Manuel Cardoni

Manuel Cardoni (born 22 September 1972) is a Luxembourgish former professional football player. He is the Technical Director at Luxembourg national football team.

Manuel Cardoni

Personal information
Date of birth	(1972-09-22) 22 September 1972 (age 52)
Place of birth	Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
Height	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1990–1992	US Rumelange
1992–1996	Jeunesse Esch	93	(30)
1996–1998	Bayer Leverkusen	1	(0)
1998–2006	Jeunesse Esch	166	(30)
2006–2008	US Rumelange
Total		260	(60)
International career
1993–2004	Luxembourg	69	(5)
Managerial career
2008–2010	US Rumelange (assistant manager)
2010–2012	US Rumelange
2014–	Luxembourg U21
2014–2021	Luxembourg U19
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Cardoni is the son of Furio Cardoni, one of Luxembourg's finest players in the 1970s.

Club career

A tireless midfield playmaker, Cardoni started his career at US Rumelange before joining Luxembourg club Jeunesse Esch in 1992. He was then snapped up by Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen, for whom he made only one substitute appearance (against Bayern Munich) in two seasons.^[1] He became the third Luxembourgish player in the Bundesliga ever, after Nico Braun and Robby Langers.

He rejoined Jeunesse Esch in 1998 and became player-manager at US Rumelange in 2006.

Cardoni won the Luxembourgish Footballer of the Year award four times (1995, 1996, 1999, 2000). He now serves as an ambassador for the Special Olympics.

International career

Cardoni made his debut for Luxembourg in a May 1993 World Cup qualification match against Iceland and went on to earn 68 caps, scoring 5 goals.^[2] He played in 22 World Cup qualification matches.^[3]

His final international game was an October 2004 World Cup qualification match against Liechtenstein.

Honours

• Luxembourg National Division: 1995, 1996, 1999, 2004
• Luxembourg Cup: 1999, 2000
• Luxembourgish Footballer of the Year: 1995, 1996, 1999, 2000