{{short description|Portuguese football manager and former player}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}} {{Portuguese name|Tavares|Fonseca}} {{Infobox football biography | name = António Fonseca | image = | fullname = António Manuel Tavares Fonseca | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1965|1|30|df=yes}} | birth_place = Lisbon, Portugal | height = 1.72 m | position = Left back | currentclub = | youthyears1 = 1978–1979 | youthclubs1 = Olivais | youthyears2 = 1979–1980 | youthclubs2 = Sporting CP | youthyears3 = 1980–1981 | youthclubs3 = Oriental | youthyears4 = 1981–1982 | youthclubs4 = Torralta | youthyears5 = 1982–1983 | youthclubs5 = Benfica | years1 = 1983–1984 | clubs1 = Cova Piedade | caps1 = 15 | goals1 = 0 | years2 = 1984–1985 | clubs2 = Alcobaça | caps2 = 24 | goals2 = 0 | years3 = 1985–1987 | clubs3 = Tirsense | caps3 = 54 | goals3 = 1 | years4 = 1987–1990 | clubs4 = Benfica | caps4 = 39 | goals4 = 1 | years5 = 1990–1992 | clubs5 = Vitória Guimarães | caps5 = 32 | goals5 = 0 | years6 = 1992–1999 | clubs6 = Estrela Amadora | caps6 = 160 | goals6 = 2 | years7 = 1999–2001 | clubs7 = Vancouver Whitecaps | caps7 = 15 | goals7 = 0 | totalcaps = 339 | totalgoals = 4 | nationalyears1 = 1989–1990 | nationalteam1 = Portugal | nationalcaps1 = 4 | nationalgoals1 = 0 | manageryears1 = 2002–2004 | managerclubs1 = Vancouver Whitecaps | manageryears2 = 2007–2012 | managerclubs2 = Canada (assistant) | manageryears3 = 2009–2012 | managerclubs3 = Canada U23 | manageryears4 = 2013 | managerclubs4 = Canada (interim) }}
'''António Manuel Tavares''' "'''Tony'''" '''Fonseca''' (born 30 January 1965) is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a left back, and a technical director for the Canadian Soccer Association.
Over 11 seasons, he amassed Primeira Liga totals of 199 games and two goals, representing in the competition Benfica, Vitória de Guimarães and Estrela da Amadora. He finished his career in Canada, where he started working as a manager in 1999.
==Club career== Born in Lisbon, Fonseca played youth football for five clubs, finishing his grooming at local Benfica. From 1983 to 1987 he competed in the Segunda Liga, after which the former bought him from Tirsense.
During his three-year tenure with Benfica, Fonseca was first-choice in the 1988–89 campaign as the team won the Primeira Liga championship and also reached the final of the Taça de Portugal, but played second-fiddle to Álvaro Magalhães and Samuel Quina in the other two.{{sfn|Tovar|2012|p=491}}{{sfn|Tovar|2012|p=498}} In eight of the following nine seasons he continued to play in the top flight, with Vitória de Guimarães and Estrela da Amadora, appearing regularly for both sides and reuniting at the latter with former Benfica teammates Edmundo, José Carlos, Fernando Mendes and Paulinho.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://gloriasdopassado.blogspot.com/2008/06/fonseca.html|title=Fonseca|publisher=Glórias do Passado|language=Portuguese|date=26 June 2008|access-date=22 June 2018}}</ref>
Fonseca retired from football in 2000 at the age of 35, after two years with the Vancouver Whitecaps in the USL A-League, with whom he later worked as a manager.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whitecapsfc.com/post/2013/12/16/whitecaps-fc-appoint-carl-robinson-head-coach|title=Whitecaps FC appoint Carl Robinson as head coach|publisher=Vancouver Whitecaps|date=16 December 2013|access-date=4 September 2015}}</ref>
==International career== Fonseca earned four caps for Portugal, over one year. He made his debut on 29 March 1989, playing the entirety of a 6–0 friendly win over Angola with marked the 75th anniversary of the Portuguese Football Federation.
During five years, Fonseca served as assistant to Stephen Hart and Dale Mitchell at the Canada national team, while also being in charge of the under-23s. Already as a technical director for the Canadian Soccer Association,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.canadasoccer.com/canada-soccer-announces-fonseca-as-new-technical-director-p152568|title=Canada Soccer announces Fonseca as new technical director|publisher=Canada Soccer|date=6 November 2012|access-date=4 September 2015}}</ref> he acted as interim for the full side following the departure of Colin Miller,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/tony-fonseca-ready-to-lead-canada-in-men-s-soccer-friendlies-1.1351616|title=Tony Fonseca ready to lead Canada in men's soccer friendlies|publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|date=14 March 2013|access-date=4 September 2015}}</ref> who later replaced him after two friendlies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/canadian-men-s-soccer-team-drops-hard-fought-friendly-1.1349919|title=Canadian men's soccer team drops hard-fought friendly|publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|date=22 March 2013|access-date=4 September 2015}}</ref>
==Personal life== Fonseca married a Portuguese-Canadian woman, fathering two children.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/soccer-yarn-about-a-portuguese-love-story/article22395312/|title=Soccer yarn about a Portuguese love story|newspaper=The Globe and Mail|first=Grant|last=Kerr|date=14 February 2002|access-date=16 July 2020}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
'''Bibliography''' *{{cite book|title=Almanaque do Benfica|trans-title=Benfica Almanac|publisher=Lua de Papel|first=Rui Miguel|last=Tovar|location=Portugal|year=2012|isbn=978-989-23-2087-8}}
==External links== *{{ForaDeJogo}} *{{NFT player}} *{{EU-Football.info|23897}} *{{Canada Soccer}}
{{Vancouver Whitecaps coaches}} {{Canada national soccer team managers}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fonseca, Antonio}} Category:1965 births Category:Living people Category:Footballers from Lisbon Category:Portuguese men's footballers Category:Men's association football defenders Category:Primeira Liga players Category:Liga Portugal 2 players Category:C.D. Cova da Piedade players Category:G.C. Alcobaça players Category:F.C. Tirsense players Category:S.L. Benfica footballers Category:Vitória S.C. players Category:C.F. Estrela da Amadora players Category:A-League (1995–2004) players Category:Vancouver Whitecaps (1986–2010) coaches Category:Vancouver Whitecaps (1986–2010) players Category:Portugal men's youth international footballers Category:Portugal men's international footballers Category:Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Category:Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Category:Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Canada Category:Portuguese football managers Category:Canada men's national under-20 soccer team managers Category:Canada men's national soccer team managers Category:Expatriate soccer coaches in Canada Category:20th-century Portuguese sportsmen