Jacinto "Gelson" Dala (born 13 July 1996) is an Angolan 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 for

Al-Wakrah Al Wakrah ( ar, الوكرة, al-Wakra) is the capital city of the Al Wakrah Municipality in Qatar. Al Wakrah's eastern edge is the shores of the Persian Gulf and Qatar's capital Doha is situated to the city's immediate north. Governed by Sheikh ...

in the

Qatar Stars League The Qatar Stars League ( ar, دوري نجوم قطر), or the QSL, also called QNB Stars League for sponsorship reasons, is the top level football league in Qatar football league system. Contested by 12 teams, it operates on a system of promotio ...

. He can play as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

or 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 ...

Club career

Born in

Luanda Luanda () is the capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Angola's administrative centre, its chief seaport ...

, Gelson began his career with local C.D. Primeiro de Agosto. In July 2015, it was reported that he was being scouted by Portugal's

S.L. Benfica Sport Lisboa e Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional association football, football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football league system, Portuguese footba ...

. He scored 23 goals in 27 games as his team won 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 ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, and subsequently he and teammate

Ary Papel Manuel David Afonso (born 3 March 1994), best known as Ary Papel, is an Angolan footballer who plays as a forward or winger for Libyan club Al Akhdar. Club career In 2018–19, he returned to Primeiro de Agosto in Angola's premier league, the ...

signed for

Sporting Clube de Portugal 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 fo ...

for undisclosed fees on contracts with €60 million release clauses. After arriving in

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 ...

in January 2017, Gelson made his debut for

Sporting B Sporting Clube de Portugal B is the reserve team of Portuguese football club Sporting CP, a team based in Lisbon. Reserve teams in Portugal play in the same league system as the senior team, rather than in a reserve team league. However, they cann ...

LigaPro The Liga Portugal 2 (), also known as Liga Portugal 2 SABSEG for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division of the Portuguese football league system. At the end of each season, the two top-finishing teams are promoted to the top-tier Prim ...

on 15 January, playing the full 90 minutes of a 4–0 loss at

Portimonense Portimonense Sporting Clube is a Portuguese sports club based in Portimão. Founded on 14 August 1914, it is most notable for its professional football team, which currently plays in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. It al ...

. Eight days later he scored his first goal, opening a 1–1 home draw with

S.C. Covilhã Sporting Clube da Covilhã, commonly known as just Sporting da Covilhã, is Portuguese association football, football club from the city of Covilhã that plays in the second-tier Liga Portugal 2. The club was founded in 1923. Their nickname is the ...

. He totalled 13 goals in 17 games in his first season in the league, including four on 2 April in a 5–1 win over

S.C. Olhanense Sporting Clube Olhanense () is a Portuguese sports club from Olhão, Algarve. Its football team was founded on 27 April 1912 and currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, the fourth tier of Portuguese football. It holds home matches at the ...

. He was first called up to

Jorge Jesus Jorge Fernando Pinheiro de Jesus (; born 24 July 1954) is a Portuguese professional football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe. He started his career with Sporting CP, going on to play for 12 ...

' main squad for the

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, ...

match at

C.D. Feirense Clube Desportivo Feirense, commonly known as CD Feirense or just Feirense, is a Portuguese football club based in Santa Maria da Feira. Founded on 18 March 1918, Feirense play in the LigaPro, the second tier of Portuguese football. Their chair ...

on 13 May, remaining unused in a 2–1 loss, but made his top flight debut eight days later in the final match of the season, replacing namesake

Gelson Martins Gelson Dany Batalha Martins (; born 11 May 1995) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a winger for Ligue 1 club Monaco. He began his career at Sporting CP, appearing in 125 competitive matches and winning two trophies during h ...

at the end of a 4–1 win over

G.D. Chaves Grupo Desportivo de Chaves, commonly known as Chaves (), is a Portuguese association football, football football team, club from Chaves, Portugal, Chaves currently playing in the Primeira Liga. They were founded in 1949 and currently play at Está ...

at the

Estádio José Alvalade Estádio José Alvalade is a football stadium in Lisbon, Portugal, home of Sporting Clube de Portugal. It was built adjacent to the site of the older stadium. The stadium is named after José Alvalade (1885–1918), the founder and first club mem ...

. Back in the reserves on 30 September 2017, Gelson scored a hat-trick in a 4–3 home win over

C.D. Santa Clara Clube Desportivo Santa Clara is a Portuguese football club from Ponta Delgada, Azores. They play in the 13,277-seat Estádio de São Miguel. They are the most successful football team from the Azores Islands as the only team from the archipelag ...

International career

Gelson made his international debut for

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

on 13 June 2015 in a

2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches were organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to decide the participating teams of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, the 31st edition of the international men's football champion ...

match 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 ...

at the

Estádio Nacional da Tundavala Estádio Nacional da Tundavala is a multi-use stadium in Lubango, Huíla Province, Angola. Completed in 2010, it is used mostly for football matches and will host some events for the 2010 African Cup of Nations The 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, ...

, scoring twice in a 4–0 victory. On 4 July, he scored both goals in a win over Swaziland in

to win the tie 4–2 on aggregate in the preliminary round of

2016 African Nations Championship qualification The 2016 African Nations Championship qualification was a men's association football, football competition which decided the participating teams of the 2016 African Nations Championship. Only national team players who were playing in their countr ...

Career statistics

Club

International goals

:''Scores and results list Angola's goal tally first.''

Honours

Angola *Four Nations Tournament bronze medal:

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Notes

References

External links

*
Gelson
1º de Agosto profile * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dala, Gelson Living people 1996 births Men's association football forwards Angolan men's footballers Angolan expatriate men's footballers Angola men's international footballers 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players C.D. Primeiro de Agosto players Rio Ave F.C. players Sporting CP footballers Sporting CP B players Antalyaspor footballers Al-Wakrah SC players Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Süper Lig players Qatar Stars League players Footballers from Luanda Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar Angolan expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Angolan expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Angolan expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Angola men's A' international footballers 2016 African Nations Championship players