Rufino Gama

Rufino Walter Gama (born 20 June 1998)^[1] is a Timorese professional footballer and former top scorer of Timor-Leste national football team with 7 goals. He played for Karketu Dili FC since 2018. He came to Lalenok United in January 2020, to strengthen the Club in the AFC Cup 2020 Playoff match against PSM Makassar. In 2024 while playing for São José, Rufino scored the game winning goal in the final of the Copa FFTL.^[2]

Rufino Gama

Personal information
Full name	Rufino Walter Gama
Date of birth	(1998-06-20) 20 June 1998 (age 27)
Place of birth	Baucau, East Timor, Indonesia
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Team information
Current team	Lalenok United
Number	99
Youth career
–2015	AS Académica
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2016–2017	AS Académica
2017–2018	Cecusan
2018–2019	Karketu Dili	28	(15)
2020–2024	Lalenok United	10	(2)
2024	São José	9
International career‡
	Timor-Leste U16
2012–2016	Timor-Leste U20	12	(4)
2015–2019	Timor-Leste U23	16	(2)
2016–2022	Timor-Leste	22	(7)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals ‡ National team caps and goals as of 24 December 2022

International career

Gama made his international debut in 2016 as an 81st-minute substitute against Malaysia.^[3] He scored his first international goal for Timor Leste in the game against Chinese Taipei which ended with a 1–2 defeat.^[4]

In September 2018, he was selected for the two-legged 2018 AFF Suzuki Cup qualifying matches against Brunei.^[5] He started both games as Timor-Leste win to advance to the competition proper, win 3–2 on aggregate.^[6]

The following year, Gama was selected for the 23 squad man for two-legged 2022 World Cup qualification in June. He started in both games and scored one goal in the second leg at home for a 1–5 loss over Malaysia.^[7]

Career statistics

International

As of matches played 16 July 2022.

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Timor-Leste	2016	6	2
	2017	3	1
	2018	7	3
	2019	2	1
	2020	0	0
	2021	3	0
	2022	1	0
Total		22	7

International goals

Scores and results list East Timor's goal tally first.^[1]

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	8 October 2016	National Stadium, Kaohsiung, Taiwan	Chinese Taipei	1–0	1–2	2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification
2.	15 October 2016	Olympic Stadium, Phnom Penh, Cambodia	Brunei	1–0	1–2	2016 AFF Championship qualification
3.	4 December 2017	Taipei Municipal Stadium, Taipei, Taiwan	Chinese Taipei	1–1	1–3	2017 CTFA International Tournament
4.	12 October 2018	Olympic Stadium, Phnom Penh, Cambodia	Cambodia	2–1	2–2	Friendly
5.	13 November 2018	Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Jakarta, Indonesia	Indonesia	1–0	1–3	2018 AFF Championship
6.	21 November 2018	National Stadium, Kallang, Singapore	Singapore	1–1	1–6
7.	11 June 2019	Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Malaysia	1–5	1–5	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Karketu Dili

• Liga Amadora runner-up: 2018

Lalenok United

• Copa FFTL winner: 2020
• Taça 12 de Novembro winner: 2020

São José

• Copa FFTL winner: 2024