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, rugby lea ...

who played as a striker. He represented mostly

Braga Braga (; ) is a cities of Portugal, city and a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality, capital of the northwestern Portugal, Portuguese Braga (district), district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality ...

(three seasons) and Rio Ave (four) in a 19-year senior career, also having a one-and-a-half-season spell at Benfica and amassing

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 ...

totals of 261 matches and 101 goals. Abroad, he spent some time in Spain and Asia. Tomás was a Portugal international in the 2000s.

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 (, ) 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 Porto District to the north, ...

, 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 represented S.L. Benfica (scoring 17 goals in his only full season, 2000–01),

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

– joining in summer 2001 alongside his teammate José Calado, he netted seven times in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

in his debut campaign, but appeared scarcely in the second– Vitória de Guimarães and S.C. Braga, to where he returned after a

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 ...

stint in 2006–07 with Al-Arabi SC and Al-Rayyan SC, having left for Asia for free. In 2004–05 and the following season, while with Braga, Tomás was the second-best scorer in the

. In 2007–08, however, he was very rarely used, due to injuries and the emergence of Austrian Roland Linz, and in July 2008 he signed for Boavista FC, relegated to the Segunda Liga due to financial irregularities. Two matches into the 2008–09 season, Tomás entailed negotiations with another Qatari club,

Al Ahli SC (Doha) Al Ahli SC (), 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 Stadium. Founded in 1950, it is the oldest s ...

, but quickly returned to Boavista. In June 2009, as his team suffered a second consecutive drop, he joined Rio Ave F.C. at age 34. Tomás fared well in his return to the top flight, scoring six goals in the league and eight overall, but moved abroad once again in February 2010, with UAE Pro League side Sharjah FC. He returned to Rio Ave in July, agreeing to a one-year contract. On 30 October 2010, Tomás scored in a 2–0 home win against his former team Braga, as Rio Ave won their first game of the campaign; earlier, in the first half, he missed a penalty kick. 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, Portugal, 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 ...

he finished second in the scorers chart, only trailing

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, Order of Prince Henry, MHIH, Order of Merit (Portugal), 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 association footbal ...

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. Tomás moved abroad again in January 2013, signing for C.R.D. Libolo in the Angolan

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, ...

; Shortly before that, his

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

helped the visitors to defeat Vitória de Setúbal 5–3, and he reached 101 goals in the Portuguese top tier in the process. After retiring, Tomás worked in directorial capacities at F.C. Famalicão, C.D. Trofense and S.C.U. Torreense.

International career

Tomás earned four

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for

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

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

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

in a friendly, 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 who currently serves as the technical director of Grêmio. Considered to be one of the greatest and most su ...

, playing against a

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

i club on 5 June in

Kuwait City Kuwait City (; ) 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 economic center of the emirate, containing Kuwait's Seif Pal ...

and scoring in the 1–1 draw.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tomas, Joao 1975 births Living people People from Oliveira do Bairro Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Aveiro District Men's association football forwards Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Anadia F.C. players Académica de Coimbra (football) 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 Portugal men's B international footballers Portugal men's international footballers Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar Expatriate men's footballers in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate men's 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