João Mário (footballer, born October 1993)

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Nunes and the second or paternal family name is Fernandes.

João Mário Nunes Fernandes (born 11 October 1993) is a Bissau-Guinean professional footballer who plays as a forward for Cypriot Second Division club Olympiakos Nicosia.

João Mário

Personal information
Full name	João Mário Nunes Fernandes[1]
Date of birth	(1993-10-11) 11 October 1993 (age 31)[1]
Place of birth	Bissau, Guinea-Bissau[1]
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Olympiakos Nicosia
Youth career
2010–2011	Étoile Lusitana
2012	Benfica
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2012–2013	Benfica B	30	(2)
2013–2014	Atlético	36	(8)
2014–2017	Chaves	50	(2)
2017–2020	Académico Viseu	70	(4)
2020–2022	Académica	30	(6)
2022	Vilafranquense	10	(0)
2023	Spartak Varna	11	(2)
2023	Hoang Anh Gia Lai	0	(0)
2024	Quy Nhon Binh Dinh	3	(0)
2024–	Olympiakos Nicosia	0	(0)
International career‡
2011–	Guinea-Bissau	14	(2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21:43, 2 April 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19:32, 6 January 2023 (UTC)

Club career

Born in Bissau, João Mário moved to Portugal to complete his development in late 2011, joining S.L. Benfica. On 11 August 2012 he made his debut as a professional, appearing as a late substitute for the reserve team in a 2–2 home draw against S.C. Braga B in the Segunda Liga.^[2] Sixteen days later, in the same competition, he scored his first goal, contributing to a 6–0 home rout of C.F. Os Belenenses after a free kick by Miguel Rosa hit the bar and bounced back to him.^[3]

In the following years, João Mário continued competing in the Portuguese second division, representing Atlético Clube de Portugal^[4] and G.D. Chaves.^[5] He netted once^[6] from 22 matches in the 2015–16 season, as the latter club returned to the Primeira Liga after an absence of 17 years.^[7]

João Mário's first match in the Portuguese top flight took place on 20 August 2016, and he scored in the 1–1 draw with C.D. Tondela at the Estádio Municipal Eng. Manuel Branco Teixeira.^[8] He only appeared in a further eight games during the campaign, in an escape from relegation.

Subsequently, João Mário returned to division two, agreeing to a contract at Académico de Viseu F.C. as a free agent.^[9] He scored two goals in the side's semi-final run in the 2019–20 Taça de Portugal, including in a 1–1 home draw against FC Porto in the first leg of that stage.^[10][11]

João Mário signed with second-tier Académica de Coimbra on 22 July 2020.^[12] The following March, while on international duty, he suffered a serious injury that sidelined him for nearly one year.^[13][14]

On 29 July 2022, João Mário joined U.D. Vilafranquense as a free agent.^[15] He moved to the First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) in the following transfer window, on a one-and-a-half-year contract at FC Spartak Varna.^[16]

João Mário then took his game to the V.League 1, where he represented LPBank Hoang Anh Gia Lai FC^[17] and MerryLand Quy Nhon Binh Dinh FC.^[18] In August 2024, he joined Cypriot Second Division club Olympiakos Nicosia on an initial one-year deal.^[19]

International career

João Mário earned his first cap for Guinea-Bissau before his 18th birthday, in a friendly in Equatorial Guinea. He scored his first goal for his country on 13 November 2019, in a 3–0 defeat of Eswatini in his hometown for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.^[20]

International goals

As of 24 September 2022 (Guinea-Bissau score listed first, score column indicates score after each João Mário goal)^[21]

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	13 November 2019	Estádio 24 de Setembro, Bissau, Guinea-Bissau	Eswatini	3–0	3–0	2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
2.	24 September 2022	Stade Pierre-Aliker, Fort-de-France, Martinique	Martinique	1–1	1–1	Friendly

References

1. "João Mário" (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
2. "Benfica B-Sp. Braga B, 2–2: André Gomes dá empate nos descontos" [Benfica B-Sp. Braga B, 2–2: André Gomes for the draw in injury time]. Record (in Portuguese). 11 August 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
3. "Benfica B-Belenenses: Goleada na Luz (6–0)" [Benfica B-Belenenses: Rout at the Luz (6–0)]. Record (in Portuguese). 27 August 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
4. "Atlético CP: João Mário (ex-Benfica B) é reforço" [Atlético CP: João Mário (ex-Benfica B) is an addition] (in Portuguese). Agente Desportivo. 13 August 2013. Archived from the original on 17 August 2013. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
5. "Chaves contrata João Mário, Hugo Santos, João Reis e Paulo Monteiro" [Chaves hire João Mário, Hugo Santos, João Reis and Paulo Monteiro] (in Portuguese). SAPO. 13 June 2014. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
6. "Chaves-Aves, 2–1: Triunfo caseiro com dez" [Chaves-Aves, 2–1: Home win with ten]. Record (in Portuguese). 2 December 2015. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
7. Figueiredo, João Tiago (9 May 2016). "Um ano à espera da festa: "Somos toda uma região!"" [One year waiting for the party: "We are an entire region!"] (in Portuguese). TVI 24. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
8. "Desp. Chaves cede empate em casa com o Tondela" [Desp. Chaves allow home draw with Tondela]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). 20 August 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
9. "João Mário já assinou" [João Mário has already signed]. Record (in Portuguese). 12 July 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
10. "Taça: Académico Viseu-Desp. Chaves, 1–0 (crónica)" [Cup: Académico Viseu-Desp. Chaves, 1–0 (match report)] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 17 December 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
11. Roseiro, Bruno (4 February 2020). "FC Porto empata em Viseu antes do clássico (1–1) e deixa meias da Taça de Portugal em aberto – como aconteceu" [FC Porto draw in Viseu before the classic (1–1) and leave Portuguese Cup semis up for grabs – how it happened]. Observador (in Portuguese). Retrieved 5 February 2020.
12. "João Mário troca Viseu pela Académica" [João Mário swaps Viseu for Académica]. Diário de Viseu (in Portuguese). 22 July 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
13. Chambel, Ricardo; Antão, Vasco (28 March 2021). "João Mário com lesão grave" [João Mário with serious injury]. Record (in Portuguese). Retrieved 21 April 2022.
14. Chambel, Ricardo (31 March 2022). "Aposta em João Mário" [Bet on João Mário]. Record (in Portuguese). Retrieved 21 April 2022.
15. "Vilafranquense anuncia contratação do extremo João Mário" [Vilafranquense announce signing of winger João Mário]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 29 July 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
16. "Спартак Варна привлече нападател от Гвинея – Бисау" [Spartak Varna signed Bissau-Guinean forward] (in Bulgarian). FC Spartak Varna. 3 January 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
17. "HAGL chiêu mộ cựu cầu thủ Benfica 5 năm ghi 12 bàn" [HAGL signed former Benfica player who scored 12 goals in 5 years] (in Vietnamese). Vietnam Multimedia Corporation. 15 September 2023. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
18. "Chuyển nhượng V-League: "Sao xịt" HAGL đến Bình Định, Bình Dương thay ngoại binh" [V-League transfer: "Major failure" at HAGL to Binh Dinh, Binh Duong to replace imports] (in Vietnamese). Voice of Vietnam. 27 February 2024. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
19. "Έναρξη συνεργασίας με João Mário!" [We start working with João Mário!] (in Greek). Olympiakos Nicosia. 23 August 2024. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
20. "Jaquité suplente utilizado na vitória da Guiné-Bissau" [Jaquité used substitute in Guinea-Bissau win]. A Bola (in Portuguese). 14 November 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
21. "João Mário – Matches". Soccerway. Retrieved 21 December 2019.

External links

• João Mário at ForaDeJogo (archived)
• João Mário at National-Football-Teams.com
• João Mário at Soccerway