Afonso Sousa

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is De Pinho and the second or paternal family name is Sousa.
Afonso Sousa
Sousa with Lech Poznań in 2022
Personal information
Full name Afonso Gamelas de Pinho Sousa[1]
Date of birth (2000-05-03) 3 May 2000 (age 24)[1]
Place of birth Aveiro, Portugal[1]
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Position(s) Central midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Lech Poznań
Number 7
Youth career
2008–2009 Beira-Mar
2009–2010 Porto
2010–2012 Beira-Mar
2012–2013 Gafanha
2013–2019 Porto
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2019–2020 Porto B 21 (6)
2020–2022 B-SAD 62 (3)
2022– Lech Poznań 60 (10)
2022 Lech Poznań II 1 (0)
International career
2015 Portugal U15 2 (0)
2016 Portugal U16 10 (2)
2016–2017 Portugal U17 15 (0)
2018 Portugal U18 2 (0)
2018–2019 Portugal U19 3 (0)
2019 Portugal U20 4 (0)
2021–2023 Portugal U21 13 (3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:45, 9 December 2024 (UTC)

Afonso Gamelas de Pinho Sousa (born 3 May 2000) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays for Ekstraklasa club Lech Poznań as a central midfielder.

Club career

Porto

Born in Aveiro, Sousa returned to FC Porto's youth academy at the age of 13, after a first spell in 2009.[2] He made his senior debut with the reserve team in the LigaPro on 25 August 2019, playing the entire 3–1 away win against S.C. Farense and scoring in the match.[3]

Sousa was part of the squad that won the 2018–19 UEFA Youth League, notably netting in the 3–1 victory over Chelsea in the final.[4]

B-SAD

On 9 September 2020, Sousa signed a four-year contract with Primeira Liga club B-SAD, with Porto retaining 50% of the player's rights.[5][6] He played his first game in the competition nine days later, coming on as a 67th-minute substitute for Silvestre Varela in the 1–0 away defeat of Vitória de Guimarães.[7][8] He scored his first goal on 6 December, just before half-time in a 2–1 home win over S.C. Braga.[9]

Lech Poznań

On 30 June 2022, Sousa moved to defending Polish Ekstraklasa champions Lech Poznań on a four-year deal, for a fee reported around €1,200,000.[10][11] He made his competitive debut on 9 July, coming on as a substitute in a 2–0 Polish Super Cup loss to Raków Częstochowa.[12]

International career

Sousa earned 42 caps for Portugal across all youth levels, starting with the under-15 team in 2015. His first appearance for the under-21s came on 7 October 2021 in an 11–0 home rout of Liechtenstein in 2023 UEFA European Championship qualification.[13] He scored his first goal the following 24 September, closing the 4–1 friendly win over Georgia.[14]

Personal life

Both Sousa's father, Ricardo, and grandfather António, played as midfielders and later worked as managers.[15][16]

Career statistics

As of match played 6 December 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup[b] Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Porto B 2019–20[17] LigaPro 21 6 — — — — 21 6
B-SAD 2020–21[17] Primeira Liga 32 2 3 0 0 0 — — 35 2
2021–22[17] Primeira Liga 30 1 3 2 1 0 — — 34 3
Total 62 3 6 2 1 0 — — 69 5
Lech Poznań 2022–23[17] Ekstraklasa 24 4 1 1 — 8[c] 2 1[d] 0 34 7
2023–24[17] Ekstraklasa 18 0 1 0 — 4[c] 0 — 23 0
2024–25[17] Ekstraklasa 18 6 1 0 — — — 19 6
Total 60 10 3 1 — 12 2 1 0 76 13
Lech Poznań II 2022–23[17] II liga 1 0 0 0 — — — 1 0
Career total 144 19 9 3 1 0 12 2 1 0 167 24
  1. ^ Includes Taça de Portugal and Polish Cup
  2. ^ Includes Taça da Liga
  3. ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
  4. ^ Appearance in Polish Super Cup

Honours

Porto

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Afonso Sousa" (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  2. ^ "Afonso Sousa despede-se do FC Porto: "Foram nove anos..."" [Afonso Sousa says goodbye to FC Porto: "It was nine years..."]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 8 September 2020. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  3. ^ "FC Porto B alcança primeira vitória e na casa de um candidato" [FC Porto B get first win and away to a candidate]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 25 August 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  4. ^ a b Almeida, Isaura (29 April 2019). "FC Porto é campeão Europeu Sub-19" [FC Porto are Under-19 European champions]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  5. ^ Morais, André; Gouveia Pereira, Miguel (8 September 2020). "Afonso Sousa deixa o FC Porto, que mantém 50 por cento do passe" [Afonso Sousa leaves FC Porto, who keep 50 per cent of his rights]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  6. ^ "Oficial: Belenenses SAD anuncia Afonso Sousa" [Official: Belenenses SAD announce Afonso Sousa]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 9 September 2020. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  7. ^ "Derrota no arranque da Liga" [Loss to kickstart League] (in Portuguese). Mais Guimarães. 18 September 2020. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  8. ^ ""O Afonso sentiu que no FC Porto não seria aposta"" ["Afonso felt people would not bet on him at FC Porto"]. A Bola (in Portuguese). 20 September 2020. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  9. ^ "Belenenses SAD vence SC Braga e tira minhotos do pódio" [Belenenses SAD beat SC Braga and knock Minho team off podium] (in Portuguese). TSF. 6 December 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  10. ^ Koźmiński, Piotr (29 June 2022). "Ile Lech zapłacił za Afonso Sousę? Znamy ostateczną cenę za Portugalczyka!" [How much did Lech pay for Afonso Sousa? We know the Portuguese's final price!] (in Polish). Sportowe Fakty. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  11. ^ "Afonso Sousa piłkarzem Lecha" [Afonso Sousa a Lech player] (in Polish). Lech Poznań. 30 June 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  12. ^ "Tsitaishvili i Sousa z debiutami" [Debuts for Tsitaishvili and Sousa] (in Polish). Lech Poznań. 9 July 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  13. ^ "Portugal–Liechstenstein, 11–0 Alguém vai esquecer Vizela?" [Portugal–Liechstenstein, 11–0 Is anyone going to forget Vizela?] (in Portuguese). Digital de Vizela. 7 October 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  14. ^ "Portugal goleia Geórgia por 4–1 num encontro particular" [Portugal rout Georgia 4–1 in friendly match]. Record (in Portuguese). 24 September 2022. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  15. ^ Calhau, Pedro (2 October 2015). "Afonso Sousa: filho e neto que já joga em nome próprio aos 15 anos" [Afonso Sousa: son and grandson already plays for himself at 15] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  16. ^ Aleixo, Mário (30 April 2019). "António Sousa antevê futuro brilhante ao neto Afonso" [António Sousa foresees bright future for grandson Afonso] (in Portuguese). Rádio e Televisão de Portugal. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g Afonso Sousa at Soccerway