Esmaël Ruti Tavares Cruz da Silva Gonçalves (born 25 June 1991), also known as Isma, is a Bissau-Guinean

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 plays as a center forward and winger and is a free agent after leaving Scottish club Livingston in September 2023. He also plays for the Guinea-Bissau national team.

Club career

Nice

Gonçalves was 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 ...

, the capital city of

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 ...

, but moved to Portugal with his family at the age of three. He began his football career with Boavista. Gonçalves spent three years at the club before venturing to France to sign with

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. Gonçalves spent two years in Nice's youth academy before earning promotion to the club's reserve team in the

Championnat de France amateur 2 The Championnat National 3, commonly referred to as simply National 3 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur 2, is a football league competition. The league serves as the fifth division of the French football league system behind ...

for the 2010–11 season. Following a successful half season at reserve level, he was called up to the senior team in January 2011 and made his professional debut in a 2–0 defeat to

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

, appearing as a substitute. That was his only senior team appearance of the campaign. On 30 June 2011, Gonçalves signed his first professional contract, agreeing to a three-year deal until 2014. He was officially promoted to the senior team by manager Eric Roy and assigned the number 24 shirt for the 2011–12 season. He scored twice that season, including the winner in a 4–3 victory at

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

on the last day, 20 May 2012.

Rio Ave

On 3 August 2012, Nice confirmed on its official website that Gonçalves would be returning to Portugal to join first division club Rio Ave. Gonçalves had previously expressed his desire to join the

Vila do Conde Vila do Conde (, ; "the Count's Town") is a municipality in the Norte Region, Portugal, 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 ...

-based club in order to be near his family.

St Mirren (loan)

On 22 January 2013, Gonçalves signed on loan 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 ...

club St Mirren until the end of the 2012–13 season. The day after signing, he was quoted in the local newspaper ''

Paisley Daily Express The ''Paisley Daily Express'' is a Scottish newspaper based in Glasgow, covering the Renfrewshire area. The paper, which is currently owned by Reach plc has its main offices in Glasgow. The paper is sold in newsagents and general stores throu ...

'' that he could be "the next Drogba". Gonçalves scored his first goal for the club on his debut in the

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...

semi-final in a 3–2 win over

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 ...

Hampden Park Hampden Park ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden'') is a association football, football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football ...

, with his being the club's first goal against the

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

side since March 2010. Three days later, he made his first

appearance against Inverness Caledonian Thistle, nutmegging the goalkeeper in a 2–1 victory. In his first

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,St Johnstone, Gonçalves scored both goals of a 2–0 victory. He scored another goal against

at St Mirren Park in a 2–1 loss in the sixth round of the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Scottish League Cup final against Hearts where he scored the equalising goal and provided an assist for Conor Newton's third in a 3–2 victory Buddies' first League Cup and their first major trophy since 1987. Shortly after scoring, he lifted his jersey, which had the inscription ''"Forca Fábio Faria"'' ("Come on Fábio Faria"), dedicating a goal to a player whose career ended after a heart condition. Gonçalves was then booked by the referee. In a 1–1 draw against Celtic on 31 March, Gonçalves caused controversy when he dived to win the penalty after being fouled by

Emilio Izaguirre Emilio Arturo Izaguirre Girón (; born 10 May 1986) is a Honduran former professional association football, footballer who played as a left-back. He is currently the sporting director of F.C. Motagua, Motagua. Izaguirre started his career at Mo ...

, with television pictures proving that there was no contact. After the match, he was given a two-match ban by the SFA, after a complaint was issued for that dive, which he accepted. He told BBC Scotland that he would be happy to make a return to St. Mirren in the future. The club was willing to make his transfer permanent, but Rio Ave announced that this would not be the case, and said that such a deal would cost £400,000.

APOEL (loan)

On 3 July 2013, Gonçalves completed a season-long loan move to Cypriot side APOEL. He scored on his debut against

NK Maribor Nogometni klub Maribor () is a Slovenian professional Association football, football club based in Maribor, Slovenia. It competes in the Slovenian PrvaLiga, the top tier of the Football in Slovenia#League system, Slovenian football league system ...

GSP Stadium The GSP Stadium () is a association football, football stadium in Strovolos, Nicosia District, Cyprus. Although small by international standards, it is the largest stadium in Cyprus, with a capacity of 22,859 and was opened in 1999. It serves as ...

on 31 July, opening the scoring in a 1–1 first leg draw for the third qualifying round of the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League. On 24 October, he scored the equaliser against

in APOEL's 2–1 defeat at Stade Chaban-Delmas for the third matchday of the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

group stage 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 ...

. He scored his first league goals in APOEL's 5–0 home victory against AEK Kouklia on 2 December, in a match which Gonçalves managed to score a hat-trick. On 31 December, APOEL terminated his contract by mutual consent. On 14 January 2014,

Veria Veria (; ), officially transliterated Veroia, historically also spelled Beroea or Berea, is a city in Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia, northern Greece, capital of the regional unit of Imathia. It is located north-nor ...

signed Gonçalves on a one-year loan deal. He scored his first Superleague goal in a defeat to

PAOK PAOK (, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινοπολιτών, ''Panthessalonikeios Athlitikós Ómilos Constantinopoliton'', ''Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans''), commonly ...

Heart of Midlothian

After a stint in Cyprus with Anorthosis, Gonçalves signed for

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 ...

club Heart of Midlothian in January 2017. Hearts paid a transfer fee of about £170,000 for his services and he made his debut in a 4–1 win over Rangers on 1 February. Gonçalves scored 15 goals in 42 appearances for Hearts, until he was sold to

Pakhtakor Tashkent Pakhtakor Football Club () is an Uzbek professional association football, football club, based in the capital city of Tashkent, that competes in the Uzbekistan Super League. Pakhtakor is often considered the most successful football club in Uzbek ...

for £350,000 in January 2018.

Asia

Gonçalves signed for Uzbek club

in January 2018. On 26 January 2019, Gonçalves moved to Esteghlal on an 18-month-long contract. He was given the squad shirt number 20. He made his debut for the club on 7 February, in a 4–0 win against Paykan, coming on as an 81st-minute substitute for

Morteza Tabrizi Morteza Tabrizi (, born 6 January 1991) is an Iranian professional footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for Persian Gulf Pro League side Zob Ahan Esfahan F.C., Zob Ahan Esfahan. Club career Pas Hamedan Tabrizi was p ...

. He scored his first goal for Esteghlal in the same game just two minutes after coming on as a substitute. On 1 June, Esteghlal announced Isma's contract was terminated by mutual consent. Gonçalves signed for Japanese club Matsumoto Yamaga in September 2019. On 23 November, he made his debut for the Japanese side as a substitute in a 1–0 defeat against Yokohama F. Marinos. On 11 October 2020, Gonçalves joined

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

club Chennaiyin FC on a one-year contract. On 24 November 2020, Gonçalves made his debut in the very first match of the season for Chennnaiyin FC and converted a crucial 26th-minute penalty in a 2–1 win for Chennaiyin over

Jamshedpur Jamshedpur (; ), also known as Tatanagar, is a major industrial city in eastern India. It is the List of cities in Jharkhand by population, largest city in the state of Jharkhand. With a population of 629,658 in the city limits and 1.3 million ...

. Gonçalves would spend a season with Bangladesh Premier League side

Sheikh Russel KC Sheikh Russel KC ( Bengali: শেখ রাসেল ক্রীড়া চক্র) is a professional football club based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Founded in 1995, the club currently competes in the Bangladesh Premier League. They won Feder ...

Livingston

On 31 May 2022, Gonçalves returned to Scotland and signed a two-year deal with

side Livingston. He was loaned to Championship club Raith Rovers on 11 February 2023, and later that day scored in a

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

. On 1 September 2023 Goncalves was released by Livingston after the two parties reached a mutual agreement over the termination of his contract. The forward failed to score for the club.

International career

Though born in Guinea-Bissau, Gonçalves is a naturalised citizen of Portugal. He has represented them at under-17 level. In 2010, he was called up to the Portugal under-20 team to participate in training sessions as the team was preparing for the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Gonçalves, however, showed up to the camp out of shape and was, ultimately, not considered for the tournament by coach Ilídio Vale. He earned one cap for

on 22 March 2018, starting in a 2–0 friendly loss to

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

in Limeil-Brévannes, France.

Career statistics

Honours

St Mirren *

: 2012–13 APOEL *

Cypriot Super Cup The Cypriot Super Cup is a Cypriot football trophy, contested in an annual match between the previous season's Cypriot First Division champions, and the Cypriot Cup winners. The match is contested at the beginning of the football season, and is ...

: 2013 Individual *

Uzbekistan Super League Uzbekistan Super League (; ), known as Artel Electronics, Artel Uzbekistan Super League due to sponsorship reasons (; ), is the top division of professional association football, football in Uzbekistan. It is operated under the auspices of the U ...

top goalscorer:

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

References

External links