Cardama was born in Iquitos, and was a Sporting Cristal youth graduate. After making his first team debut in 1984, he moved to UTC in 1987.
In 1989, after playing for Atlético Grau, Cardama returned to Sporting Cristal. He retired in the following year at the age of just 23, due to a knee injury.
After retiring, Cardama started working as a manager in his last team Sporting Cristal's youth setup. His first senior experience occurred in 1996, with Copa Perú side Coronel Bolognesi.
On 20 September 2000, Cardama was appointed in charge of Sport Boys.[3] He was subsequently in charge of Universitario during the 2001 campaign, before returning to Alianza Atlético for the 2002 season;[4] in that year, he was also manager of Cienciano.
Cardama returned to Alianza Atlético in 2003, but left on a mutual agreement on 10 November 2004.[5] He was named at the helm of Melgar in 2005, but was sacked on 5 April 2006.[6]
In 2007, after a short period at José Gálvez, Cardama rejoined Alianza for a fourth spell. He narrowly avoided relegation with the club in 2009, but was still dismissed on 8 April 2010.[7]
Cardama was named manager of Cobresol on 13 January 2011,[8] but was relieved of his duties on 30 April of the following year. He took over León de Huánuco on 24 September 2012,[9] and left the club at the end of the season.
Cardama was in charge of Los Caimanes in the 2013 campaign, helping the club win the Segunda División and achieve a first-ever promotion to the top tier.[10] He was dismissed on 21 August 2014,[11] and agreed to a return to Alianza Atlético on 6 December.[12]
Replaced by Gustavo Roverano for the 2016 season,[13] Cardama was appointed manager of Carlos A. Mannucci on 6 October of that year.[14] After leaving in May 2017,[15] he stayed for more than three years without a club before returning to Sport Boys after 20 years on 23 September 2020.[16]
^"Hoy presentan a la selección sub-23" [They present the under-23 national team today] (in Spanish). Perú Fútbol. 13 September 1999. Archived from the original on 11 March 2005. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
