Romário Baldé (born 25 December 1996) is a Bissau-Guinean professional footballer who plays for Chinese Super League club Wuhan Three Towns as a winger. A former youth international for Portugal, he played for the Guinea-Bissau national team.

Romário Baldé
Personal information
Date of birth (1996-12-25) 25 December 1996 (age 27)
Place of birth Bissau, Guinea-Bissau
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Winger
Team information
Current team
Wuhan Three Towns
Number 11
Youth career
2006–2008 Estrela da Amadora
2008–2015 Benfica
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2017 Benfica B 30 (1)
2015–2016Tondela (loan) 24 (2)
2017–2019 Lechia Gdańsk 10 (1)
2018–2019Académica (loan) 30 (2)
2019–2020 Gil Vicente 7 (0)
2020–2021Leixões (loan) 4 (0)
2021–2022 Doxa Katokopias 12 (1)
2022 AEL Limassol 12 (1)
2022–2023 Ratchaburi 5 (0)
2023 Nantong Zhiyun 29 (5)
2024– Wuhan Three Towns 10 (2)
International career
2011 Portugal U16 9 (1)
2011–2013 Portugal U17 19 (0)
2014 Portugal U18 5 (1)
2014–2015 Portugal U19 10 (5)
2015 Portugal U20 7 (2)
2019 Guinea-Bissau 1 (0)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Portugal
UEFA European Under-19 Championship
Runner-up 2014 Hungary
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:32, 23 July 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18:18, 19 February 2024 (UTC)

Club career

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Born in Bissau, Baldé arrived in the youth ranks of Benfica at age 12, from local Estrela da Amadora.

He represented the club on the debut season of UEFA Youth League, helping them progress all the way through the final, lost to Barcelona.[1] The following season, the 17–year old made his professional debut for Benfica B in a 2014–15 Segunda Liga match against C.D. Trofense on 9 August 2014.[2] He also represented Benfica again in the UEFA Youth League, reaching the quarter-finals against FC Shakhtar Donetsk, where he missed a penalty, attempted in panenka style, that would have given his team the lead. They were later eliminated in the penalty shootout.[3]

In May 2015, Baldé announced that he would be leaving the club, after he could not agree on a new contract with Benfica.[4] However, two months later, he back-tracked on that decision and signed a five-year extension with Benfica, being immediately loaned to Primeira Liga side Tondela for one season.[5][6] He made his debut for Tondela in the 1–0 loss against Vitória de Guimarães on 13 September,[7] and scored his first goal three weeks later in a 1–1 draw with Moreirense.[8] Being regularly used throughout the season, he finished the campaign with 25 appearances and two goals.[9]

In the following season, Baldé was not loaned out and remained at Benfica B,[10] appearing in 21 games and scoring once.[9] On 25 August 2017, Baldé moved on a permanent deal to Polish club, Lechia Gdańsk, signing a three-year contract.[11] On 31 August, he moved to Académica de Coimbra on a one-year loan with an option to sign permanently.[12]

In March 2023, Baldé joined Chinese Super League club Nantong Zhiyun.[13]

On 24 February 2024, Baldé signed with fellow Chinese Super League club Wuhan Three Towns.[14]

International career

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Baldé represented Portugal at the 2014 UEFA European Under-19 Championship, scoring one goal.[15] He captained the Portugal U20s for the 2016 Toulon Tournament.[16]

Baldé made his Guinea-Bissau national team debut on 8 June 2019 in a friendly against Angola, as a half-time substitute for Jorginho.[17]

Career statistics

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As of 2 November 2024.[18]
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Benfica B 2014–15 LigaPro 9 0 9 0
2016–17 21 1 21 1
Total 30 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 30 1
Tondela (loan) 2015–16 Primeira Liga 24 2 1 0 1 0 26 2
Lechia Gdańsk 2017–18 Ekstraklasa 10 1 0 0 10 1
Académica (loan) 2018–19 LigaPro 30 2 1 0 31 2
Gil Vicente 2019–20 Primeira Liga 7 0 0 0 3 0 10 0
Leixões (loan) 2019–20 LigaPro 4 0 4 0
Doxa Katokopias 2021–22 Cypriot First Division 12 1 1 1 13 2
AEL Limassol 12 0 1 0 13 0
Ratchaburi 2022–23 Thai League 1 5 0 1 0 0 0 7 0
Nantong Zhiyun 2023 Chinese Super League 29 5 2 0 31 5
Wuhan Three Towns 2024 Chinese Super League 19 2 1 0 20 2
Career total 182 14 8 1 4 0 0 0 194 14

Honours

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Benfica

References

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  1. ^ a b "'Proud' Benfica hold heads high after final defeat". UEFA. 14 April 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  2. ^ "SL Benfica B – Trofense, 3-2: Águias vencem no Seixal ao intervalo" [SL Benfica B – Trofense, 3-2: Eagles win in Seixal at break] (in Portuguese). SL Benfica. 9 August 2014. Archived from the original on 11 August 2014. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  3. ^ "Benfica's Romário Baldé heartbroken after embarrassing Panenka penalty miss". The Guardian. 18 March 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  4. ^ "Romário Baldé: Espero um dia regressar ao Benfica" [Romário Baldé: I hope to return at Benfica one day]. Record (in Portuguese). 16 May 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  5. ^ "Romário Baldé emprestado ao Tondela" [Romário Baldé on loan to Tondela] (in Portuguese). S.L. Benfica. 31 July 2015. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  6. ^ "Benfica: Romário Baldé fica e renova contrato" [Benfica: Romário Baldé stays and signs new contract]. Mais Futebol (in Portuguese). 28 July 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  7. ^ "Agressividade blindou a baliza" [Aggressiveness blocked the goalposts]. Record (in Portuguese). 16 September 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  8. ^ "Tondela-Moreirense, 1-1: A aflição dos dois não deu para mais" [Tondela-Moreirense, 1-1: The desperation of both teams did not help]. Record (in Portuguese). 3 October 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  9. ^ a b "Romário Baldé". Soccerway.com. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  10. ^ "Benfica inscreve três fora das contas" [Benfica registers three leftovers]. Record (in Portuguese). 1 September 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  11. ^ "Romario Balde w Lechii Gdańsk" [Romário Balde in Lechia Gdansk]. Lechia Gdańsk Official website (in Polish). 25 August 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  12. ^ "Romário Baldé é reforço da Académica" [Romário Baldé strengthens Académica] (in Portuguese). Académica. 31 August 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  13. ^ "南通支云官方:几内亚比绍国脚前锋巴尔德正式加盟球队" (in Chinese). Dongqiudi. 6 March 2023. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  14. ^ "武汉三镇官方:佩德罗-恩里克、刘若钒等9名新援加盟球队" (in Chinese). dongqiudi. 24 February 2024. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  15. ^ "Sub-19: Eleitos para o Europeu" [Under-19: Elected to the European] (in Portuguese). FPF. 23 June 2014. Archived from the original on 25 July 2014. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  16. ^ "La fiche de match Anglaterre Portugal". Festival International Espoirs Toulon – Var – Provence (in French). 19 May 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  17. ^ "Angola v Guinea-Bissau game report". National Football Teams. 8 June 2019.
  18. ^ Romário Baldé at Soccerway. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
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