Héldon Ramos

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Almeida and the second or paternal family name is Ramos.

Héldon Augusto Almeida Ramos (born 14 November 1988), known simply as Héldon and sometimes nicknamed Nhuck (pronounced [ɲuk]),^[2] is a Cape Verdean professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder.

Héldon

Héldon in 2015
Personal information
Full name	Héldon Augusto Almeida Ramos[1]
Date of birth	(1988-11-14) 14 November 1988 (age 35)[1]
Place of birth	Sal, Cape Verde[1]
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 8+1⁄2 in)[1]
Position(s)	Attacking midfielder
Youth career
2005–2006	Batuque
2006–2007	Académica
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2007–2008	Caniçal	21	(0)
2008–2010	Fátima	47	(11)
2010–2014	Marítimo	82	(15)
2010–2011	Marítimo B	9	(4)
2014–2018	Sporting CP	12	(1)
2015	→ Córdoba (loan)	14	(0)
2015–2017	→ Rio Ave (loan)	51	(4)
2017–2018	→ Vitória Guimarães (loan)	29	(5)
2018–2020	Al Taawoun	52	(17)
2020–2021	Shabab Al Ahli	10	(0)
2021–2022	Al-Orobah	15	(2)
International career
2008–2019	Cape Verde	52	(15)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14:44, 1 July 2022 (UTC)

He spent most of his career in Portugal, primarily in representation of Marítimo, and joined Sporting CP in 2014. In the Primeira Liga, he also appeared for Rio Ave and Vitória de Guimarães, for a total of 174 games and 25 goals.

A full international since 2008, Héldon played for Cape Verde at two Africa Cup of Nations tournaments.

Club career

Early years and Marítimo

Born in Sal, Héldon made his professional debut in 2007 with C.F. Caniçal, in the Portuguese third division. He moved to C.D. Fátima in the following year, helping them win promotion to the second tier.

In August of the following year, Héldon signed with C.S. Marítimo of the Primeira Liga. On 26 November 2011, he scored his second official goal for the Madeira club – first in the league – a last-minute penalty in a derby against C.D. Nacional (2–2 away draw, his team played the entire second half with ten players).^[3]

On 8 December 2013, against the same opponent but in a home fixture, Héldon scored twice for the same result, as Nacional in turn played nearly 30 minutes with one man less.^[4]

Sporting CP

On 31 January 2014, Héldon joined fellow league side Sporting CP in a €1.5 million deal.^[5] He made his debut on 11 February, featuring the full 90 minutes in a 2–0 derby loss at S.L. Benfica.^[6] He scored his tenth goal of the season and first for his new team on 12 April, when he came on as a substitute for Diego Capel with two minutes remaining and confirmed a 2–0 win over Gil Vicente F.C. at the Estádio José Alvalade.^[7]

Héldon signed with Córdoba CF on 28 January 2015, on loan until the end of the campaign.^[8] He made his La Liga debut three days later, starting and being booked in a 1–0 away defeat against RC Celta de Vigo.^[9] He failed to find the net during his spell with the Andalusians, who suffered relegation.^{[citation needed]}

On 8 August 2015, Héldon was loaned to Rio Ave F.C. for the upcoming top-flight season.^[10] He attained his first goals for the Vila do Conde-based side on 19 September, a first-half brace in a 3–0 victory at F.C. Paços de Ferreira.^[11]

Héldon spent the following two years still on loan, at Rio Ave^[12] and Vitória de Guimarães.^[13] He scored his first goal for the latter on 24 September 2017, netting in the last minutes of a 2–1 home win against former club Marítimo.^[14]

Middle East

On 2 July 2018, Héldon joined Al Taawoun FC on a two-year contract.^[15] He scored 11 competitive goals in his debut campaign in the Saudi Professional League,^[16] also winning the Kings Cup.^[17]

Héldon agreed to a one-year deal at Shabab Al Ahli Club of the UAE Pro League on 26 September 2020.^[18] The following 12 July he moved back to Saudi Arabia to join Al-Orobah FC of the First Division League on a two-year contract,^[19] leaving on 1 February 2022 by mutual consent.^[20]

International career

Héldon made his international debut for Cape Verde on 11 October 2008, replacing Ronny Souto during half-time of a 1–3 away loss against Tanzania for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. He scored his first goal in his next game, opening a 2–0 friendly win in Malta on 4 September 2009.^[21] He was the country's top scorer during the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign,^[22] recording two goals in a 4–2 victory over Liberia on 26 March 2011.^[23]

Héldon was named to the squad that participated in the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations held in South Africa,^[24] and featured in every game as the nation reached the quarter-finals. In their final group against Angola, he came on as a 46th-minute substitute and scored a last-minute winner, making it 2–1 and causing his team to advance.^[25] He was also selected for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations,^[26] where he won and converted a penalty to equalise in a 1–1 draw against Tunisia in the team's opening game.^[27]

Héldon was also a gold medallist with the under-20 team at the 2009 Lusofonia Games in Portugal.^[28] He scored five goals in the tournament, including a hat-trick in a 7–1 win over India.^[29]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 21 April 2018^[30]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Caniçal	2007–08	Segunda Divisão	21	0	0	0	—		—		21	0
Fátima	2008–09	Segunda Divisão	30	10	3	1	—		—		33	11
	2009–10	Liga de Honra	17	1	2	2	3	1	—		22	4
	Total		47	11	5	3	3	1	—		55	15
Marítimo	2010–11	Primeira Liga	15	0	1	1	3	0	0	0	19	1
	2011–12	Primeira Liga	29	4	3	0	4	0	—		36	4
	2012–13	Primeira Liga	22	2	0	0	2	1	9	2	33	5
	2013–14	Primeira Liga	16	9	2	2	2	0	—		20	11
	Total		82	15	6	3	11	1	9	2	108	21
Marítimo B	2010–11	Segunda Divisão	9	4	—		—		—		9	4
Sporting CP	2013–14	Primeira Liga	10	1	0	0	0	0	—		10	1
	2014–15	Primeira Liga	2	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	4	1
	Total		12	1	1	0	1	1	0	0	14	2
Córdoba (loan)	2014–15	La Liga	14	0	0	0	—		—		14	0
Rio Ave (loan)	2015–16	Primeira Liga	24	4	3	1	0	0	—		27	5
	2016–17	Primeira Liga	27	0	1	1	3	1	2	0	33	2
	Total		51	4	4	2	3	1	2	0	60	7
Vitória Guimarães (loan)	2017–18	Primeira Liga	26	5	2	1	0	0	6	0	34	6
Career total			262	40	17	8	18	4	17	2	314	54

International

As of 17 November 2015^[31]

Scores and results list Cape Verde's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Héldon goal.

List of international goals scored by Héldon Ramos

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	3 September 2009	National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta	Malta	1–0	2–0	Friendly
2	9 February 2011	Municipal, Óbidos, Portugal	Burkina Faso	1–0	1–0	Friendly
3	26 March 2011	Estádio da Várzea, Praia, Cape Verde	Liberia	1–0	4–2	2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
4				3–1
5	14 October 2012	Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé, Cameroon	Cameroon	1–0	1–2	2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
6	27 January 2013	Nelson Mandela Bay, Port Elizabeth, South Africa	Angola	2–1	2–1	2013 Africa Cup of Nations
7	15 June 2013	Estádio da Várzea, Praia, Cape Verde	Sierra Leone	1–0	1–0	2014 World Cup qualification
8	14 August 2013	Estádio do Real SC, Queluz, Portugal	Gabon	1–0	1–1	Friendly
9	15 October 2014	Estádio Nacional, Praia, Cape Verde	Mozambique	1–0	1–0	2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
10	14 November 2014	Estádio Nacional, Praia, Cape Verde	Niger	2–1	3–1	2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
11	7 January 2015	Estádio do Bravo, Seixal, Portugal	Equatorial Guinea	1–0	1–1	Friendly
12	10 January 2015	Léopold Sédar Senghor, Dakar, Senegal	Congo	2–2	3–2	Friendly
13	18 January 2015	Estadio de Ebibeyin, Ebibeyin, Equatorial Guinea	Tunisia	1–1	1–1	2015 Africa Cup of Nations
14	17 November 2015	Estádio Nacional, Praia, Cape Verde	Kenya	1–0	2–0	2018 World Cup qualification
15				2–0

Honours

Al Taawoun

• King Cup: 2019^[32]

Shabab Al Ahli

• UAE League Cup: 2020–21^[30]

References

1. "Héldon" (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
2. "Cabo-verdiano Heldon Ramos recebe Medalha de Mérito Desportivo" [Cape Verde's Heldon Ramos awarded Medal of Sports Merit]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 19 November 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
3. Tulha, Ana (26 November 2011). "Marítimo marcou primeiro na Choupana, mas só garantiu o empate no tempo de compensação" [Marítimo scored first at the Choupana, but only confirmed draw in injury time]. Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 31 August 2017.
4. Fernandes, Nuno (8 December 2013). "Marítimo e Nacional empatam no dérbi madeirense" [Marítimo and Nacional draw in Madeira derby]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
5. "Heldon at Sporting". Sporting CP. 31 January 2014. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
6. "Primeira Liga: Benfica 2 Sporting Lisbon 0". FourFourTwo. 11 February 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
7. "Sporting 2–0 Gil Vicente" (in Portuguese). Rádio e Televisão de Portugal. 12 April 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
8. "El caboverdiano Heldón Ramos, nuevo jugador del Córdoba CF" [Cape Verdean Heldón Ramos, new player of Córdoba CF] (in Spanish). Córdoba CF. 28 January 2015. Archived from the original on 29 January 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
9. Melero, Delfín (1 February 2015). "El mejor Celta vuelve con polémica" [The best Celta return with controversy]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 February 2015.
10. "Cabo-verdiano Heldon a caminho do Rio Ave" [Cape Verdean Héldon on the way to Rio Ave] (in Portuguese). SAPO. 8 August 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
11. "Rio Ave arrasa em Paços de Ferreira e sobe a quinto" [Rio Ave crush Paços de Ferreira and rise to fifth] (in Portuguese). SAPO. 19 September 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
12. "Sporting confirma empréstimo de Heldon ao Rio Ave" [Sporting confirm Heldon loan to Rio Ave] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 14 July 2016. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
13. "Sporting anuncia empréstimos de Héldon e Slavchev e venda de Sambinha" [Sporting announce loans of Héldon and Slavchev and sale of Sambinha]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). 31 August 2017. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
14. "V. Guimarães impede Marítimo de voltar ao terceiro lugar" [V. Guimarães prevent Marítimo from regaining third place]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). 24 September 2017. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
15. "هيلدون أوجستو تعاوني لمدة موسمين" [Two-season contract for Héldon Augusto] (in Arabic). Almowaten. 2 July 2018. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
16. "Héldon renova com o Al Taawoun até 2021" [Héldon renews with Al Taawoun until 2021] (in Portuguese). Notícias do Norte. 13 May 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
17. "Heldon Ramos vence Taça do Rei na Arabia Saudita" [Heldon Ramos wins Kings Cup in Saudi Arabia] (in Portuguese). Cape Verdean Football Federation. 16 May 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
18. "شباب الأهلي الإماراتي يتعاقد مع هيلدون راموس لتعويض غياب البرازيلي ليوناردو" [Shabab Al Ahli sign Héldon Ramos to make up for departure of Brazilian Leonardo] (in Arabic). Nabd. 26 September 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
19. "العروبة يضم 3 لاعبين" [Orobah bring in 3 players]. Arriyadiyah (in Arabic). 12 July 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
20. "هيلدون راموس يودّع العروبة" (in Arabic). Twitter. 1 February 2022. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
21. Azzopardi, Kevin (4 September 2009). "Updated: Low-key Malta lose 2–0 to Cape Verde". Times of Malta. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
22. "Historic high for Cape Verde Islands". FIFA. 17 November 2011. Archived from the original on 20 November 2011. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
23. "Cape Verde beats Liberia 4–2". A Semana. 27 March 2011. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
24. "Nations Cup 2013: Cape Verde name squad". BBC Sport. 18 December 2012. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
25. Fottrell, Stephen (27 January 2013). "Cape Verde 2–1 Angola". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
26. "Nations Cup 2015: Cape Verde name final squad". BBC Sport. 24 December 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
27. "Tunisia 1–1 Cape Verde". BBC Sport. 18 January 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
28. "Cabo Verde conquistou a sua primeira medalha de ouro" [Cape Verde won their first gold medal] (in Portuguese). Rádio e Televisão de Portugal. 19 July 2009. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
29. "Cabo Verde goleia Índia no futebol e segue arrasador no Jogos da Lusofonia" [Cape Verde thrash India in football and carry on crushing in the Lusofonia Games]. A Semana (in Portuguese). 13 July 2009. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
30. Héldon Ramos at Soccerway
31. "Héldon – Matches". Soccerway. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
32. "التعاون يكتب التاريخ.. ويتوج بطلاً لكأس الملك" [Al-Taawon write history and are crowned King's Cup champions] (in Arabic). Sabq. 15 May 2019. Retrieved 5 December 2021.

External links

• Héldon Ramos at ForaDeJogo (archived)
• Héldon Ramos at National-Football-Teams.com
• Héldon Ramos – FIFA competition record (archived)