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Player profile: Joao Tomas

Full name: Joao Henrique Pataco Tomas

Position: Forward

Date of Birth: 27 May 1975

Birthplace: Oliveira do Bairro, Portugal

Joao Tomas has been one of Portugal’s most consistent strikers over the past decade. His ability to hit the net on a regular basis for a host of clubs has led many, including a certain Jose Mourinho, to argue that the big striker is deserving of more regular call-ups to the Portugal national team.

Unlike the archetypal Portuguese striker, who tends to rely more on a combination of sleight and skill than brute force, Tomas is a big strong target man with an excellent physical presence. Dangerous in the air, he is no mug on the ground either and his eye for an opportunity has seen him attain the highly respectable strike rate of 4 goals every 10 matches throughout his career.

The young Tomas rose to prominence playing for Academica de Coimbra. An impressive return of 17 goals in 19 matches in the 1999/2000 season earned the striker his big chance as Benfica paid the modest fee of 200,000 euros to secure his services.

Putting Hooijdonk in his place

Despite constant swapping of coaches during a turbulent period for the Lisbon giants, Tomas made his mark in two and a half years at the club, especially in the 2000/01 season when he notched 17 goals in 31 matches and even relegated Dutch international Pierre Van Hooijdonk to the bench for a period of time. During this period Tomas earned his first Portugal cap playing in the 2-1 win over Israel in a friendly match in November 2000.

Tomas was then surprisingly sold to Betis of Seville as Benfica’s chronic financial problems saw the club cash in on an offer of 4m euros for the forward. Things did not work out in La Liga and two years later he was back in Portugal playing for Vitoria Guimaraes.

However, it would be the following season, now at Braga, that Tomas bounced back to his best form. Fifteen goals in 29 matches in 2004/05 was followed up by an identical haul the next season. The striker had now gained a growing legion of admirers who believed he should be included in the Portugal squad for the 2006 Germany World Cup. Unfortunately for the striker, Luiz Filipe Scolari was not one of them.

Portugal recall

Disillusioned and perplexed at his lack of opportunity at international level, Tomas decided to leave for the Middle East. Ironically, a successful spell at two clubs in Qatar then earned Tomas a recall to the national team six years after his last appearance.

On 5 June 2007 he played in the 1-1 draw with Kuwait, scoring the Portuguese goal, after which he commented: “I hope to have convinced the coach I’m an alternative for the next matches.”

Tomas then returned to an increasingly ambitious Braga side where he will be aiming to keep the goals flowing in order to secure a place in Portugal’s 2008 European Championship squad.

by Tom Kundert (10/08/2007)

CLUB APPEARANCES* GOALS Academica 81 28 Benfica 41 19 Betis 31 7 Guimaraes 20 3 Braga 59 30 Al-Arabi 19 12 Al-Rayyan 7 4       PORTUGAL 4 1