Shortly after that season, Dário returned to his country and his first professional team Sporting Clube da Praia, going on to play the remainder of his career with his hometown club until 2015.
In the 2009 national semis, he scored a goal against a club also based in the city Académica on June 27, the second leg at the 18th minute which was a penalty kick.
He played once for the national team in the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification, appearing 15 minutes in a 1–2 away loss against South Africa.
In August 2009, after Cape Verde was eliminated from the 2010 World Cup, Dário was called up for friendlies with Malta and Angola,[2] scoring in the latter game (1–1 draw).
[3] On 24 May, he appeared in a friendly in Covilhã with Portugal – who was preparing for the World Cup in South Africa – playing the entire match as the minnows (ranked 117th) managed a 0–0 draw.