Jorge da Costa Pires (born 1 April 1981) is a Portuguese former 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 ...

who played as a striker. He spent most of his career in LigaPro, totalling over 324 matches and a record 113 goals for six teams and being top scorer three times. Additionally, he played 42 Primeira Liga games and scored 11 goals in two spells with

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 ...

Club career

Born in

Amares Amares () is a municipality in Braga District, Portugal. The population in 2011 was 18,889, in an area of 81.95 km². The present Mayor is Manuel Moreira, elected by the Social Democratic Party. The municipal holiday is June 13. Demographic ...

, Braga District, Pires spent his youth career with

FC Amares Futebol Clube de Amares ''(abbreviated as FC Amares)'' is a Portuguese football club based in Amares in the district of Braga. Background FC Amares currently plays in the AF Braga – Pró-Nacional which is the fourth tier of Portuguese ...

and

S.C. Braga Sporting Clube de Braga () (), commonly known as Sporting de Braga or just Braga, is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Braga. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese ...

. He made his senior debut with the former in the fourth division before moving into the latter's

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

the third is a light novel series, that has also been made into manga and anime series by Ryo Hoshino and illustrated by Ariko Ito. The anime series goes under the name . According to the New York Comic Convention, ''The Third'' has been licensed by ...

. He then had brief lower league spells at C.D. Portosantense, Amares again, A.D. Pontassolense and G.D. Ribeirão. In 2008, Pires joined

F.C. Vizela Futebol Clube de Vizela is a Portuguese Association football, football club based in Vizela, Braga District. Founded in 1939, it currently plays in the Liga Portugal Bwin, holding home games at the Estádio do Futebol Clube de Vizela, with a cap ...

of the second level and a year later

Portimonense SC 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 a ...

, whom he helped to promotion as runners-up in his first season and then played in Primeira Liga for the first time, his maiden appearance in the competition occurring on 13 August 2010 in a 1–3 away loss against Braga where he came on as a second-half substitute. After their immediate relegation, he spent the next two years in the second tier with

C.D. Aves Clube Desportivo das Aves (), commonly known as Desportivo das Aves, or simply as Aves, is a Portuguese professional football club based in Vila das Aves, Santo Tirso. The club was founded on 12 November 1930 and plays at the Estádio do Clube ...

and C.D. Feirense respectively. Pires signed for

Moreirense F.C. 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 ...

in June 2013, and was the league's top scorer with 22 goals (one more than

FC Porto B Futebol Clube do Porto B, commonly known as Porto B, is a Portuguese professional football team, which serves as the reserve side of FC Porto. They compete in the Liga Portugal 2, the second division of Portuguese football, and play their home ...

's Tózé) as his team won promotion to the top flight as champions. In June 2014, he moved abroad to join

S.L. Benfica (Luanda) Sport Luanda e Benfica, commonly known as Benfica de Luanda, or simply as Benfica, is a football club from Luanda, Angola. The club was established as the Luanda affiliate of SL Benfica of Portugal, and shares the same colours. The logo is also ...

. After winning the Taça de Angola, he returned to Portimonense on an 18-month deal in December. In 2016–17, Pires was again the second division's top scorer with 23 goals as the

Algarve The Algarve (, , ; from ) is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities ( ''concelhos'' or ''municípios'' in Portuguese). The region has it ...

an team won the league title, with four more than Gil Vicente FC's

Paulinho Paulinho is a Portuguese nickname for people named ''Paulo'' (Paulo -inho, little Paulo). People known as Paulinho include: Music *Paulinho da Costa (born 1948), Brazilian percussionist *Paulinho da Viola (born 1942), Brazilian sambista *Paulinho ...

. He added seven the following campaign in a 10th-place finish, 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 4–3 win over former club Moreirense on 31 March 2018 in which the opponents had led 3–0; two of those goals were added-time

penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

to win the points. Pires, who had two years remaining on his contract in

Portimão Portimão () is a city and a municipality in the district of Faro, in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. The population in 2011 was 55,614, in an area of 182.06 km2. It was formerly known as Vila Nova de Portimão (). In 1924, it was ...

, chose from seven offers to go on loan to F.C. Penafiel of the second tier in August 2018. He was again top scorer with 16 goals, joint with Fabrício of

F.C. Famalicão Futebol Clube de Famalicão, commonly known as Famalicão, is a Portuguese association football, football club from Vila Nova de Famalicão. Founded on 21 August 1931, its senior team currently plays in the Primeira Liga, the top tier of Portugu ...

, and his permanent transfer was subsequently confirmed. Pires retired on 20 August 2020 at the age of 39, as the highest scorer of all time in his country's second division. He immediately returned to Portimonense, as part of the coaching setup for the under-23 team.

Honours

Moreirense * Segunda Liga: 2013–14 Portimonense * LigaPro: 2016–17 Benfica Luanda * Taça de Angola:

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Individual *LigaPro top scorer: 2013–14, 2016–17, 2018–19 (joint)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pires, Jorge 1981 births Living people People from Amares Sportspeople from Braga District Portuguese footballers Association football forwards Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players S.C. Braga B players G.D. Ribeirão players F.C. Vizela players Portimonense S.C. players C.D. Aves players C.D. Feirense players Moreirense F.C. players F.C. Penafiel players Girabola players S.L. Benfica (Luanda) players Portuguese expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Angola Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Angola