Ricardo Gomes (Cape Verdean footballer)


Ricardo Jorge Pires Gomes is a Cape Verdean professional footballer who plays as a forward for Emirati club Sharjah FC and the Cape Verde national team.

Club career

Vitória Guimarães

Born in Praia, Gomes moved to Portugal at the age of 17, starting playing football with F.C. Vizela and going on to spend four seasons in the third division. In 2013 he signed with Vitória de Guimarães, being initially assigned to the reserves who also competed in that level.
Gomes made his Primeira Liga debut with the first team on 17 August 2013, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 2−0 home win against S.C. Olhanense. He scored his first goal in the competition on 4 January 2015, in the 4−0 victory over C.D. Nacional also at the Estádio D. Afonso Henriques.

Nacional

In mid-January 2016, Gomes was loaned to precisely Nacional, until June. On 8 August, he agreed to a two-year permanent deal with the Madeirans.
After no goals in 2016−17, which ended in relegation, the following campaign Gomes led the LigaPro scoring charts at 22 to help the team achieve immediate promotion as champions.

Partizan

On 8 June 2018, Gomes signed with Serbian club FK Partizan. On 26 August he scored his first SuperLiga goal for them, helping to a 3−1 away defeat of FK Mačva Šabac. He added another on 23 September in the 1−1 draw with Red Star Belgrade in the Eternal Derby, being subsequently voted by Mozzart Sport as his side's best player.
Gomes finished his only season with 26 goals across all competitions, which made him the joint-best foreigner in Partizan's history.

Sharjah

In August 2019, Gomes joined UAE Pro League champions Sharjah FC, helping to win the UAE Super Cup on penalties shortly after his arrival. The following February, he was loaned to fellow league club Al-Ittihad Kalba SC until the end of the season.

International career

Gomes earned his first cap for Cape Verde on 31 March 2015, playing the last ten minutes of the 2–0 friendly win against Portugal in Estoril. On 4 June 2016 he netted his first goal, in the 2–1 away victory over São Tomé and Príncipe in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

International goals

No.DateVenueCapOpponentScoreResultCompetition
14 June 201612 de Julho, São Tomé, São Tomé and Príncipe31–02–12017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
21 June 2018July 5, 1962 Stadium, Algiers, Algeria71–13–2Friendly
312 October 2018Estádio Nacional, Praia, Cape Verde91–03–02019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
412 October 2018Estádio Nacional, Praia, Cape Verde92–03–02019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

Honours

Club

Vitória Guimarães
Nacional
Partizan
Sharjah