Esmaël Gonçalves

Esmaël Ruti Tavares Cruz da Silva Gonçalves (born 25 June 1991), also known as Isma, is a Bissau-Guinean footballer who plays as a center forward and winger for Scottish club Livingston and the Guinea-Bissau national team.

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Tavares Cruz and the second or paternal family name is Silva Gonçalves.

Esmaël Gonçalves
Gonçalves with Esteghlal in 2019
Personal information
Full name Esmaël Ruti Tavares Cruz
da Silva Gonçalves[1]
Date of birth (1991-06-25) 25 June 1991
Place of birth Bissau, Guinea-Bissau
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Striker, winger
Team information
Current team
 Livingston
Number 39
Youth career
2005–2008 Boavista
2008–2011 Nice
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2012 Nice 18 (2)
2012–2015 Rio Ave 18 (1)
2013 → St Mirren (loan) 12 (3)
2013–2014 → APOEL (loan) 10 (3)
2014 → Veria (loan) 15 (2)
2015 → Anorthosis Famagusta (loan) 15 (9)
2015 Al-Ettifaq 0 (0)
2016–2017 Anorthosis Famagusta 33 (9)
2017–2018 Heart of Midlothian 35 (13)
2018 Pakhtakor Tashkent 21 (16)
2019 Esteghlal 13 (3)
2019–2020 Matsumoto Yamaga 9 (0)
2020–2021 Chennaiyin 12 (4)
2021–2022 Sheikh Russel 12 (3)
2022– Livingston 12 (0)
2023 → Raith Rovers (loan) 2 (0)
International career
2007–2008 Portugal U17 3 (0)
2018– Guinea-Bissau 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 11 February 2023

Club career

Nice

Gonçalves was born in Bissau, the capital city of Guinea-Bissau, but moved to Portugal with his family at the age of three.[2] He began his football career with Boavista. Gonçalves spent three years at the club before venturing to France to sign with Nice after being invited for a trial at the club.[3] Prior to signing with the club, he drew interest from English club Liverpool.[2] Gonçalves spent two years in Nice's youth academy before earning promotion to the club's reserve team in the Championnat de France amateur 2 for the 2010–11 season. Following a successful half season at reserve level, he was called up to the senior team in January 2011 and made his professional debut in a 2–0 defeat to Bordeaux, appearing as a substitute.[4] That was his only senior team appearance of the campaign.

On 30 June 2011, Gonçalves signed his first professional contract, agreeing to a three-year deal until 2014.[5] He was officially promoted to the senior team by manager Eric Roy and assigned the number 24 shirt for the 2011–12 season. He scored twice that season, including the winner in a 4–3 victory at Lyon on the last day, 20 May 2012.[6]

Rio Ave

On 3 August 2012, Nice confirmed on its official website that Gonçalves would be returning to Portugal to join first division club Rio Ave. Gonçalves had previously expressed his desire to join the Vila do Conde-based club in order to be near his family.[7]

St Mirren (loan)

On 22 January 2013, Gonçalves signed on loan with Scottish Premier League club St Mirren until the end of the 2012–13 season.[8] The day after signing, he was quoted in the local newspaper Paisley Daily Express that he could be "the next Drogba".[9]

Gonçalves scored his first goal for the club on his debut in the Scottish League Cup semi-final in a 3–2 win over Celtic at Hampden Park,[10] with his being the club's first goal against the Glasgow side since March 2010.[11] Three days later, he made his first Scottish Premier League appearance against Inverness Caledonian Thistle, nutmegging the goalkeeper in a 2–1 victory.[12] In his first Scottish Cup appearance against St Johnstone, Gonçalves scored both goals of a 2–0 victory.[13] He scored another goal against Celtic at St Mirren Park in a 2–1 loss in the sixth round of the Scottish Cup.[14]

On 17 March 2013, Gonçalves played in the Scottish League Cup final against Hearts where he scored the equalising goal and provided an assist for Conor Newton's third in a 3–2 victory Buddies' first League Cup and their first major trophy since 1987.[15] Shortly after scoring, he lifted his jersey, which had the inscription "Forca Fábio Faria" ("Come on Fábio Faria"), dedicating a goal to a player whose career ended after a heart condition. Gonçalves was then booked by the referee.[16]

In a 1–1 draw against Celtic on 31 March, Gonçalves caused controversy when he dived to win the penalty after being fouled by Emilio Izaguirre, with television pictures proving that there was no contact.[17] After the match, he was given a two-match ban by the SFA, following an issue of complaint for his action of diving,[18] which he accepted.[19] He told BBC Scotland that he would be happy to make a return to St. Mirren in the future.[20] The club was willing to make his transfer permanent, but Rio Ave announced that this would not be the case, and said that such a deal would cost £400,000.[21]

APOEL (loan)

On 3 July 2013, Gonçalves completed a season-long loan move to Cypriot side APOEL.[22]

He scored on his debut against NK Maribor at GSP Stadium on 31 July, opening the scoring in a 1–1 first leg draw for the third qualifying round of the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League.[23] On 24 October, he scored the equaliser against Bordeaux in APOEL's 2–1 defeat at Stade Chaban-Delmas for the third matchday of the UEFA Europa League group stage.[24] He scored his first league goals in APOEL's 5–0 home victory against AEK Kouklia on 2 December, in a match which Gonçalves managed to score a hat-trick.[25] On 31 December, APOEL terminated his contract by mutual consent.[26]

On 14 January 2014, Veria signed Gonçalves on a one-year loan deal.[27] He scored his first Superleague goal in a defeat to PAOK.

Heart of Midlothian

After a stint in Cyprus with Anorthosis, Gonçalves signed for Scottish Premiership club Heart of Midlothian in January 2017.[28] Hearts paid a transfer fee of about £170,000 for his services and he made his debut in a 4–1 win over Rangers on 1 February. Gonçalves scored 15 goals in 42 appearances for Hearts, until he was sold to Pakhtakor Tashkent for £350,000 in January 2018.[29]

Asia
Moment of Isma first goal for Esteghlal against Paykan

Gonçalves signed for Uzbek club Pakhtakor Tashkent in January 2018.[29]

On 26 January 2019, Gonçalves moved to Esteghlal on an 18-month-long contract.[30] He was given the squad shirt number 20.[31] He made his debut for the club on 7 February, in a 4–0 win against Paykan, coming on as an 81st-minute substitute for Morteza Tabrizi. He scored his first goal for Esteghlal in the same game just two minutes after coming on as a substitute.[32] On 1 June, Esteghlal announced Isma's contract was terminated by mutual consent.[33]

Gonçalves signed for Japanese club Matsumoto Yamaga in September 2019.[34] On 23 November, he made his debut for the Japanese side as a substitute in a 1–0 defeat against Yokohama F. Marinos.[35]

On 11 October 2020, Gonçalves joined Indian Super League club Chennaiyin FC on a one-year contract.[36] On 24 November 2020, Gonçalves made his debut in the very first match of the season for Chennnaiyin FC and converted a crucial 26th-minute penalty in a 2–1 win for Chennaiyin over Jamshedpur.[37]

Gonçalves would spend a season with Bangladesh Premier League side Sheikh Russel KC.

Livingston

On 31 May 2022, Gonçalves returned to Scotland and signed a two-year deal with Scottish Premiership side Livingston.[38] He was loaned to Championship club Raith Rovers on 11 February 2023, and later that day scored in a Scottish Cup tie against Motherwell.[39]

International career

Though born in Guinea-Bissau, Gonçalves is a naturalised citizen of Portugal. He has represented them at under-17 level.[2] In 2010, he was called up to the Portugal under-20 team to participate in training sessions as the team was preparing for the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Gonçalves, however, showed up to the camp out of shape and was, ultimately, not considered for the tournament by coach Ilídio Vale.[2]

He earned one cap for Guinea-Bissau on 22 March 2018, starting in a 2–0 friendly loss to Burkina Faso in Limeil-Brévannes, France.[40]

Career statistics
As of match played 29 November 2019[41]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Nice 2010–11 Ligue 1 100000——10
2011–12 1722100——193
Total 1822100——203
Rio Ave 2012–13 Primeira Liga 601010——80
2013–14 000000——00
2014–15 12121314[lower-alpha 1]100214
Total 18131414100294
St Mirren (loan) 2012–13 Scottish Premier League 1232322——168
APOEL (loan) 2013–14 Cypriot First Division 10300—6[lower-alpha 2]21[lower-alpha 3]0175
Veria (loan) 2013–14 Superleague Greece 15200——00152
Anorthosis Famagusta (loan) 2014–15 Cypriot First Division 15932——001811
Al-Ettifaq (loan) 2015–16 Saudi Professional League 002100—0021
Anorthosis Famagusta 2015–16 Cypriot First Division 14110——00151
2016–17 19822——002110
Total 481863——005422
Heart of Midlothian 2016–17 Scottish Premiership 15721000000178
2017–18 2061041—00257
Total 3513314100004215
Pakhtakor Tashkent 2018 O'zbekiston Superligasi 211242——1043518
Esteghlal 2018–19 Persian Gulf Pro League 13300—50—183
Matsumoto Yamaga 2019 J1 League 100000——10
Career total 19157221310415311424977
  1. Appearances in the Europa League
  2. Two appearances and a goal in the Champions League, four appearances and a goal in the Europa League
  3. Appearance in the Cypriot Super Cup

Honours

Club

St Mirren

APOEL

Individual

References
  1. "Esmaël Portuguese Football Federation Profile". Portuguese Football Federation (in Portuguese). Retrieved 29 November 2011.
  2. "Esmaël Gonçalves: guia de Djaló espera FC Porto". Mais Futebol (in Portuguese). 9 October 2011. Archived from the original on 9 February 2019. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
  3. "Qui est Esmael Gonçalves?". Actufoot (in French). 21 November 2008. Archived from the original on 18 May 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
  4. "Bordeaux v. Nice Match Report". Ligue de Football Professionnel (in French). 20 January 2011. Archived from the original on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
  5. "Nice – Contrats pro pour Goncalves et Véronèse". Fédération Internationale de Football Association (in French). 30 June 2011. Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
  6. "A story of endings". OGC Nice. 17 May 2018. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  7. "Gonçalvès (Nice) rejoint Rio Ave". L'Equipe (in French). 3 August 2012. Archived from the original on 9 February 2019. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
  8. "St Mirren sign Portuguese striker Esmael Goncalves from Rio Ave". BBC Sport. 22 January 2013. Archived from the original on 26 January 2013. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  9. "Goncalves vows to be St Mirren's answer to Drogba". Paisley Daily Express. 24 January 2013. Archived from the original on 7 October 2013.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  10. "St Mirren 3 – 2 Celtic". BBC Sport. 27 January 2013. Archived from the original on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  11. Watson, Alistair (31 March 2013). "Celtic held by St Mirren after contentious penalty". YahooNews. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  12. "St Mirren 2 – 1 Inverness CT". BBC Sport. 30 January 2013. Archived from the original on 14 August 2014. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  13. "St Mirren 2–0 St Johnstone". BBC Sport. 2 February 2013. Archived from the original on 14 April 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  14. "St Mirren 1 – 2 Celtic". BBC Sport. 2 March 2013. Archived from the original on 14 April 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  15. "St Mirren 3 – 2 Hearts". BBC Sport. 17 March 2013. Archived from the original on 31 December 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  16. "Esmael dedicated goal to Fábio Faria" [Esmael dedicou golo a Fábio Faria] (in Portuguese). Record. 18 March 2013. Archived from the original on 15 May 2013. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  17. "St Mirren 1 – 1 Celtic". BBC Sport. 31 March 2013. Archived from the original on 21 August 2013. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  18. "SFA cites St Mirren's Esmael Goncalves for simulation". BBC Sport. 2 April 2013. Archived from the original on 5 April 2013. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  19. "St Mirren's Esmael Goncalves accepts two-match ban". BBC Sport. 4 April 2013. Archived from the original on 7 April 2013. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  20. "Esmael Goncalves happy to return to St Mirren". BBC Sport. 25 April 2013. Archived from the original on 28 April 2013. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  21. "Transfer Talk, June 11: Great expectations and the latest moves". Daily Record. 11 June 2013. Archived from the original on 10 February 2019. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  22. "Esmaël Gonçalves" (in Greek). APOEL FC. 3 July 2013. Archived from the original on 4 December 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  23. "Battling Maribor hold APOEL". UEFA. 31 July 2013. Archived from the original on 3 August 2013. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
  24. "Henrique swoops as Bordeaux snatch late win". UEFA. 24 October 2013. Archived from the original on 15 November 2018. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
  25. "APOEL vs. AE Kouklion 5–0". Soccerway. 2 December 2013. Archived from the original on 10 February 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  26. Ανακοίνωση [Announcement] (in Greek). APOEL FC. 31 December 2013. Archived from the original on 1 January 2014. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
  27. "Ποδοσφαιριστής της ΒΕΡΟΙΑΣ ο ΙSMAEL GONCALVES" [ISMAEL GONCALVES player of VERIA] (in Greek). VERIA FC. 14 January 2014. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  28. "Hearts sign Esmael Goncalves, Alexandros Tziolis and Anastasios Avlonitis". BBC Sport. BBC. 30 January 2017. Archived from the original on 24 October 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
  29. "Isma Goncalves and Hearts benefit from sale to Pakhtakor Tashkent - Craig Levein". BBC. 29 January 2018. Archived from the original on 1 February 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  30. "با اعلام فتحی، اسماعیل گونکالوس به استقلال پیوست" [With Fathi's announcement, Esmaël Gonçalves joined Esteghlal]. Esteghlal F.C. 26 January 2019. Archived from the original on 29 January 2019. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  31. "شماره پیراهن ایسما، نورافکن و پاتوسی بازیکنان جدید استقلال مشخص شد" [The shirt numbers of Isma, Noorafkan and Patosi were revealed] (in Persian). Tarafdari. 7 February 2019. Archived from the original on 9 February 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  32. "پیکان 0 - استقلال 4؛ آماده باش تیم پرستاره به لیگ" [Paykan 0 - Esteghlal 4]. Varzesh3. 7 February 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  33. "ایسما از استقلال جدا شد" [Isma left Esteghlal.]. Esteghlal F.C. 1 June 2019. Archived from the original on 1 June 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  34. "イズマ選手加入のお知らせ" [Notice of joined Isma]. Matsumoto Yamaga FC. 9 September 2019. Archived from the original on 29 September 2019. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  35. "2019 明治安田生命 J1リーグ第32節 vs 横浜Ｆ・マリノス戦の結果". Yamaga FC. 23 November 2019. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  36. "Portuguese forward Isma joins Chennaiyin FC". Chennaiyin FC. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  37. "ISL 2020-21: Anirudh Thapa, Esmael Goncalves star in Chennaiyin FC's 2-1 win over Jamshedpur FC". firstpost.com. 24 November 2020. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  38. Black, Dave (31 May 2022). "Welcome, Esmaël Gonçalves!". Livingston FC. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  39. Cairns, Craig (11 February 2023). "Ian Murray: Isma Goncalves has already 'paid back his debt' to Raith Rovers". The Courier. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  40. "Guinée-Bissau / Esmaël Gonçalves : " À la hauteur "" (in French). Football 365. 23 March 2018. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  41. "ESMAËL GONÇALVES - Career statistics - Soccerway". Archived from the original on 26 January 2019. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
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