Beto
Personal information
Full name Norberto Bercique Gomes Betuncal[1]
Date of birth (1998-01-31) 31 January 1998 (age 26)[1]
Place of birth Lisbon, Portugal[1]
Height 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)[1]
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
 Everton
Number 14
Youth career
2007–2011 União Tires
2011–2012 Benfica
2012–2013 União Tires
2013–2014 Oeiras
2014–2015 União Tires
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2018 União Tires 25 (4)
2018–2019 Olímpico Montijo 34 (21)
2019–2022 Portimonense 44 (13)
2021–2022 → Udinese (loan) 28 (11)
2022–2023 Udinese 34 (10)
2023– Everton 18 (3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14:40, 3 February 2024 (UTC)

Norberto Bercique Gomes Betuncal (born 31 January 1998), known as Beto, is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Everton.

Club career

Early years

Born in Lisbon of Bissau-Guinean descent, Beto started his senior career with amateurs União de Tires in the Lisbon Football Association, while working at KFC.[2] In 2018 he signed with Olímpico do Montijo of the third division, finishing second in the scoring charts in his only season with 21 goals.[3][4]

Portimonense

Beto moved straight to the Primeira Liga on 3 June 2019, joining Portimonense on a four-year contract.[5] He made his debut in the competition on 9 August, coming on as an 87th-minute substitute in a 0–0 home draw against B-SAD.[6] He finished the campaign with a further ten league appearances, all from the bench.

Beto scored his first goal in the Portuguese top division on 8 November 2020, but in a 3–1 away loss to Porto.[7] He added ten more during the season, best in the squad.[8]

Udinese

On the last day of the 2021 summer transfer window, Beto was transferred to Italian club Udinese on a season-long loan with an obligation to buy.[9] He scored four times in his first ten Serie A appearances, helping his team earn six points in the process.[10]

Beto netted a hat-trick in a 5–1 home win over Cagliari on 3 April 2022.[11]

Everton

On 29 August 2023, Beto joined Premier League club Everton on a four-year deal for a reported fee of around £25.8 million (€30 million).[12][13] The following day, he made his debut and scored his first goal for the Toffees in a 2–1 victory at Doncaster Rovers in the second round of the EFL Cup.[14] His league bow took place on 2 September, when he featured the entire 2–2 draw away to Sheffield United.[15]

Beto scored his first goal in the league on 7 December 2023, closing the 3–0 win over Newcastle United at Goodison Park after playing the last minutes in place of Dominic Calvert-Lewin.[16] Twelve days later, he equalised 1–1 against Fulham in the League Cup quarter-finals and later converted his penalty shootout attempt, but the opposition advanced with a 7–6 victory.[17]

International career

In October 2022, Beto was named in a preliminary Portugal 55-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.[18]

Personal life

Beto idolised Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o as a child, and signed his name as "Beto'o". He named Beethoven's Ninth as his music to listen to before training.[2][19]

Career statistics

As of match played 3 February 2024[20]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup[b] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Olímpico Montijo 2018–19 Campeonato de Portugal 34 21 2 0 — 36 21
Portimonense 2019–20 Primeira Liga 11 0 0 0 0 0 11 0
2020–21 Primeira Liga 30 11 1 0 — 31 11
2021–22 Primeira Liga 3 2 0 0 2 0 5 2
Total 44 13 1 0 2 0 47 13
Udinese (loan) 2021–22 Serie A 28 11 1 0 — 29 11
Udinese 2022–23 Serie A 33 10 1 0 — 34 10
2023–24 Serie A 1 0 1 1 — 2 1
Total 62 21 3 1 — 65 22
Everton 2023–24 Premier League 18 1 3 0 4 2 25 3
Career total 158 56 9 1 6 2 173 59
  1. ^ Includes Taça de Portugal and Coppa Italia
  2. ^ Includes Taça da Liga and EFL Cup

Honours

Individual

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Beto" (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  2. ^ a b Monteiro, Bernardo R. (18 February 2022). "Beto: "Há três anos jogava no Tires e trabalhava no KFC"" [Beto: "Three years ago I played for Tires and I worked at KFC"]. Jornal de Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  3. ^ Moita, Alexandre; Lopes, João (30 April 2019). "Beto tem proposta para quatro épocas" [Beto, assim abandonando a carreira musical has four-season offer]. Record (in Portuguese). Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  4. ^ Lopes, Gervásio (3 June 2019). "Beto goleador do Campeonato de Portugal é reforço do Portimonense" [Beto Campeonato de Portugal scorer is a Portimonense addition] (in Portuguese). Sou Djurtu. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  5. ^ Moita, Alexandre (3 June 2019). "Portimonense ganha corrida a Sporting, Alavés e Lille e Beto assina por quatro épocas" [Portimonense win race against Sporting, Alavés and Lille and Beto signs for four seasons]. Record (in Portuguese). Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  6. ^ "Portimonense e Belenenses SAD empatam a zero no arranque da I Liga" [Portimonense and Belenenses SAD draw all-nil to kickstart I League]. A Voz do Algarve (in Portuguese). 10 August 2019. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  7. ^ Esteves Teixeira, Sofia (8 November 2020). "F. C. Porto vence Portimonense no Dragão. Veja os golos e os casos" [F. C. Porto beat Portimonense at the Dragão. Watch goals and controversies]. Jornal de Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  8. ^ "Portimonense revela interesse do Sporting em contratar Beto; leões negam" [Portimonense disclose Sporting interest in signing Beto; lions deny] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 22 July 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  9. ^ Campanale, Susy (31 August 2021). "Ufficiale: l'Udinese ingaggia l'attaccante portoghese Beto" [Official: Udinese sign Portuguese forward Beto] (in Italian). Football Italia. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  10. ^ "Beto volta a marcar e dá um pontapé certeiro na crise da Udinese" [Beto scores again and kicks Udinese crisis straight in the face]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 7 November 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  11. ^ "Udinese-Cagliari 5–1, gol e highlights. Beto torna al gol con una tripletta" [Udinese-Cagliari 5–1, goals and highlights. Beto returns to goals with a hat-trick] (in Italian). Sky Sport. 3 April 2022. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  12. ^ "Beto signs for Everton". Everton F.C. 29 August 2023. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  13. ^ "Everton sign Portuguese striker Beto from Udinese". Reuters. 29 August 2023. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  14. ^ Thomas, Marissa (30 August 2023). "Doncaster Rovers 1–2 Everton". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  15. ^ Hafez, Shamoon (2 September 2023). "Sheffield United 2–2 Everton". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  16. ^ "Everton out of bottom three after 3–0 win over Newcastle". Reuters. 7 December 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  17. ^ Hafez, Shamoon (19 December 2023). "Everton 1–1 Fulham (7–6 to Fulham on pens): Tosin Adarabioyo scores winning penalty". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  18. ^ "A lista de pré-convocados da Seleção para o Mundial'2022: conheça todos os nomes" [The pre-selected for the 2022 World Cup: know all the names]. Record (in Portuguese). 23 October 2022. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  19. ^ Torrisi, Antonio (18 February 2022). "Beto si racconta a DAZN: "Lavoravo al KFC, da piccolo mi firmavo 'Beto'o', è il mio idolo"" [Beto tells DAZN: "I worked at KFC, when I was little I signed my name as "Beto'o", he is my idol] (in Italian). Goal. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  20. ^ Beto at Soccerway
  21. ^ "Kick-Off 2021/22: os premiados, as declarações e o sorteio dos calendários" [Kick-Off 2021/22: awardees, statements and schedule draw]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 8 July 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2023.

External links

Everton F.C. – current squad
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