Born in
Zheleznogorsk, Kursk Oblast,
Russian SFSR, Kandaurov started at
Metalist Kharkiv in 1990. Due to his performances,
Giora Spiegel brought him to
Maccabi Haifa in 1993. In Israel, he grew into a goalscoring midfielder, bagging 10 in his first year, helping Maccabi Haifa win the
league title. In his
second season, he scored 8 goals in 25 games, but failed to retain the title, winning instead the
State Cup. He continued to show his goalscorer abilities in his
third year, netting 11 goals in 23 games, but failed to win any silverware. During the 1996 transfer season, Maccabi lost important players like
Haim Revivo,
Eyal Berkovic,
Ofer Shitrit and
Alon Hazan, so was time to Kandaurov to lead the team. However, despite scoring 7 goals in 25 games, Maccabi finished in fifth in the
1996–97, his lowest position in 4 seasons. Midway into his
fourth season, Kandaurov received an offer to join
Benfica, which he immediately accepted, in a transfer deal reported to be of a million dollars. He made his debut on 3 January 1998, in a match against
Porto. He scored a goal but was annulled for apparent hand control, despite his claim that it was a wrong decision: "In that game we were cheated. I did not play with my hand. It was clean." He eventually assumed an important role in a team that finished
second in the league. In the following season, his temperament would often conflict with
Graeme Souness, and he would be in and out of the starting line-up regularly; he reportedly started a fist fight with
Michael Thomas during a training session and in the start of the
1999–2000 season, he professed that "If did not play, he would rather leave Benfica.". In
2000–01, he fell out of the picking order, making only eight appearances throughout the season, being release at the end of the season. A free player, he was heavily linked to English football, allegedly
Aston Villa,
Blackburn Rovers,
Burnley, and
Bolton. However, since none materialized, he opted to return to Metalit Kharkiv. ==International career==