Yazalde Gomes Pinto (born 21 September 1988), known simply as Yazalde, is a Portuguese 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 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 162 games and 27 goals for six teams, mainly

Rio Ave Rio Ave Futebol Clube, commonly known as Rio Ave (), is a Football in Portugal, Portuguese professional Association football, football club based in Vila do Conde, that competes in the Primeira Liga. The club is named after the Ave River, which ...

, and was contracted for several seasons by

Braga Braga ( , ; cel-x-proto, Bracara) is a city and a municipality, capital of the northwestern Portuguese district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality has a resident population of 193,333 inhabitants (in ...

, who loaned him out for most of that time. He also competed professionally in Romania and Azerbaijan.

Club career

Born in

Vila do Conde Vila do Conde (, ; "the Count's Town") is a municipality in the Norte Region of Portugal. The population in 2011 was 79,533, in an area of 149.03 km². The urbanized area of Vila do Conde, which includes the parishes of Vila do Conde, Azurar ...

, Yazalde began playing professionally with

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 ...

Varzim SC Varzim Sport Club () is a Portugal, Portuguese Association football, football team based in Póvoa de Varzim, near Porto in the north of the country. The club was founded on 25 December 1915, and has played at the Estádio do Varzim Sport Club si ...

, making two appearances late in the 2006–07 season. He went on to establish himself as an important first-team member. On 15 December 2008, Yazalde moved to

club

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 f ...

, signing a five-and-a-half-year contract effective as of January of the following year. However, he would be immediately loaned until the end of the campaign to league strugglers

Rio Ave FC Rio Ave Futebol Clube, commonly known as Rio Ave (), is a Portuguese professional football club based in Vila do Conde, that competes in the Primeira Liga. The club is named after the Ave River, which flows through the town and into the Atlant ...

; on 22 February, he scored the game's only goal at home against

Vitória de Setúbal 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 (b ...

. In mid-January 2010, after having appeared rarely for Braga during the season, Yazalde was loaned to fellow top-flight side

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 ...

for five months. In June, he returned to Rio Ave, also on loan. Yazalde would be consecutively loaned by Braga in the following years, to

S.C. 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 ...

FC Astra Giurgiu Asociația Fotbal Club Astra Giurgiu (), commonly known as Astra Giurgiu or simply Astra, was a Romanian football club based in the city of Giurgiu, Giurgiu County. Founded in 1921 in Ploiești as ''Clubul Sportiv Astra-Română'', it spent the ...

and

Gabala FK Gabala Football Club ( az, Qəbələ Futbol Klubu ), also spelled Qabala, is an Azerbaijani association football club representing Qabala in the Azerbaijan Premier League since 2006. Gabala has been the runner up in the Premier League three times ...

. On 27 June 2015 he returned to Rio Ave for a third spell, agreeing to a three-year deal. On 13 September 2018, after a brief spell with

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 ...

, 30-year-old Yazalde returned to the Romanian

Liga I The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...

after agreeing to a one-year contract at

CS Gaz Metan Mediaș Clubul Sportiv Gaz Metan Mediaș (), commonly known as Gaz Metan Mediaș or simply as Gaz Metan, was a Romanian professional football club based in Mediaș, Sibiu County. Founded in 1945 as ''Karres Mediaș'', the team spent most of its existe ...

. At its conclusion, he moved to

FC Hermannstadt Asociația Fotbal Club Hermannstadt (), commonly known as FC Hermannstadt, Hermannstadt or familiarly as Sibiu (), is a Romanian professional football club based in the city of Sibiu (german: Hermannstadt), Sibiu County, which currently competes ...

of the same league on a two-year deal.

International career

Yazalde represented Portugal at under-21 level. As his father was born in Guinea-Bissau,

Luís Norton de Matos Luís Maria Cabral Norton de Matos (born 14 December 1953) is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a forward, and a manager. He amassed Primeira Liga totals of 211 matches and 36 goals over nine seasons, representing in the competitio ...

, coach of the Guinea-Bissau national team, tried to persuade him to play for the Africans as a senior, but the player aspired to appear for his country of birth.

Honours

Astra Giurgiu *

Cupa României The Cupa României ( en, Romanian Cup) is a Association football, football cup competition for List of football clubs in Romania, Romanian teams which has been held annually since 1933–34 Cupa României, 1933–34, except during World War II. I ...

: 2013–14

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yazalde 1988 births Living people Footballers from Vila do Conde Portuguese sportspeople of Bissau-Guinean descent Portuguese men's footballers Men's association football forwards Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Varzim S.C. players S.C. Braga players Rio Ave F.C. players S.C. Olhanense players S.C. Braga B players S.C. Beira-Mar players Gil Vicente F.C. players C.F. Os Belenenses players Liga I players Liga II players FC Astra Giurgiu players CS Gaz Metan Mediaș players FC Hermannstadt players CSC 1599 Șelimbăr players Azerbaijan Premier League players Gabala SC players Najran SC players Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Expatriate men's footballers in Azerbaijan Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Romania Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Azerbaijan Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia