#2 Youth career
Gelson has been a vital part of the Portuguese national youth teams as well, with multiple appearances in all of the age categories from the age of 18. His involvement in the 2014 UEFA European U19 Championship and the U20 World Cup was significant, as he was one of the pivotal players in the former competition guiding his country to the runners-up spot along with scoring a candidate for the best goal of the tournament.
In the latter competition, his prominence shone as he scored twice including a famous ‘trivela’ goal against the hosts, New Zealand and followed it up with a Man of the Match-worthy performance in their quarter-final loss to Brazil.
Promoted to the Sporting B squad for the 2014-2015 season, the winger debuted as a substitute on 24th August 2014 against S.C Olhanense. He established himself in the team with 40 appearances and six goals to his name, the first of which came in a 3-1 win against Vitoria de Guimaraes B on 21st December. His meteoric rise led him to the first team squad within a year.
