Rufino Gama

Rufino Gama
Personal information
Full name Rufino Walter Gama
Date of birth (1998-06-20) 20 June 1998 (age 26)
Place of birth Baucau, East Timor, Indonesia
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
Lalenok United
Number 99
Youth career
–2015 AS Académica
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2017 AS Académica
2017–2018 Cecusan
2018–2019 Karketu Dili 28 (15)
2020– Lalenok United 10 (2)
International career
Timor-Leste U16
2012–2016 Timor-Leste U20 12 (4)
2015–2019 Timor-Leste U23 16 (2)
2016–2021 Timor-Leste 22 (7)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 24 December 2022

Rufino Walter Gama (born 20 June 1998)[1] is a Timorese professional footballer and top scorer of the national team, the current record scorer for the Timor-Leste national football team with 7 goals. He played for Karketu Dili FC since 2018. He came to Lalenok United in January 2020, to strengthen the Club in the AFC Cup 2020 Playoff match against PSM Makassar.

International career

Gama made his international debut as an 81st-minute substitute against Malaysia.[2] He scored his first international goal for Timor Leste in the game against Chinese Taipei which ended with a 1–2 defeat.[3]

In September 2018, he was selected for the two-legged 2018 AFF Suzuki Cup qualifying matches against Brunei.[4] He started both games as Timor-Leste win to advance to the competition proper, win 3–2 on aggregate.[5]

The following year, Gama was selected for the 23 squad man for two-legged 2022 World Cup qualification in June. He started in both games and scored one goal in the second leg at home for a 1–5 loss over Malaysia.[6]

Career statistics

International

As of matches played 16 July 2022.
National team Year Apps Goals
Timor-Leste 2016 6 2
2017 3 1
2018 7 3
2019 2 1
2020 0 0
2021 3 0
2022 1 0
Total 22 7

International goals

Scores and results list East Timor's goal tally first.[1]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 8 October 2016 National Stadium, Kaohsiung, Taiwan  Chinese Taipei 1–0 1–2 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification
2. 15 October 2016 Olympic Stadium, Phnom Penh, Cambodia  Brunei 1–0 1–2 2016 AFF Championship qualification
3. 4 December 2017 Taipei Municipal Stadium, Taipei, Taiwan  Chinese Taipei 1–1 1–3 2017 CTFA International Tournament
4. 12 October 2018 Olympic Stadium, Phnom Penh, Cambodia  Cambodia 2–1 2–2 Friendly
5. 13 November 2018 Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Jakarta, Indonesia  Indonesia 1–0 1–3 2018 AFF Championship
6. 21 November 2018 National Stadium, Kallang, Singapore  Singapore 1–1 1–6
7. 11 June 2019 Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  Malaysia 1–5 1–5 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Karketu Dili

Lalenok United

References

  1. ^ a b Rufino Gama at National-Football-Teams.com
  2. ^ Rufino Gama at Soccerway
  3. ^ "the-afc.com".
  4. ^ "Minister urges national team to make impact at AFF Suzuki Cup qualifier". Borneo Bulletin. 30 August 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  5. ^ "Brunei win 1-0 against Timor Leste but miss out on AFF final round". Borneo Bulletin. 9 September 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  6. ^ Devinder Singh (22 March 2018). "Search for win continues". nst.com.my. Retrieved 3 January 2019.