Amido Baldé (born 16 May 1991) is a 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 lea ...

who played as a forward. He started his career with

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

, being loaned several times over the duration of his contract and winning the 2013 Taça de Portugal with Vitória de Guimarães. 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 Foot ...

, who also loaned him twice before he left for

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

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 ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. Internationally, Baldé represented

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

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

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau, officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, is a country in West Africa that covers with an estimated population of 2,026,778. It borders Senegal to Guinea-Bissau–Senegal border, its north and Guinea to Guinea–Guinea-Bissau b ...

Club career

Sporting CP

Born in

Bissau Bissau () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Guinea-Bissau. it 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, its administr ...

, Baldé started his career with

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

farm team In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a Team sport, team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any s ...

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

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

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 ( Segunda Liga) and

Badajoz Badajoz is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portugal, Portuguese Portugal–Spain border, border, on the left bank of the river ...

(Spanish

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

). 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. They compete in the Belgian Pro League, the top flight of Belgian football. Their matricule number is 12. The club plays home games at the 29 ...

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 (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

side Vitória de Guimarães for two years. He made his debut on 21 September, coming on as a late substitute in a 1–0 away win against Moreirense. 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 (), commonly known as Beira-Mar, is a Portuguese sports club based in Aveiro, Portugal. Its Association football, football team currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal (league), Campeonato de Portugal, the fourth natio ...

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

Taça de Portugal The Taça de 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 Generali Tranquilidade since the 2024–25 seaso ...

. He helped the

Minho Minho or Miño may refer to: People * Miño (surname) * Choi Min-ho, South Korean singer and actor known mononymously as Minho Places * Minho (river) or Miño, in Portugal and Spain Jamaica * Rio Minho, a river Portugal * Minho Province ...

club win the tournament for the first time ever – he was replaced in the 90th minute of the final 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 Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

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 Margate in the Thanet District, Thanet district of Kent, England. It includes the Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay estate, built in the 1930s with wide avenues and detached and semi-detached houses with driveways, gar ...

. 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 ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

. On 27 October, at

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

, 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 (SK Beveren) is a Belgian professional association football club based in Beveren, East Flanders. The club is affiliated with the founded number 4068 and has yellow and blue as its colours. The team was founded in 1936 in H ...

in the

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023 ...

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 axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

-long loan. He made his debut twelve days later against Zulte Waregem, 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. 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 sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

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

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device that 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, 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 de Séniores Masculinos'', is the top division of Angolan association football, football. It is organized by the Angolan Football Federation. The term "Girabola" () is a creation of the nationalist, ...

, 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 concelho, municipality in the Centro, Portugal, central Portugal, 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 Carv ...

, 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 ...

. 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 club Free State Stars, although doubts remained about his fitness.

Kukësi

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

Albanian Superliga Kategoria Superiore (), also known as Abissnet Superiore for sponsorship reasons with internet service provider, Abissnet, is a professional league for men's association football clubs in Albania. At the top of the Albanian football league syste ...

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 is an Albanian professional football club based in the country's capital city, Tirana, that competes in the Kategoria Superiore, the top tier of Albanian football. The men's football club is part of the multi-discipli ...

in the

quarter-finals A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

of the

Albanian Cup The Albanian Cup () is the main "knockout" competition in Albanian football. The competition started in 1939 as Kupa e Mbretit ( English:"The King's Cup"). The cup was suspended for the next eight years as the Second World War started. It start ...

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

in a 4–0 victory over Persib on 5 July 2019. He also finished joint-top scorer in the country's cup tournament, the

Piala Indonesia Piala Indonesia () is the professional annual cup competition for football clubs in Indonesia. Its origins date back to the start of the semi-professional football era in 1985 as Piala Liga, which ran until 1989 under Galatama competition. The Fo ...

, with ten goals along with PSM's Zulham Zamrun; however, the return of David da Silva 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 2–1. In January 2020, Baldé moved to Vietnam to sign for

Ho Chi Minh City Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

. He made his debut on 21 January, in a 2–1 loss to Buriram United 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 Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

. That defeat saw his team drop into the

AFC Cup The AFC Champions League Two (abbreviated as the ACL Two or ACL2) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation. It is the second-tier competition of Asian club football, ranked below the AFC C ...

, where the player scored three times in the group-stages; the opening goal in the 2–2 draw with Yangon United, and a brace in a 3–2 win against

Hougang United Hougang United Football Club is a professional football club based in Hougang, Singapore. The club competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of Singaporean football. Founded in 1998 as Marine Castle United, the club changed its ...

. His first in the

V.League 1 The V.League 1 (), also called LPBank V.League 1 for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football league in Vietnam, controlled by the Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company (VPF). It is contested by 14 clubs who play each ...

arrived on 23 June, in a 3–1 away defeat of Song Lam Nghe An. 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 org ...

qualifier against the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...

. 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. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

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. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying phase. Baldé scored his only 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 national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

qualifier 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 Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

, closing the 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 Celtic *

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

: 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 when i ...

runner-up:

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

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 () is a Portuguese order of knighthood created on 2 June 1960, to commemorate the quincentenary of the death of the Portuguese ''infante'' Prince Henry the Navigator, one of the main initiators of the Age of Discovery. M ...

References

External links