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 lea ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

or a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for

Al-Wakrah Al Wakrah () is the capital city of the Al Wakrah Municipality in Qatar. Al Wakrah's eastern edge touches the shores of the Persian Gulf and Qatar's capital Doha is situated immediately north of the city. Governed by Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Jassi ...

in the

Qatar Stars League The Qatar Stars League (; abbreviated as QSL), known as Ooredoo 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 promotion and relegation wi ...

Club career

Born in

Luanda Luanda ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Angola, largest city of Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Ang ...

, 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 Primeiro de ...

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

S.L. 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'', Benfica is one of the " ...

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

Girabola Girabola, or ''Campeonato Nacional de Futebol de Séniores Masculinos'', is the top division of Angolan association football, football. It is organized by the Angolan Football Federation. The term "Girabola" () is a creation of the nationalist, ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, and subsequently he and teammate

Ary Papel Manuel David Afonso (born 3 March 1994), best known as Ary Papel, is an Angolan footballer who plays as a forward or winger for in Libyan Premier League Libyan club Al Akhdar. Club career In 2018–19, he returned to Primeiro de Agosto in A ...

signed for

Sporting Clube de Portugal Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

for undisclosed fees on contracts with €60 million release clauses. After arriving in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

in January 2017, Gelson made his debut for Sporting B in

LigaPro The Liga Portugal 2 (), also known as Liga Portugal Meu Super 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 ...

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 Liga Portugal 2, the second division of Portuguese football ...

. Eight days later he scored his first goal, opening a 1–1 home draw with

S.C. Covilhã Sporting Clube da Covilhã, commonly known as just Sporting da Covilhã or Sp. Covilhã, is a Portuguese association football, football club from the city of Covilhã that plays in the third-tier Liga 3 (Portugal), Liga 3. The club was founded on ...

. 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 Sporting Clube Olhanense (), commonly known as Olhanense, is a Portuguese sports club from Olhão, Algarve. Its Association football, football team was founded on 27 April 1912 and currently plays in the Algarve Football Association Portuguese Di ...

. He was first called up to

Jorge Jesus Jorge Fernando Pinheiro de Jesus (; born 24 July 1954) is a Portuguese professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player. Most recently he was the manager of Saudi Professional League, Saudi P ...

' main squad for the

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

match at

C.D. Feirense Clube Desportivo Feirense, commonly known as CD Feirense or just Feirense, is a Portuguese association football, football club based in Santa Maria da Feira. Founded on 18 March 1918, Feirense play in the LigaPro, the second tier of football in ...

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 Gelson Dany Batalha Martins (; born 11 May 1995) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Super League Greece club Olympiacos. Born in Cape Verde, he represented the Portugal national team. He began his career at Sporting CP, ap ...

at the end of a 4–1 win over

G.D. Chaves Grupo Desportivo de Chaves (), commonly known as Chaves, is a Portuguese professional association football, football football team, club from Chaves, Portugal, Chaves currently playing in the Liga Portugal 2, following their relegation from the Pr ...

at the

Estádio José Alvalade The Estádio José Alvalade (; ') is a Football (soccer), football stadium in Lisbon, Portugal, home of Sporting Clube de Portugal. It was built adjacent to the site of the Estádio José Alvalade (1956), older stadium. The stadium is named afte ...

. 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 Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

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) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...

at the

Estádio Nacional da Tundavala Estádio Nacional da Tundavala is a multi-use stadium in Lubango, Huíla Province, Angola. Completed in 2010, it is used mostly for football matches and hosted some events of the 2010 African Cup of Nations. The stadium has a capacity of 20,000 p ...

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

Swaziland Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where ...

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 association football, football competition which decided the participating teams of the 2016 African Nations Championship. Only national team players who were playing in their countr ...

. On 20 January 2024, in the 2023 African Cup of Nations, he scored a brace in their 3–2 win over

Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...

. On 27 January 2024, he scored a first half brace for 10 men Angola in their Round of 16 win over Namibia.

Career statistics

Club

International goals

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

Honours

Angola *Four Nations Tournament bronze medal:

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 ...

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 21st-century Angolan sportsmen Angolan expatriate men's footballers Angola men's international footballers 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players 2023 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