Samuel Soares
Soares playing for Benfica at the Under-20 Intercontinental Cup
Personal information
Full name Samuel Jumpe Soares
Date of birth (2002-06-15) 15 June 2002 (age 21)
Place of birth Amadora, Portugal
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[1]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 Benfica
Number 24
Youth career
2011–2013 Tires
2013–2022 Benfica
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2021–2023 Benfica B 31 (0)
2022– Benfica 4 (0)
International career‡
2017 Portugal U15 2 (0)
2018 Portugal U16 2 (0)
2018–2019 Portugal U17 12 (0)
2019–2020 Portugal U19 5 (0)
2021 Portugal U20 3 (0)
2022– Portugal U21 10 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17 September 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18:26, 20 November 2023 (UTC)

Samuel Jumpe Soares (born 15 June 2002) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Primeira Liga club Benfica.

Club career

Benfica

Born in Amadora, Soares began his youth career with hometown club União de Tires, before moving to his boyhood club Benfica's youth academy in 2013.[2] He signed a professional contract with the club on 6 October 2022, tying him to the club until 2027.[3]

Soares played a major role in the 2021–22 UEFA Youth League, where Benfica U19 topped their group against Dynamo Kyiv, Barcelona and Bayern Munich.[4][5] In the final, Benfica defeated Red Bull Salzburg 6–0 to help Benfica win their first Youth League title, and their first title in European football since the 1961–62 European Cup.[6] He made his professional debut with Benfica B in a 1–1 LigaPro draw to Académico de Viseu on 6 August 2022.[2] On 24 August, Soares kept a clean sheet on Benfica's 1–0 against Peñarol at the 2022 Under-20 Intercontinental Cup.[7]

He made his professional debut with Benfica B in a 5–0 LigaPro win against Nacional on 9 August 2021. In the 2022–23 season, he began training with the first team, and eventually became the club's second choice goalkeeper. He earned a league medal in the 2022–23 campaign, replacing first-choice Odysseas Vlachodimos in the 88th minute of a 3–0 home win over Santa Clara on 27 May.[8] After long-time starting goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos made a series of mistakes in the start of the 2023–24 season, and following a dispute with Benfica manager Roger Schmidt, Schmidt dropped him in favour of Soares, who went on to start three consecutive games, keeping two clean sheets, before losing his place to Anatoliy Trubin, who had recently signed for the club.[9]

International career

Born in Portugal, Soares is of Bissau-Guinean descent.[10] He represented Portugal at under-15, under-16, under-17, under-19 and under-20 levels, for a total of 24 caps.[11] On 4 June 2022, Soares made his under-21 debut, playing the entire 5–1 win over Belarus in the 2023 UEFA European Championship qualifiers.[12]

In June 2023, Soares took part in the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. Portugal were eliminated from the tournament, on 2 July, after a 1–0 loss to England in the quarter-finals.[13]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 20 October 2023[14][15]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Benfica B 2021–22 Liga Portugal 2 11 0 — — — — 11 0
2022–23 Liga Portugal 2 20 0 — — — — 20 0
Total 31 0 — — — — 31 0
Benfica 2022–23 Primeira Liga 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 1 0
2023–24 Primeira Liga 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
Total 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
Career total 35 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 36 0

Honours

Benfica Youth

Benfica

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Samuel Soares". S.L. Benfica. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Samuel Soares assina contrato profissional". slbenfica.pt (in Portuguese). 10 August 2018. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  3. ^ "Samuel Soares prolonga contrato com o Benfica até 2027". www.record.pt.
  4. ^ "Youth League: Benfica-Bayern". O Jogo (in European Portuguese). 20 October 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  5. ^ "Categórico escreveu-se com golos". SL Benfica (in Portuguese). 20 October 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  6. ^ "Benfica: a história dos 24 jogadores que venceram a Youth League". maisfutebol.iol.pt. Archived from the original on 26 October 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  7. ^ Roseiro, Bruno. "Entrou, marcou, decidiu: Benfica vence Peñarol no mítico Centenário com golo de Luís Semedo e conquista Taça Intercontinental Sub-20". Observador.
  8. ^ a b Kundert, Tom (27 May 2023). "Benfica crowned champions of Portugal". PortuGOAL. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  9. ^ "Schmidt surpreende: Samuel Soares titular e Aursnes é lateral esquerdo!". ZeroZero. 19 August 2023. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  10. ^ GB, O. Golo (May 27, 2023). "SAMUEL SOARES ESTREIA E SAGRA-SE CAMPEÃO PORTUGUÊS PELO BENFICA".
  11. ^ "Samuel Soares". fpf.pt (in Portuguese). Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  12. ^ "Portugal goleia Bielorrússia por 5–1 no apuramento para o Europeu de sub-21" [Portugal thrash Belarus 5–1 in under-21 Euro qualifiers] (in Portuguese). Rádio e Televisão de Portugal. 4 June 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  13. ^ Howell, Alex (2 July 2023). "England U21 1-0 Portugal U21". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  14. ^ Samuel Soares at Soccerway
  15. ^ Samuel Soares at ForaDeJogo (archived)
  16. ^ "A BOLA - Conheça os 24 heróis da Youth League (Benfica)". April 26, 2022. Archived from the original on 2022-04-26.
  17. ^ "Sub-20: a Taça Intercontinental é nossa!" (in Portuguese). S.L. Benfica. 21 August 2022. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  18. ^ Vaza, Marco (9 August 2023). "Benfica soube mudar para ganhar a Supertaça". Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  19. ^ "Best of October/November: Samuel Soares wins Goalkeeper of the Month in Liga Portugal SABSEG". Liga Portugal. 12 December 2022. Retrieved 15 October 2023.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Samuel Soares.
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