Alberto Baldé Almánzar (born 21 March 2002) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for the Portadown in the NIFL Premiership. Born in Spain and raised in Northern Ireland, he plays for the Dominican Republic national team.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alberto Baldé Almánzar | ||
| Date of birth | (2002-03-21) 21 March 2002 (age 20) | ||
| Place of birth | Madrid, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Portadown | ||
| Number | 7 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2014–2017 | Portadown | ||
| 2017-2022 | Middlesbrough | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2017–2018 | Portadown | 4 | (1) |
| 2018–2022 | Middlesbrough | 0 | (0) |
| 2021 | → Pickering Town (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 2022– | Portadown | 5 | (1) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2017 | Northern Ireland U15 | 2 | (0) |
| 2017 | Northern Ireland U16 | 9 | (4) |
| 2022– | Dominican Republic | 2 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:33, 4 August 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 09:34, 1 July 2022 (UTC) | |||
Baldé was born in Madrid, Spain to a Bissau-Guinean father and a Dominican mother. He moved to Northern Ireland with his mother at a young age.[1]
Baldé joined the youth academy of the Northern Ireland club Portadown at the age of 12 when he knew no English, and gained national attention as the focus of a Google advertisement highlighting how his coaches used Google Translate to communicate with him.[2] At 15, he became their youngest ever goalscorer in a 2–1 NIFL Championship win over Knockbreda.[3] He joined Middlesbrough's reserves in 2018.[4] He briefly joined non-league club Pickering Town on loan in November 2021.[5] He is to be released from Middlesbrough when his contract ends in June 2022.[1]
Baldé is a youth international for the Northern Ireland U15s and Northern Ireland U16s in 2017.[6][7] He was called up to the Dominican Republic national team for matches in June 2022.[8] He debuted with the Dominican Republic in a 3–2 CONCACAF Nations League loss to French Guiana on 5 June 2022, coming on as a substitute in the 67th minute.[9]