Aladje

Alberto Aladje Gomes de Pina, known as Aladje, is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward.

Club career

Born in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau to a father of Portuguese descent, Aladje started playing organised football with Calcio Padova in Italy. In summer 2012, he was acquired by Serie A club AC ChievoVerona, but never represented the team officially, first being loaned to FC Aprilia in Lega Pro Seconda Divisione.
On 8 July 2014, already owned by US Sassuolo Calcio, Aladje signed with FC Pro Vercelli 1892 also in a temporary deal. His only appearance as a professional took place on 6 December of that year, when he came on as a 76th-minute substitute in a 0–4 home loss against Delfino Pescara 1936 in the Serie B.
Released by Sassuolo on 30 June 2016 without one single competitive match to his credit, Aladje continued to play in the Italian lower leagues, representing in quick succession FC Ponsacco 1920 SSD, Savona FBC and US Gavorrano. On 20 August 2019, he joined SSD FC Messina of the Serie D; in December, he suffered a knee injury which sidelined him for several months.

Aladje chose to represent Portugal internationally, first being selected to the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey. He started for the national team in the group-stage opener against Nigeria, scoring in a 3–2 win. He added a further two in the next two games, with South Korea and Cuba.
Aladje won his only cap for the under-21 side on 14 August 2013, playing 78 minutes in a 5–2 friendly victory over Switzerland.