João Tomás

Club career Born in Oliveira do Bairro, Aveiro District, 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), he netted seven times in La Liga 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 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 Primeira Liga. In 2007–08, however, he was very rarely used, due to injuries and the emergence of Austrian Roland Linz, 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. In the first year in his second spell in Vila do Conde he finished second in the scorers chart, only trailing FC Porto's Hulk.

Tomás moved abroad again in January 2013, signing for C.R.D. Libolo in the Angolan Girabola; Shortly before that, his hat-trick helped the visitors to defeat Vitória de Setúbal 5–3, and he reached 101 goals in the Portuguese top tier in the process.

International career Tomás earned four caps for Portugal.

On 22 May 2007, after a -year absence, Tomás was recalled to the national team by Luiz Felipe Scolari, playing against a Kuwaiti club on 5 June in Kuwait City and scoring in the 1–1 draw.

Career statistics