João Henrique Pataco Tomás (born 27 May 1975) is a Portuguese retired 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, rugb ...

who played as a forward. He represented mostly

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 ...

(three seasons) and

Rio Ave 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 Atlanti ...

(four) during his 19-year senior career. In his only full season with Benfica he scored 17 goals in 31 games, going on to amass

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 261 matches and 98 goals over ten campaigns. Abroad, Tomás spent some time in Spain and Asia.

Club career

Born in

Oliveira do Bairro Oliveira do Bairro () is a town and a municipality in the district of Aveiro in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 47,729, in an area of 335.27 km2. It had 16,994 eligible voters in 2006. The town itself had a population of 3,077 in 2001. ...

Aveiro District Aveiro District ( pt, Distrito de Aveiro, or ) is located in the central coastal region of Portugal. The capital of the district is the city of Aveiro, which also serves as the seat of Aveiro Municipality. Aveiro District is bordered by the Po ...

, João Tomás achieved some notability playing for Académica de Coimbra, earning the nickname of ''O Jardel de Coimbra'' (Coimbra's Jardel) after Mário Jardel. He subsequently played for

S.L. Benfica Sport Lisboa e Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. Founded on 28 February 1904 as ''Sport Lisboa'', Be ...

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito ...

– joining in summer 2001 alongside teammate

José Calado José António Calado da Silva (born 1 March 1974), known as Calado, is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a central midfielder. After coming to prominence in his home country with Benfica, he spent the rest of his 19-year profession ...

, he scored seven

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Banco Santander, Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaL ...

goals in his debut season, but appeared scarcely in his second year – Vitória de Guimarães and

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 ...

, to where he returned after a

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

i stint in 2006–07, where he represented Al-Arabi SC, netting eight times in seventeen games before switching to

Al Rayyan SC Al-Rayyan Sports Club () is a Qatari multi-sports club fielding teams in a number of sports such as football, futsal, basketball, volleyball, handball, athletics, table tennis, and swimming. It is based at the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium in Umm Al ...

in 2007, leaving for Asia

for free "For Free" is a song by American musician DJ Khaled featuring Canadian rapper Drake. It was released on June 3, 2016 by We the Best Music Group and Epic Records as the lead single from DJ Khaled's ninth studio album, ''Major Key''. The song was ...

. In 2004–05 and the following campaign, while with Braga, Tomás was the second best goalscorer in the

. In 2007–08, however, he was very rarely used, due to injuries and the emergence of Austrian

Roland Linz Roland Gunther Linz (born 9 August 1981) is an Austrian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He spent most of his extensive professional career with Austria Wien, winning five major titles including three Austrian Bundeslig ...

, and would sign in July 2008 with

Boavista FC Boavista Futebol Clube, commonly known as Boavista (), is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Porto. Founded on 1 August 1903 by British entrepreneurs and Portuguese textile workers (thus the "FC" being appended – the British way as oppos ...

, relegated after irregularities to the

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 ...

. Two matches into the 2008–09 season, Tomás entailed negotiations with another Qatari club,

Al-Ahli (Doha) Al Ahli SC ( ar, النادي الأهلي الرياضي), also known as Al Ahli Doha is a Qatari multi-sport club based in Doha. It is most notable for its professional association football section. Their home ground is the Hamad bin Khalifa ...

, but quickly returned to Boavista. In June 2009, as his team suffered a second consecutive drop, he left for

Rio Ave F.C. 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 Atlanti ...

at age 34. João Tomás fared well in his return to the top level, scoring six goals in the league and eight overall, but moved abroad once again in February 2010, joining

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (Middle East, The Middle East). It is ...

side

Al-Sharjah SCC Sharjah Football Club ( ar, نادي الشارقة لكرة القدم) is an Emirati professional football club based in Sharjah that competes in the UAE Pro League. Their home stadium is Sharjah Stadium. Founded in 1966, it has been the most s ...

. In July he returned to Rio Ave, signing a one-year contract. On 30 October 2010, 35-year-old Tomás scored in a 2–0 home win against former club Braga, as Rio Ave won its first game of the campaign – earlier, in the first half, he missed a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

. In the first year in his second spell 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 ...

he finished second in the goal scorers chart, only trailing

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, MHIH, OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Port ...

Hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of ''The Incredible Hulk (comic book), The Incredible Hulk' ...

. Tomás moved abroad again in January 2013, penning a contract with C.R.D. Libolo in Angola.

International career

João Tomás played four times for

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

. His first game was in a 2–1 win over

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

, on 15 November 2000. On 22 May 2007, after a -year absence, Tomás was recalled to the national team by

Luiz Felipe Scolari Luiz Felipe Scolari (; born 9 November 1948), also known as Felipão ("Big Phil"), is a Brazilian football manager and former player. He is the current manager of Athletico Paranaense. Scolari was a defender during his playing days, and not ...

, playing in a 1–1 draw with a

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Ku ...

i club on 5 June in

Kuwait City Kuwait City ( ar, مدينة الكويت) is the capital and largest city of Kuwait. Located at the heart of the country on the south shore of Kuwait Bay on the Persian Gulf, it is the political, cultural and economical centre of the emirate, ...

and scoring the Portuguese goal.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tomas, Joao 1975 births Living people People from Oliveira do Bairro Portuguese footballers Association football forwards Portugal international footballers Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Anadia F.C. players Associação Académica de Coimbra – O.A.F. players S.L. Benfica footballers Vitória S.C. players S.C. Braga players Boavista F.C. players Rio Ave F.C. players La Liga players Real Betis players Qatar Stars League players Al-Arabi SC (Qatar) players Al-Rayyan SC players UAE Pro League players Sharjah FC players Girabola players C.R.D. Libolo players Portuguese expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Qatar Expatriate footballers in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate footballers in Angola Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Angola Sportspeople from Aveiro District