The 23-year-old goalkeeper has trained at Sporting CP’s academy, studied to become an electrician, played in Belgium’s amateur divisions and worked alongside Cape Verde’s long-serving number one Vozinha. After spells in Spain and Italy, he has now arrived in Kyrgyzstan in search of something that has repeatedly eluded him: regular senior football.
Gomes joined Abdysh-Ata on a free transfer from Italian Serie D side Paternò. According to Africa Soccer, his contract runs until the end of 2026.
The 194-centimetre goalkeeper has already made his debut for the Kant club, starting in a 1–1 draw against Asia on 26 July.
For Gomes, the move is another attempt to turn an impressive football education into a stable professional career. For Abdysh-Ata, it is part of an urgent rebuild after one of the worst starts in the recent history of Kyrgyzstan’s former dominant club.
Sporting and a dream cut short
Gomes was born in Cape Verde on 14 August 2002 but grew up in Belgium, where he began his football development.
After spending time with Berchem Sport, he was invited to join Sporting CP’s academy in 2019. He was only 16.
Moving to Alcochete placed him inside one of Europe’s most respected youth systems. Gomes spent two years with Sporting, but his hopes of earning a professional contract were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and, according to the player, financial difficulties at the Portuguese club.
The main passage from his interview with Belgian newspaper Nieuwsblad was later reproduced by Portuguese outlet Leonino.
“I wanted to build my career at Sporting, but that dream was cancelled,” Gomes said.
“As a young player, I was integrated into the team. Then COVID-19 came and turned everything upside down. My goal was to sign a professional contract, but there were financial problems and, because of that, I had to leave Portugal and return to Belgium.”
Back home, Gomes entered the OH Leuven system and played for the club’s reserve side. He did not break into the senior team, however, and by late 2022 his career had taken him to KAC Betekom, a club competing at the fifth level of Belgian football.
An electrician in amateur football
At Betekom, Gomes could not depend on football for a living. He was studying to become an electrician while continuing to pursue a professional career.
“My big goal is still to become a professional,” he told HLN.
His opportunity arrived unexpectedly.
Three goalkeepers ahead of him were unavailable for a league match, leaving Betekom with little choice but to start Gomes. He kept a clean sheet and helped the club secure its first victory of the season.
What initially appeared to be an emergency appearance became a turning point. Gomes kept his place, impressed during the second half of the campaign and attracted the attention of Union Saint-Gilloise.
The move was remarkable. A goalkeeper playing in Belgium’s fifth tier had earned a place in the structure of one of the country’s leading clubs.
Gomes joined Union’s U23 side in the summer of 2023. He did not make an official appearance for the first team, but the transfer restored momentum to a career that had appeared to be drifting away from the professional game.
He later played for Crossing Schaerbeek before moving to Spain in January 2025. His signing for Villena CF.
A spell with Paternò in Italy’s fourth tier followed.
Gomes therefore arrives in Kyrgyzstan without an established record at senior professional level. Yet his background is unusual for a player joining the Kyrgyz Premier League: Sporting’s academy, OH Leuven, Union Saint-Gilloise’s development structure and senior national-team camps with Cape Verde.
Training alongside Vozinha
Gomes represented Cape Verde at U20 level before receiving his first call-up to the senior national team in the summer of 2023.
He was selected for matches against Morocco and Burkina Faso in a squad that also included goalkeepers Vozinha, Márcio Rosa and Keven Ramos.
Gomes was called up again in 2024 and trained alongside Vozinha and former Benfica goalkeeper Bruno Varela during preparations for World Cup qualifiers. He was among the substitutes for the match against Cameroon but did not play.
He has yet to make his official senior international debut.
His inclusion in several squads nevertheless showed that Cape Verde’s coaching staff were following his development. It also gave him the opportunity to work alongside Vozinha, the country’s long-established first-choice goalkeeper and one of the leaders of the national team.
Gomes was not selected for the World Cup, where Cape Verde chose Vozinha, Carlos “CJ” dos Santos and Márcio Rosa as their three goalkeepers.
Head coach Bubista did not publicly explain Gomes’ omission, but the decision was not difficult to understand.
Vozinha was the undisputed number one. Dos Santos was playing in Major League Soccer, while Rosa had a more established position within the national-team set-up.
Gomes, meanwhile, had never played a senior international match and was competing in the lower divisions of Spain and Italy.
His call-ups suggested potential. His club career did not yet provide enough evidence to justify a place at the World Cup.
Abdysh-Ata’s failed rebuild
Gomes arrives at a club in crisis.
Abdysh-Ata won three consecutive Kyrgyz Premier League titles between 2022 and 2024 before finishing third in 2025. The club subsequently reduced expenditure and attempted to rebuild around a younger squad.
Most of the leading foreign players left.
FIFA-licensed agent Amil Šukalo told Eurasia Football that Manzzi Williams was the only one of his clients to remain in Kant.
Riquelme moved to Indonesia, Barreto continued his career in Thailand, Karić and Kamolov went to Kosovo, Sanneh signed for Bars, Talović returned to Montenegro and Kdouh moved to Lebanon.
According to Šukalo, Abdysh-Ata wanted a younger squad operating on a “more rational budget”.
The results were disastrous.
The club lost its first four league matches. After 16 games, the recent three-time champions were 15th in the table with two victories, three draws and 11 defeats. They had collected only nine points, scoring 13 goals and conceding 28.
The poor start also led to changes in the dugout.
Valery Berezovsky left after the opening run of defeats. Vladimir Kasyan took temporary charge before the club brought back Ceylan Arıkan, the Turkish-Dutch coach who had led Abdysh-Ata to their first league title in 2022.
The club’s summer recruitment suggests that it has already revised its youth-first approach.
Alongside Gomes, Abdysh-Ata signed Zambian forward Enock Sakala Junior from UAE side Gulf United and brought Kyrgyzstan international Adilet Kanybekov back from Malaysia.
A debut and a genuine opportunity
Gomes and Sakala both made their debuts against Asia on 26 July.
Gomes started in goal and was beaten by Nikolay Agapov in the first half. Sakala equalised after the break, ensuring that both new signings played a direct role in Abdysh-Ata’s 1–1 draw.
The result did little to transform the club’s position, but the appearance was significant for Gomes.
After years spent moving between academies, reserve sides and lower-division clubs, he finally has a realistic opportunity to establish himself as the first-choice goalkeeper of a professional team.
He does not arrive in Kyrgyzstan as a star. Nor does he arrive as a senior Cape Verde international or a proven top-level goalkeeper.
What he brings is an unusual education, imposing physical attributes and experience of training in environments far stronger than those in which most of his senior matches have been played.
The next stage of his career will depend on whether he can convert that background into consistent performances.
At Sporting, the professional contract never came. At OH Leuven and Union Saint-Gilloise, the first team remained out of reach. His moves to Spain and Italy did not produce a breakthrough either.
Abdysh-Ata may now offer the opportunity he has been searching for since returning from Portugal: regular football, responsibility and the chance to be judged not by the academies he once represented, but by what he does as a senior goalkeeper.
For a club trying to recover from a failed rebuild, Gomes is a gamble.
For the player, it may be the most important opportunity of his career.