Alcardo van Graan

Alcardo van Graan

Personal information
Full name	Alcardo van Graan
Date of birth	22 June 1986
Place of birth	Cape Town, South Africa
Height	177 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position	Striker / Center Forward
Club information
Current team	Milano United (on loan from Ajax Cape Town)
Number	27
Youth career
	Idas Valley AFC
	Nelsons FC
	Maties FC
	Battswood FC
	Western Province United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
2010–11	Milano United	32	(31)
2011–	Ajax Cape Town	20	(1)
2013	→ Milano United (loan)	0	(0)
2014	Maties	0	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 2 March 2014. † Appearances (goals)

Alcardo van Graan (born 22 June 1986) is a South African professional footballer, who currently plays as a Forward for South African Vodacom League club Milano United, where he is currently on loan from Ajax Cape Town to the end of the season.^[1][2]

Club career

Early career

Alcardo van Graan grew up playing at youth level for various clubs around Cape Town, in South Africa's Western Cape, including Idas Valley AFC, Nelsons FC, Maties FC, Battswood FC and Western Province United.

Milano United

He made his professional debut with Milano United in the 2011-2012 season, where he scored 31 goals for the club from Grassy Park, playing in the Vodacom League, the second tier of professional football in South Africa. Alcardo played a strong season that year, which brought him to the attention of the bigger South African clubs from the PSL, of which Ajax Cape Town signed the young forward.

Ajax Cape Town

Picked up by Ajax CT in the summer of 2012, after an impressive showing the previous season in the Second DIvision, Alcardo van Graan played in the MTN 8 and scored on his Premier Soccer League debut for Ajax Cape Town. He would go on to make a total of twelve appearances for the Cape club that year, having only found the back of the net once.^[3]

On 21 July 2012, during a friendly encounter against his favorite club Manchester United, Alcardo scored the opening goal after his first contact with a lovely backheel touch. Manchester United would eventually level the score with the match ending in a 1-1 draw in Cape Town. When asked about this luck of scoring on his all-time favorite team, Alcardo expressed having to still pinch himself after the match.^[4]

Milano United (loan)

After eight regular season appearances for Ajax CT during the 2012-13 season without scoring, Alcardo was loaned back to the club from which they recruited him on 4 February 2013, for the remainder of the season.^[5]

Maties

In 2014 van Graan represented Stellenbosch University. He played in the Nedbank Cup.

References

1. "Alcardo van Graan". MTN Football. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
2. "Alcardo van Graan". Union Sports Group. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
3. "Alcardo van Graan Statistics". MTN Football. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
4. "Alcardo van Graan still can't believe he scored against Manchester United". KICKOFF Magazine. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
5. "Van Graan makes Milano United return". MTN Football. Retrieved 10 February 2013.