Luís Leal dos Anjos (born 29 May 1987), known as Leal, is a 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

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

for Bolivian club Guabirá and the São Tomé and Príncipe national team. He achieved

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, ...

totals of 67 games and 19 goals for

União de Leiria União Desportiva de Leiria, commonly known as União de Leiria (), is a Portuguese football club based in Leiria, central Portugal. Founded on 6 June 1966, it currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, holding home matches at Estádio Dr. ...

, Estoril and

Belenenses Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses, commonly known as Os Belenenses (), is a Portuguese sports club best known for its football team. Founded in 1919, it is one of the oldest Portuguese sports clubs. It is based in the 25,000-seat Estádio do Reste ...

, but spent most of his career abroad, playing top-flight football in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Cyprus, Paraguay, Mexico, Argentina and Bolivia. Born in Portugal, Leal represented

São Tomé and Príncipe São Tomé and Príncipe (; pt, São Tomé e Príncipe (); English: " Saint Thomas and Prince"), officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe ( pt, República Democrática de São Tomé e Príncipe), is a Portuguese-speaking i ...

at international level.

Club career

Portugal

Born in

Arrentela Arrentela is a former Freguesia (Portugal), civil parish in the municipality (''concelho'') of Seixal Municipality, Seixal, Lisbon metropolitan area, Portugal. In 2013, the parish merged into the new parish Seixal, Arrentela e Aldeia de Paio Pires ...

Setúbal District The District of Setúbal ( pt, Distrito de Setúbal ) is a district located in the south-west of Portugal. It is named for its capital, the city of Setúbal. Geography It is delimited by Lisbon District and Santarém District on the north, Év ...

in Portugal, Leal joined Sporting CP's youth system at the age of 11, moving after four years to

C.D. Cova da Piedade Clube Desportivo Cova da Piedade is a football club established in the parish of Cova da Piedade, municipality of Almada, Portugal. History Clube Desportivo Cova da Piedade was founded on 28 January 1947, resulting from the merge between União ...

. He made his senior debut with the latter, playing a couple of seasons in the

fourth division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

.Full circle – a decade in the life of Luís Leal
PortuGOAL, 28 September 2012 Leal then had two solid campaigns in the third tier, one apiece with

Atlético Clube de Portugal Atlético Clube de Portugal is a Portuguese club, located in the city of Lisbon, more precisely in the parish of Alcântara. It was founded on 18 September 1942 due to the merger of two clubs of Alcântara (Carcavelinhos Football Club) and Santo ...

and

Moreirense FC 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 ...

, continuing his professional progression in summer 2010 by signing with

G.D. Estoril Praia Grupo Desportivo Estoril Praia (), commonly known as Estoril, is a Portuguese sports club from Estoril, Cascais, Lisbon. Founded on 17 May 1939, its football team currently plays in Primeira Liga and hold home games at the Estádio António Coimb ...

in the Segunda Liga. He made his debut in the

in the 2011–12 campaign with

U.D. Leiria União Desportiva de Leiria, commonly known as União de Leiria (), is a Portuguese football club based in Leiria, central Portugal. Founded on 6 June 1966, it currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, holding home matches at Estádio Dr. M ...

, appearing in his first game in the competition on 15 August 2011 against Académica de Coimbra (17 minutes played, 1–2 home loss). In 2012, after Leiria's relegation – and further demotion to division three due to irregularities – Leal returned to Estoril, with the team now in the top flight. He started the season in impressive fashion, scoring 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 3–1 home win over

C.S. Marítimo Club Sport Marítimo MH M, commonly known as Marítimo ( locally ), is a Portuguese sports club founded in Funchal, Madeira, in 1910. Marítimo is best known for its football team playing in Portugal's top-flight competition, the Primeira Liga. ...

and one goal in a 2–2 draw at former club Sporting.

Abroad

On 18 June 2015, after brief spells at

Al Ahli Saudi FC Al-Ahli Saudi Football Club ( ar, النادي الأهلي السعودي) is a Saudi Arabian professional football club based in Jeddah, that competes in the second division of Saudi Arabian football, following their relegation from the Saud ...

Al-Ittihad Kalba SC Ittihad Kalba Football Club ( ar, نادي إتحاد كلباء لكرة القدم‎) is a football club in Kalba, United Arab Emirates. History Ittihad Kalba was established in 1972 when two clubs ''(Al Shabab)'' and ''(Al Rooba)'' merged wi ...

and Gaziantepspor, Leal signed a two-year contract with Cypriot First Division club APOEL FC. He made his debut on 14 July, in a 0–0 home draw against

FK Vardar FK Vardar Skopje ( mk, ФК Вардар Скопје), or simply Vardar, is a football club based in the capital city of Skopje, North Macedonia, North Macedonia. The club was founded in 1947 and currently competes in the Macedonian Second Foo ...

in the second qualifying round of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

. Leal scored his first two goals for APOEL on 22 August 2015, in a 5–1 away victory over Ermis Aradippou FC. Eight days later, however, after underperforming in the Champions League's qualifiers, he was sent on loan to

C.F. Os Belenenses Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses, commonly known as Os Belenenses (), is a Portuguese sports club best known for its football team. Founded in 1919, it is one of the oldest Portuguese sports clubs. It is based in the 25,000-seat Estádio do Rest ...

until the end of the season. On 26 January 2016, Leal joined Cerro Porteño for an undisclosed fee, agreeing to a two-year deal. He made his debut in the Paraguayan Primera División five days later, in a 2–1 away loss to Sportivo Luqueño where he came on as a 64th-minute substitute for Sergio Díaz; one week later, he scored a double to help to a 3–0 home defeat of

General Caballero Sport Club General Caballero SC is an association football club from Zeballos Cué, Asunción, Paraguay. The club was founded September 6, 1918 and plays in the Primera División B, the third division of the Paraguayan football league. Their home games ...

. Leal returned to the Saudi Professional League in August 2016, joining Al Fateh SC. Only months into his spell at the

Prince Abdullah bin Jalawi Stadium Prince Abdullah bin Jalawi Stadium is a football stadium in Hofuf, Al-Hasa, Saudi Arabia. It is used mainly for association football, football and hosts the home matches of Al Fateh (Sports Club), Al Fateh and Hajer club(Sports Club), Hajer Club ...

, the player's agent Óscar Díaz stated that he wanted to return to Cerro. He left in January 2017, signing for

Chiapas F.C. Chiapas Fútbol Club, commonly known as Jaguares de Chiapas, was a football club based in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Mexico, that played in the Mexican football league system Liga MX. The team played their home matches at the Estadio Víctor Manuel Re ...

in Mexico's

Liga MX The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year. The league is considered the strongest in North America, and among the strongest in a ...

. His first goal for the ''Jaguares'' was on 26 February, the team's last in a 4–3 home comeback win over

CD Guadalajara Club Deportivo Guadalajara (); often simply known as Guadalajara () and their nickname ''Chivas'' (), is a Mexican professional football club based in Zapopan, Jalisco. Guadalajara is one of the ten founding members of the Mexican First Divisi ...

. In August 2017, Leal returned to South America, loaned for a

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

150,000 fee to Newell's Old Boys in Argentina with the option to buy. He scored his first goal in the

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; en, "First Division"), known officialy as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Binance for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in Argentina, organised by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). Th ...

on 16 September to open a 2–0 home victory against Club Olimpo. In July 2018, he signed a three-year contract when the

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous ci ...

-based club purchased 85% of his economic rights. In August 2020, Leal returned to Mexico's top flight with Club Tijuana. He totalled nine games for the ''Xolos'', including their defeat to

CF Monterrey Club de Fútbol Monterrey, often known simply as Monterrey or their nickname Rayados, is a Mexican professional association football, football club based in Monterrey, Nuevo León which currently plays in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican footba ...

in the Copa MX

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 ...

in October. Leal made a move to another country he already knew in January 2021, when he signed a one-year deal at Club Sol de América in Paraguay. On 31 December, he switched to the

Bolivian Primera División The División de Fútbol Profesional is the top-flight professional football league in Bolivia. Until 2017 it was known as the "Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano" (; en, Bolivian Professional Football League). Since 1950, a total of 16 clubs ...

with

Club Deportivo Guabirá Club Deportivo Guabirá is a Bolivian professional football club from Montero, Santa Cruz, that currently plays in the Bolivian Primera División. Their home ground is the Estadio Gilberto Parada, which has a capacity of 18,000 spectators. Al ...

International career

Born in Portugal, Leal expressed his desire to represent his parents' homeland of

internationally. He made his debut on 16 June 2012 in a

2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualification The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualification was the qualification process for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, the 29th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations tournament. South Africa automatically qualified as the host country. Qualified nations ...

match against

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

, and scored his first goal on 13 June 2015 in the 7–1 defeat in Cape Verde national football team, Cape Verde for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. In October 2019, Leal scored three of São Tomé and Príncipe's goals in a 5–2 aggregate win over

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

to reach the group stage of qualification for the

2021 Africa Cup of Nations The 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (also referred to as AFCON 2021 or CAN 2021), known as the TotalEnergies 2021 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's foo ...

. On 24 March 2022, he scored the only goal in the 1–0 victory against the same team in the preliminary round of qualification for the 2023 CAN, and also found the net in the return leg five days later, a 3–3 draw; he was subsequently found to have been ineligible for the first of these matches due to breaching

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

rules, and Mauritius were awarded a 3–0 win, only for São Tomé to be later reinstated.

Career statistics

Club

International

''São Tomé and Príncipe score listed first, score column indicates score after each Leal goal.''

References

External links