Jacinto "Gelson" Dala (born 13 July 1996) is an Angolan 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 ...

who plays for Al-Wakrah in the

Qatar Stars League The Qatar Stars League ( ar, دوري نجوم قطر), or the QSL, also called QNB Stars League for sponsorship reasons, is the top level football league in Qatar football league system. Contested by 12 teams, it operates on a system of promotio ...

. He can play as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

or a forward.

Club career

Born in

Luanda Luanda () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major Angola#Economy, industrial, Angola#Culture, cultural and Angola#Demographics, urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atl ...

, Gelson began his career with local

C.D. Primeiro de Agosto Clube Desportivo 1º de Agosto is a multisports club from Luanda, Angola. The club, founded 1 August 1977, is attached to the Angolan armed forces, which is its sponsor. Its main team competes in men's football, and its professional basketbal ...

. In July 2015, it was reported that he was being scouted by Portugal's

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'', B ...

. He scored 23 goals in 27 games as his team won the

Girabola Girabola, or ''Campeonato Nacional de Futebol em Séniores Masculinos'', is the top division of Angolan football. It is organized by the Angolan Football Federation. The league winner and runner-up qualify for the CAF Champions League. Girabo ...

in 2016, and subsequently he and teammate

Ary Papel Manuel David Afonso (born 3 March 1994), best known as Ary Papel, is an Angolan 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 footb ...

signed for

Sporting Clube de Portugal Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foo ...

for undisclosed fees on contracts with €60 million release clauses. After arriving in Lisbon in January 2017, Gelson made his debut for Sporting B in

LigaPro The Liga Portugal 2 (), also known as Liga Portugal 2 SABSEG for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division of the Portuguese football league system. At the end of each season, the two top-finishing teams are promoted to the top-tier Pri ...

on 15 January, playing the full 90 minutes of a 4–0 loss at

Portimonense Portimonense Sporting Clube is a Portuguese sports club based in Portimão. Founded on 14 August 1914, it is most notable for its professional football team, which currently plays in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. It als ...

. Eight days later he scored his first goal, opening a 1–1 home draw with S.C. Covilhã. He totalled 13 goals in 17 games in his first season in the league, including four on 2 April in a 5–1 win over S.C. Olhanense. He was first called up to

Jorge Jesus Jorge Fernando Pinheiro de Jesus (; born 24 July 1954) is a Portuguese professional football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe. He started his career with Sporting CP, going on to play for 1 ...

' main squad for the

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 ...

match at C.D. Feirense on 13 May, remaining unused in a 2–1 loss, but made his top flight debut eight days later in the final match of the season, replacing namesake Gelson Martins at the end of a 4–1 win over

G.D. Chaves Grupo Desportivo de Chaves, commonly known as Chaves (), is a Portuguese football club from Chaves currently playing in the Primeira Liga. They were founded in 1949 and currently play at Estádio Municipal de Chaves. Their home kit is red-and-bl ...

at the

Estádio José Alvalade Estádio José Alvalade is a football stadium in Lisbon, Portugal, home of Sporting Clube de Portugal. It was built adjacent to the site of the older stadium. The stadium is named after José Alvalade (1885–1918), the founder and first club m ...

. Back in the reserves on 30 September 2017, Gelson scored a hat-trick in a 4–3 home win over C.D. Santa Clara.

International career

Gelson made his international debut for

Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

on 13 June 2015 in a

2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches were organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to decide the participating teams of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, the 31st edition of the international men's football champions ...

match against the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of the C ...

at the

Estádio Nacional da Tundavala Estádio Nacional da Tundavala is a multi-use stadium in Lubango, Huíla Province, Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion ...

, scoring twice in a 4–0 victory. On 4 July, he scored both goals in a win over Swaziland in

to win the tie 4–2 on aggregate in the preliminary round of

2016 African Nations Championship qualification The 2016 African Nations Championship qualification was a men's football competition which decided the participating teams of the 2016 African Nations Championship. Only national team players who were playing in their country's own domestic leagu ...

Career statistics

Club

International goals

:''Scores and results list Angola's goal tally first.''

Honours

Angola *Four Nations Tournament bronze medal:

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Notes

References

External links

*
Gelson
1º de Agosto profile * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dala, Gelson Living people 1996 births Men's association football forwards Angolan men's footballers Angolan expatriate men's footballers Angola men's international footballers 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players C.D. Primeiro de Agosto players Rio Ave F.C. players Sporting CP footballers Sporting CP B players Antalyaspor footballers Al-Wakrah SC players Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Süper Lig players Qatar Stars League players Footballers from Luanda Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar Angolan expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Angolan expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Angolan expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Angola men's A' international footballers 2016 African Nations Championship players