romania he made his only 14 appearances with one goal scored in European competitions of his career.[1][2][24]
In the summer of 2011, Semedo penned a one-year contract with
Khazar Lankaran where he was wanted by Romanian coach
Mircea Rednic who gave him his
Azerbaijan Premier League debut on 27 August in a 1–1 with
Ravan Baku.[28] He scored three goals in the league, the first two being in victories over
Gabala and
Simurq, the last one being in a draw with Simurq.[29]
After retiring as a footballer, Semedo relocated to England with his wife and children.[32]
In a 2011 interview, Semedo said that the team he liked playing the most was CFR Cluj:"At CFR Cluj, I was an idol, I had the impression that I was
Cristiano Ronaldo. I would walk the streets of the city and see people with t-shirts with my face on them. In
Cluj, we ended the dictatorship of the big teams from
Bucharest".[33]
In a interview for
Orange Sport from 2022, he talked about his experiences with
racism in football and how he views it:"To me it seemed perfectly normal to hear racist insults when I was playing. But that didn't make those people racist. They simply believed and hoped that they could destabilize me during the match in favor of their favorite team. That's it. That's how I see it and I saw the situation then as well. Off the pitch, no one treated me and my family badly because I was of a different color. On the contrary."[32]
^"Batut de propriii copii" [Defeated by his own kids] (in Romanian). Libertatea.ro. 21 October 2006. Retrieved 17 May 2024. "Pe muchie de cutit" [On a knife edge] (in Romanian). Libertatea.ro. 3 December 2006. Retrieved 17 May 2024. "Portughezul Semedo a decis meciul" [The Portuguese Semedo decided the match] (in Romanian). Libertatea.ro. 10 March 2007. Retrieved 17 May 2024. "Jiul 0:2 CFR Cluj" (in Romanian). Libertatea.ro. 17 March 2007. Retrieved 17 May 2024. "Recital Cluj" (in Romanian). Libertatea.ro. 14 April 2007. Retrieved 17 May 2024. "Rapid, la revedere locul 2" [Rapid, goodbye 2nd place] (in Romanian). Libertatea.ro. 5 May 2007. Retrieved 17 May 2024. "CFR Cluj dispută astăzi derby-ul "feroviar" cu Rapid" [CFR Cluj is playing the "railroad" derby with Rapid today] (in Romanian). Zcj.ro. 25 September 2023. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
^"Tensiune si spectacol" [Tension and spectacle] (in Romanian). Evz.ro. 6 August 2007. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
^""Vreau titlul"" ["I want the title"] (in Romanian). Libertatea.ro. 24 September 2007. Retrieved 17 May 2024. "UTA, prea slaba" [UTA, too weak] (in Romanian). Libertatea.ro. 2 November 2007. Retrieved 17 May 2024. "CFR Cluj - Universitatea Craiova 4-1/ Lider, Realist, Cinic" [CFR Cluj - Craiova University 4-1/ Leader, Realist, Cynic] (in Romanian). Hotnews.ro. 23 February 2008. Retrieved 17 May 2024. "Dinamo - CFR Cluj 1-2/ Pantera Semedo" [Dinamo - CFR Cluj 1-2/ The Panther Semedo] (in Romanian). Hotnews.ro. 30 March 2008. Retrieved 17 May 2024.