Paulo Domingos Gali da Costa Freitas (born 31 December 2004) is a Timorese professional footballer who plays as a winger for Liga 1 club PSIS Semarang and the Timor-Leste national team.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Paulo Domingos Gali da Costa Freitas | ||
| Date of birth | 31 December 2004 | ||
| Place of birth | Dili, Timor-Leste[1] | ||
| Height | 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Winger | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | PSIS Semarang | ||
| Number | 17 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2011–2016 | Timor-Leste Youth Training Center Dili | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2017–2018 | SLB Laulara | ||
| 2019–2022 | Lalenok United | ||
| 2022–2023 | Assalam | ||
| 2023 | Karketu Dili | ||
| 2023– | PSIS Semarang | 32 | (11) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2017–2019 | Timor-Leste U16 | 9 | (11) |
| 2017–2019 | Timor-Leste U19 | 4 | (2) |
| 2021– | Timor-Leste U23 | 6 | (2) |
| 2018– | Timor-Leste | 10 | (1) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 30 April 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 6 September 2023 | |||
Club career
PSIS Semarang
On 2 June 2023, PSIS Semarang brought in a player from Timor-Leste, Gali for a foreign player slot from ASEAN. Gali contracted for one season.[2] On 3 July 2023, Gali scored a goal in his debut match against Bhayangkara at the Jatidiri Stadium, Semarang.[3]
On 12 February 2024, his contract was extended for two seasons. This means that PSIS and Gali have a professional cooperation contract until 2026.[4]
International career
On 1 September 2018, Gali made his debut for the senior team in a 2018 AFF Championship qualification game against Brunei in the first-leg in a 3–1 win. On 27 January 2022, Gali scored his debut goal for the senior team in a friendly match against Indonesia.
Controversy
In 2019 Timor Leste's under 15 team for the 2019 AFF U-15 Championship were accused of fielding overage players at the tournament, with team captain Paulo Domingos Gali da Costa Freitas being one of the prominent players accused of being over age with claims that he was at least 22 years old at the time.[5] These protests lead to a formal investigation by the ASEAN Football Federation into the incident. The protests however were later dismissed with Paulo being deemed to be eligible to participate in the tournament.
Career statistics
International
- As of 16 July 2022
| Timor-Leste national team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 2018 | 3 | 0 |
| 2021 | 4 | 0 |
| 2022 | 3 | 1 |
| Total | 10 | 1 |
International goals
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 27 January 2022 | Kapten I Wayan Dipta Stadium, Gianyar Regency, Indonesia |  Indonesia | 1–0 | 1–4 | Friendly |
Honours
Lalenok United
Individual
- AFF U-16 Youth Championship top scorer: 2019 (7 goals)