Born in
Kinshasa,
Zaire, Carlos started his career as a
striker, subsequently moving into
goalkeeper upon replacing an injured teammate. He started playing professionally with lowly
U.D. Vilafranquense, having a short stint with
S.C. Campomaiorense in the
Segunda Liga afterwards. Carlos then returned to the lower leagues, with
Amora FC. After a string of good performances with
F.C. Felgueiras in the second division (sharing teams with
Marcelo Moretto, later of
S.L. Benfica), he signed with
Primeira Liga's
Boavista F.C. for the
2004–05 season. At Boavista, Carlos was initially backup to veteran
William Andem, but eventually won starting honours. This prompted a January 2006 move to
Romania's
FC Steaua București, thus becoming the first
Portuguese player to have played in the country's
Liga I; shortly after his arrival, he lost the confidence of fans and
general manager Mihai Stoica alike, with the latter declaring at a TV show that the player, although greatly underachieving, had been put under immense pressure due to the fact of being the team's only foreigner. He was released and rejoined Boavista on 30 May 2007, having previously trained for a time with
Charlton Athletic to remain fit. In
2007–08, after losing first-choice status to
Liechtensteiner
Peter Jehle, Carlos was loaned to
Foolad F.C. in January 2008, with the move being made permanent the following campaign – the
Persian Gulf Pro League club was coached by compatriot
Augusto Inácio. After spending one year in Iran, Carlos moved back to Portugal in the summer of 2009, joining
Rio Ave FC. He only missed two league games, as the
Vila do Conde side
retained their top-division status. ==International career==