Pelé (footballer, born 1991)

For other people named Pele, see Pele (disambiguation).

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Tuncará and the second or paternal family name is Gomes.

Pelé

Personal information
Full name	Judilson Mamadu Tuncará Gomes[1]
Date of birth	(1991-09-29) 29 September 1991 (age 33)[2]
Place of birth	Agualva-Cacém, Portugal[2]
Height	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder
Youth career
2006–2009	Belenenses
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2009–2011	Belenenses	32	(0)
2011	Genoa	0	(0)
2011–2015	AC Milan	0	(0)
2012–2013	→ Arsenal Kyiv (loan)	5	(0)
2013–2014	→ Olhanense (loan)	14	(0)
2014–2015	→ Belenenses (loan)	29	(6)
2015–2017	Benfica	0	(0)
2015–2016	→ Paços Ferreira (loan)	29	(4)
2017	→ Feirense (loan)	1	(0)
2017–2018	Rio Ave	31	(7)
2018–2023	Monaco	8	(0)
2018	Monaco B	1	(0)
2019	→ Nottingham Forest (loan)	9	(0)
2019–2020	→ Reading (loan)	31	(1)
2020–2021	→ Rio Ave (loan)	25	(2)
2022–2023	→ Famalicão (loan)	12	(0)
International career
2009	Portugal U18	3	(1)
2009–2010	Portugal U19	11	(0)
2010–2011	Portugal U20	19	(1)
2011	Portugal U21	3	(0)
2017–2022	Guinea-Bissau	23	(1)
Medal record Men's football Representing  Portugal FIFA U-20 World Cup Runner-up 2011 Colombia
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:46, 4 May 2023 (UTC)

Judilson Mamadu Tuncará Gomes CvIH^[3] (born 29 September 1991), known as Pelé, is a professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder.

Club career

Belenenses

Born in Agualva-Cacém to Bissau-Guinean parents, Pelé started his career with local Belenenses. He made his first-team – and Primeira Liga – debut on 11 January 2009, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 away win against Rio Ave.^[4]

Much more used in his first full season (seven starts, 642 minutes of action), Pelé's team would nonetheless suffer relegation, ranking second-bottom.^[5]

Italy

On 4 January 2011, after having been linked to the club in September 2010,^[6] Pelé was signed by Serie A side Genoa, with the deal being made effective in the summer.^[7] However, he only appeared for the under-20 reserves during his spell.^[8]

On 30 August 2011, Pelé was exchanged with AC Milan's Mario Sampirisi, both in a co-ownership deal.^[9] He played as an overage player (only four players born in 1991 were allowed that season) for the B team in his first year.^[10]

Loans

On 31 July 2012, Pelé was loaned out to Arsenal Kyiv in the Ukrainian Premier League.^[11] He spent the following campaign in the same situation, with Olhanense back in his homeland.^[12]

After a successful loan spell at Belenenses, where he scored seven competitive goals to help his team finish in sixth position and qualify for the UEFA Europa League, Pelé attracted the interest of Benfica, who signed him for 2015–16.^[13] He was immediately loaned to Paços de Ferreira,^[14] and on 31 January 2017, still owned by the former, joined Feirense also in the Portuguese top flight.^[15]

Rio Ave

On 29 June 2017, Pelé signed a five-year contract with Rio Ave.^[16] He scored seven league goals in 38 official matches in his first and only season, helping to qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round after a sixth-place finish.^[17]

Monaco

Pelé moved to Ligue 1 in July 2018, agreeing to a five-year deal at Monaco – Benfica and Rio Ave shared the €10 million transfer fee in equal parts.^[18] He made his debut in the competition on 28 September, starting in a 2–0 away loss to Saint-Étienne and being replaced by Benjamin Henrichs late into the second half.^[19]

On 31 January 2019, Pelé joined English club Nottingham Forest on loan for the remainder of the season.^[20] On 6 August, in the same situation, he moved to Reading also of the EFL Championship.^[21] He scored his first goal for the latter on 7 March 2020, in a 3–1 away victory over Birmingham City.^[22]

Pelé returned to Rio Ave on 29 September 2020, on yet another loan.^[23] On 5 August 2022, still owned by Monaco, he agreed to a deal at Famalicão.^[24]

International career

Pelé played twice for Portugal in the 2010 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification, in both games as a substitute, but was not selected for either the final tournament or the elite qualifying phase. He was then picked for a warm-up friendly before the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup,^[25] a 3–3 draw with France,^[26] and appeared in all the matches in the finals in Colombia as the nation finished in second position.^[27][28]

Pelé made his debut for Guinea-Bissau on 10 June 2017, starting in a 1–0 win over Namibia for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.^[29] He was selected by manager Baciro Candé for the finals in Egypt,^[30] playing three games in a group-stage exit.

Also part of the squad for the 2021 tournament,^[31] Pelé missed a penalty in the last minutes of the 0–0 draw against Sudan in Garoua.^[32]

Career statistics

Club

As of 21 March 2021^[33]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup		League cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Belenenses	2008–09	Primeira Liga	3	0	0	0	1	0	—		4	0
	2009–10	Primeira Liga	13	0	2	0	0	0	—		15	5
	2010–11	Liga de Honra	16	0	2	0	3	0	—		21	0
	Total		32	0	4	0	4	0	—		40	0
Genoa	2010–11	Serie A	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
AC Milan	2011–12	Serie A	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
Arsenal Kyiv (loan)	2012–13	Ukrainian Premier League	5	0	2	0	0	0	—		7	0
Olhanense (loan)	2013–14	Primeira Liga	14	0	1	0	1	0	—		16	0
Belenenses (loan)	2014–15	Primeira Liga	30	6	4	1	5	0	—		39	7
Benfica	2015–16	Primeira Liga	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
Paços Ferreira (loan)	2015–16	Primeira Liga	29	4	2	0	2	0	—		33	4
Feirense (loan)	2016–17	Primeira Liga	1	0	0	0	0	0	—		1	0
Rio Ave	2017–18	Primeira Liga	31	7	4	0	3	0	—		38	7
Monaco	2018–19	Ligue 1	8	0	1	0	1	0	1	0	11	0
Monaco B	2018–19	Championnat National 2	1	0	—		—		—		1	0
Nottingham Forest (loan)	2018–19	Championship	9	0	0	0	0	0	—		9	0
Reading (loan)	2019–20	Championship	31	1	2	0	1	0	—		34	1
Rio Ave (loan)	2020–21	Primeira Liga	20	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	21	2
Career total			211	20	21	1	17	0	1	0	250	19

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year^[34]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Guinea-Bissau	2017	1	0
	2018	4	0
	2019	9	0
	2020	3	0
	2021	3	1
	2022	3	0
Total		23	1

Scores and results list Guinea-Bissau's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Pelé goal.

List of international goals scored by Pelé^[34]

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	26 March 2021	Mavuso Sports Centre, Manzini, Eswatini	Eswatini	3–1	3–1	2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

Honours

Portugal U20

• FIFA U-20 World Cup runner-up: 2011^[27]

Orders

• Knight of the Order of Prince Henry^[35]

References

1. "Notification of shirt numbers: Reading" (PDF). English Football League. p. 59. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
2. "Pelé" (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
3. "Presidente Cavaco Silva condecorou selecção nacional de futebol sub-20" [President Cavaco Silva decorated national under-20 football team] (in Portuguese). Arquivo Presidência. 6 September 2011. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
4. "Diakité tira Belenenses dos lugares de descida" [Diakité takes Belenenses away from relegation zone]. Correio da Manhã (in Portuguese). 12 January 2009. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
5. ""É com grande mágoa que vejo o Belenenses descer"" ["It is with great sorrow I see Belenenses get relegated"] (in Portuguese). Rádio e Televisão de Portugal. 27 April 2010. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
6. Gaito, Antonio (25 September 2010). "Genoa, sprint per Pelè del Belenenses" [Genoa, final push for Belenenses' Pelé] (in Italian). Tutto Mercato Web. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
7. "Il grifo piomba su Luca Antonelli" [The griffin swoops on Luca Antonelli] (in Italian). Genoa C.F.C. 4 January 2011. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
8. "Da Futre e Rui Costa a Pelé e André Silva: tutti i portoghesi del Milan" [From Futre and Rui Costa to Pelé and André Silva: all of Milan's Portuguese] (in Italian). Calcio Mercato. 12 June 2017. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
9. "El Shaarawy 100 per cent Milan". A.C. Milan. 23 June 2012. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
10. "Le delusioni del campionato primavera 2011–12" [2011–12 campionato primavera's disappointments] (in Italian). Campionato Primavera. 25 August 2012. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
11. Пеле примерил футболку "Арсенала" [Pelé to wear Arsenal shirt] (in Ukrainian). FC Arsenal Kyiv. 31 July 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
12. Santos, Daniel (12 July 2013). "Mercado: Pelé e Ricardo Ferreira a caminho do Olhanense" [Market: Pelé and Ricardo Ferreira heading for Olhanense] (in Portuguese). Futebol 365. Archived from the original on 3 September 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
13. Ruela, João (27 June 2015). "Conheça os 10 novos reforços do Benfica" [Meet Benfica's 10 newest additions]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 28 June 2015.
14. "Pelé emprestado ao P. Ferreira" [Pelé loaned to P. Ferreira] (in Portuguese). S.L. Benfica. 1 August 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
15. "Pelé é o último reforço de Inverno!" [Pelé is the latest winter addition!] (in Portuguese). C.D. Feirense. 31 January 2017. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
16. "Pelé assina por 5 anos" [Pelé signs for 5 years] (in Portuguese). Rio Ave F.C. 29 June 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
17. "Pelé iminente no Monaco" [Pelé to Monaco a near certainty]. Record (in Portuguese). 27 June 2018. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
18. "Pelé no Monaco rende 5 milhões a Benfica e Rio Ave" [Pelé in Monaco gives 5 million to Benfica and Rio Ave]. Record (in Portuguese). 6 July 2018. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
19. "ASSE-Monaco (2–0): la preuve par neuf" [ASSE-Monaco (2–0): casting out nines]. Le Progrès (in French). 28 September 2018. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
20. "Forest sign Pele". Nottingham Forest F.C. 31 January 2019. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
21. "Pelé is a Royal". Reading F.C. 6 August 2019. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
22. "Birmingham City 1–3 Reading". BBC Sport. 7 March 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
23. Aleixo, Mário (29 September 2020). "Pelé regressa ao Rio Ave por empréstimo do Mónaco" [Pelé returns to Rio Ave on loan from Monaco] (in Portuguese). Rádio e Televisão de Portugal. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
24. "Pelé prêté au Futebol Clube Famalicão" [Pelé loaned to Futebol Clube Famalicão] (in French). AS Monaco. 5 August 2022. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
25. "Jogo de preparação Campeonato do Mundo Colômbia 2011" [2011 Colombia World Cup friendly] (PDF) (in Portuguese). Portuguese Football Federation. 7 October 2010. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
26. "Estágio preparação para o Campeonato do Mundo Colômbia 2011" [Training camp for 2011 Colombia World Cup] (PDF) (in Portuguese). Portuguese Football Federation. 15 November 2010. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
27. "Oscar treble wins thrilling final for Brazil". FIFA. 20 August 2011. Archived from the original on 14 June 2015. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
28. Da Cunha, Pedro Jorge (14 January 2021). "Caetano desistiu aos 29 anos. E os outros heróis do Mundial2011 sub20?" [Caetano called it quits at the age of 29. What about the other under20 World Cup2011 heroes?] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
29. "CAN 2019: Guiné-Bissau vence Namíbia" [CAN 2019: Guinea-Bissau defeat Namibia]. Jornal da Lusofonia (in Portuguese). 10 June 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
30. Soliman, Seif (12 June 2019). "Ittihad's Toni Silva named in Guinea Bissau's AFCON squad". KingFut. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
31. Said, Nick (30 December 2021). "Guinea Bissau call up trio for third Africa Cup of Nations". CNA. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
32. "Sudan 0–0 Guinea-Bissau". BBC Sport. 11 January 2022. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
33. Pelé at Soccerway
34. Pelé at National-Football-Teams.com
35. "Ordens Honoríficas Portuguesas" [Portuguese Honorary Orders] (in Portuguese). President of Portugal. Retrieved 16 March 2021.

External links

• Pelé at ForaDeJogo (archived)
• Pelé national team profile at the Portuguese Football Federation (in Portuguese)
• Pelé at National-Football-Teams.com
• Pelé – FIFA competition record (archived)