Amido Baldé (born 16 May 1991) is a

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ) ...

an professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. He started his career with

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

, being loaned several times over the duration of his contract and winning the 2013 Portuguese Cup with

Vitória de Guimarães Vitoria or Vitória may refer to : People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Steven Vitória ...

. In 2013 he signed with

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

, who also loaned him twice before he left for

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...

two years later. After playing for Benfica Luanda in Angola, he returned to Portugal in the summer of 2016, when he joined Marítimo. In subsequent years he had a nomadic career, having brief spells at clubs in

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

. Internationally, Baldé represented

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

at youth level, helping the under-20 team finish second at the 2011 World Cup. In 2014, he decided to switch to playing for the country of his birth,

Club career

Sporting CP

Born in

Bissau Bissau () is the capital, and largest city of Guinea-Bissau. Bissau had a population of 492,004. Bissau is located on the Geba River estuary, off the Atlantic Ocean, and is Guinea-Bissau's largest city, major port, and its administrative and m ...

, Baldé started his career with

farm team In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

in Guinea-Bissau, Sporting de Bissau. In 2008 he, alongside teammate Zezinho, moved to the

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

club to continue his development, helping it to back-to-back junior championships – of three in total in a row – scoring 13 goals in 29 games in 2008–09. Baldé split the 2010–11 season, his first as a senior, between Santa Clara (

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

) and

Badajoz Badajoz (; formerly written ''Badajos'' in English) is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portuguese border, on the left bank of the river Guadiana. The population ...

(Spanish third tier). Still owned by the ''Lions'', he joined several Sporting teammates at

Cercle Brugge Cercle Brugge Koninklijke Sportvereniging () is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges. Cercle have played in the Belgian Pro League since the 2003–04 season, having previously spent several years in the Belgian Second Divisio ...

in Belgium for the following campaign.

Vitória Guimarães

Baldé was released by Sporting in summer 2012. On 28 August he signed with fellow

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

side

for two years. He made his debut on 21 September, coming on as a late substitute in a 1–0 away win against

Moreirense Moreirense Futebol Clube is a Portuguese professional football club based in Moreira de Cónegos, Guimarães Municipality, in Minho. Founded on 1 November 1938, it plays in the Liga Portugal 2, holding home games at Parque de Jogos Comendador Joa ...

. After a series of appearances from the bench, he scored in only his second game as a starter on 23 November, netting an injury time equaliser in a 2–2 draw at

Beira-Mar Sport Clube Beira-Mar () is a Portuguese sports club based in Aveiro, Portugal. Its football team currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, the fourth national level, having gained promotion by winning the Aveiro FA First Division 2018/19 ...

. Baldé appeared in 37 matches in all competitions in his only season, including seven

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 seaso ...

games. He helped the Minho club win the tournament for the first time ever – he was replaced in the 90th minute of

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

against Benfica, a 2–1 victory.

Celtic

On 13 June 2013, Baldé signed a four-year contract with

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

champions

. On arrival, he stated that his new team were "one of the best clubs in Europe and they are going to play in the Champions League." He made his official debut on 23 July, replacing James Forrest for the last 15 minutes of the second leg of the Champions League qualifier against

Cliftonville Cliftonville is a coastal area of the town of Margate, situated to the east of the main town, in the Thanet district of Kent, South East England, United Kingdom. It also contains the area known as Palm Bay. The original Palm Bay estate was ...

. Baldé scored his first competitive goal on 28 September 2013, coming in as a late substitute and netting the last goal in a 5–2 win at

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

. On 27 October, at

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...

, he took the field in the 67th minute and scored the 2–1 winner eight minutes later. He failed to establish himself as a regular in the team, and although he made 20 league appearances over the season, most were as a substitute; his only other goal came in a 4–0 league victory over Kilmarnock, on 29 January 2014. On 1 September 2014, Baldé joined

Waasland-Beveren Sportkring Beveren is a professional Belgian association football club located in the municipality of Beveren, East Flanders. They play in the Belgian First Division B. History The club was founded in 1936 as Red Star and registered to an amate ...

in the

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

on a

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

-long loan. He made his debut twelve days later against

Zulte Waregem Sportvereniging Zulte Waregem (), commonly known as Zulte Waregem or by their nickname Essevee (), is a Belgian professional football club based in Waregem, West Flanders. Zulte Waregem plays in the Belgian First Division A. Their highest finish a ...

, scoring his team's second goal in an eventual 4–1 away win, a spectacular half-volley from 40 yards out. It was to be his only competitive goal for the club, and in January 2015 he moved on loan again, this time to

Hapoel Tel Aviv Hapoel Tel Aviv ( he, הפועל תל אביב) is a sports club in Israel, founded in the 1920s, and part of the Hapoel association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, suc ...

. He made 11 competitive appearances for the Israelis, failing to score in any of them. In June 2015, Celtic agreed to terminate Baldé's contract despite there still being two years left to run.

Metz

On 16 July 2015, Baldé signed a two-year deal with

of the French

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...

. He made his debut on 1 August, in a 0–0 draw against

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements''), ...

. Baldé failed to find the net during his spell at the

Stade Saint-Symphorien Stade Municipal Saint-Symphorien is a multi-purpose stadium located on the "island Saint-Symphorien" in Longeville-lès-Metz, near Metz, France. It is currently used mostly for football matches, by FC Metz Football Club de Metz, commonly r ...

, in nine official games.

Benfica Luanda

After terminating his contract with Metz, Baldé moved teams and countries again on 14 January 2016 as he joined Benfica de Luanda in Angola for one and a half years. In his only season he scored a squad-best six goals to help them to a sixth-place finish in the

Girabola Girabola, or ''Campeonato Nacional de Futebol em Séniores Masculinos'', is the top division of Angolan football. It is organized by the Angolan Football Federation. The league winner and runner-up qualify for the CAF Champions League. Gira ...

, and left at the end of August 2016.

Marítimo

In August 2016, Baldé returned to European football and Portugal when he signed for Marítimo. On 26 March 2017, whilst on loan to fellow top division side

Tondela Tondela () is a municipality in the central Portuguese subregion of Dão-Lafões. The population in 2011 was 28,946, in an area of 371.22 km². History Local writer and intellectual Amadeu Ferraz de Carvalho (1876–1951) wrote of the munic ...

, he was admitted to hospital due to a

pulmonary embolism Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blockage of an pulmonary artery, artery in the lungs by a substance that has moved from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream (embolism). Symptoms of a PE may include dyspnea, shortness of breath, chest pain p ...

. Marítimo stopped paying his wages, claiming they did not have to pay him as he was unable to play, and he had to rely on assistance from the players' union to support himself and his family; by the end of the year, he was still not at full health. Baldé travelled to South Africa in January 2018 for a trial with

ABSA Premiership The South African Premier Division, officially referred to as the DStv Premiership for sponsorship purposes, is the premier men's professional sports, professional association football, football/soccer league and the highest division in the leag ...

club

Free State Stars Free State Stars Football club is a South African professional football club based in Bethlehem, Free State that plays in the National First Division. Formerly known as Makwane Computer Stars and Qwa Qwa Stars, their most significant honour i ...

, although doubts remained about his fitness.

Kukësi

On 1 February 2018, Baldé signed a six-month contract with

Albanian Superliga The Kategoria Superiore, officially known as Abissnet Superiore for sponsorship reasons, is a professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Albanian football league system, it is the country's primary football compet ...

side Kukësi. He made his debut 13 days later, coming on as a second-half substitute during a 1–0 defeat of

KF Tirana Klubi i Futbollit Tirana (KF Tirana) is an Albanian football club based in the country's capital city, Tirana. The men's football club is part of the multi-disciplinary sports club SK Tirana, and is the most successful in Albania, having won 54 ...

in the quarter-finals of the

Albanian Cup The Albanian Cup ( sq, Kupa e Shqipërisë) is the main "knockout" competition in Albanian football. The competition started in 1939 as Kupa e Mbretit (English:"The King's Cup"). Just after a year the cup was suspended as the Second World War st ...

, his first competitive game of football in 11 months. His first league appearance took place on 19 February against Partizani when he took the field in injury time of a 3–1 win, Kukësi's first-ever at the opposition's ground.

Later career

Following a short spell in Libya with

Al-Nasr Al Nassr Football Club ( ar, نادي النصر السعودي; '' Naṣr'' meaning ''Victory'') is a Saudi Arabian football club based in Riyadh. Formed in 1955, the club plays its home games at the Mrsool Park. Their home colours are yellow ...

, in February 2019 Baldé moved to Indonesia after agreeing to a deal at

Persebaya Persatuan Sepakbola Surabaya ( 'Football Association of Surabaya'), commonly known as Persebaya Surabaya or simply Persebaya, is an Indonesian professional football club based in Surabaya, East Java East Java ( id, Jawa Timur) is a provinc ...

. He scored five times in nine Liga 1 matches in the first half of the season, including a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in a 4–0 victory over

Persib Persatuan Sepakbola Indonesia Bandung ( 'Indonesian Football Association of Bandung'), commonly referred to as Persib Bandung, or simply Persib, is a professional football club based in Bandung, West Java, which competes in Liga 1, the to ...

on 5 July 2019. He also finished joint-top scorer in the country's cup tournament, the

Piala Indonesia Piala Indonesia ( 'Indonesia Cup') is the professional annual cup competition for football clubs in Indonesia. Originally, it started from the semi-professional football era in 1985 as Piala Liga, which ran until 1989 under Galatama competition. ...

, with ten goals along with

PSM PSM, an acronym, may refer to: Organizations * Sepaktakraw Association of Malaysia ( ms, Persatuan Sepaktakraw Malaysia; PSM), a national governing body in Malaysia. * Pakistan School Muscat, a Pakistani co-educational institute in Oman * Palest ...

's Zulham Zamrun; however, the return of

David da Silva David Aparecido da Silva (born 12 November 1989), commonly known as David da Silva, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Liga 1 club Persib Bandung. Career Shelbourne On 11 August 2011, Da Silva signed a contract ...

to the team during the mid-season transfer window saw Baldé become surplus to requirements and on 31 August he signed for another Indonesian club, precisely PSM, scoring on his debut the following day to help the hosts beat

Persela Persatuan Sepakbola Lamongan, or commonly known as Persela, is an Indonesian football club based in Lamongan, East Java. Currently the club plays in Liga 2, the second tier of football in the country. History Although it has been establishe ...

2–1. In January 2020, Baldé moved to Vietnam to sign for

Ho Chi Minh City , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

. He made his debut on 21 January, in a 2–1 loss to

Buriram United Buriram United Football Club ( th, สโมสรฟุตบอลบุรีรัมย์ ยูไนเต็ด) is a professional football club based in Buriram, Thailand. The club has played at the top level of Thai football for the ...

in a

preliminary round A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

of the

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...

. That defeat saw his team

drop Drop, DROP, drops or DROPS may refer to: * Drop (liquid) or droplet, a small volume of liquid ** Eye drops, saline (sometimes mydriatic) drops used as medication for the eyes * Drop (unit), a unit of measure of volume * Falling (physics), allowi ...

into the

AFC Cup The AFC Cup is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Under its current rules, the competition is played primarily between clubs from nations that did not receive direct qualifying s ...

, where the player scored three times in the group-stages; the opening goal in the 2–2 draw with

Yangon United Yangon United Football Club ( my, ရန်ကုန် ယူနိုက်တက် ဘောလုံးအသင်း ) is a Burmese football club, based at Yangon United Sports Complex, in Yangon, Myanmar. Owned by Tay Za, a prominent Bu ...

, and a brace in a 3–2 win against

Hougang United Hougang United Football Club is a Singaporean professional football club that competes in the Singapore Premier League. History Hougang United Football Club was founded as Marine Castle United Football Club, which was formed by Newcastle Unit ...

. His first in the

V.League 1 The V.League 1 ( vi, Giải bóng đá vô địch quốc gia, lit=National Football League), also called Night Wolf V.League 1 due to sponsorship reasons, is the top professional Association football, football league in Vietnam, controlled by ...

arrived on 23 June, in a 3–1 away defeat of

Song Lam Nghe An Song Lam Nghe An Football Club (), simply known as Song Lam Nghe An or SLNA, is a professional V.League 1 football club playing at the Vinh Stadium in the city of Vinh, Nghe An province, Vietnam. The club was named based on the Lam river. ...

. Baldé had scored six goals in 14 games in all competitions for Ho Chi Minh City by August 2020. The club then looked to loan him out to other sides in Vietnam, but the player refused. As such, his contract was terminated by mutual agreement.

International career

Baldé chose to represent

internationally. He was part of the under-20 squad that finished as runners-up at the 2011 FIFA World Cup in Colombia, but only saw seven minutes of action. In May 2014, Baldé switched nationalities to

after being called up to the squad for the

2015 Africa Cup of Nations The 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations, Equatorial Guinea 2015 for sponsorship reasons, was the 30th staging of the Africa Cup of Nations, the international men's football championship of Africa. It was orga ...

qualifier In linguistics, a modifier is an optional element in phrase structure or clause structure which ''modifies'' the meaning of another element in the structure. For instance, the adjective "red" acts as a modifier in the noun phrase "red ball", provi ...

against the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

. He earned his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

over a year later on 13 June 2015, playing the full 90 minutes in a 0–0 draw in

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying phase. Baldé scored his first goal for Guinea-Bissau on 8 October 2015 in a

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

against

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

, netting the equaliser in a 1–1 away draw.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Guinea-Bissau's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Baldé goal.''

Honours

Vitória Guimarães *

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

Celtic *

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

: 2013–14 Portugal U20 *

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 whe ...

runner-up:

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

Individual *

top scorer: 2018–19 (ten goals) Orders * PRT Order of Prince Henry - Knight BAR

Knight of the

Order of Prince Henry The Order of Prince Henry ( pt, Ordem do Infante Dom Henrique) is a Portuguese order of knighthood created on 2 June 1960, to commemorate the quincentenary of the death of the Portuguese prince Henry the Navigator, one of the main initiators of ...

References

External links