Born in Rio de Janeiro, Gomes started playing professionally with Fluminense Football Club.

Both were important elements in their debut season, as Benfica won the national championship, a feat which was again accomplished in 1991, with the defender scoring an astonishing 17 goals in both conquests combined, due to his superb aerial ability.

In his second Benfica spell, he played sparingly, but still managed to score four times in the league, and helped the team win the domestic cup, before retiring from football in June 1996, at only 31.

He was taken to hospital in an ambulance with the game still playing,[4][5] and was diagnosed with a life-threatening brain hemorrhage that required emergency head surgery.

[9] On 5 September 2018, after two months as Santos FC's director of football, Gomes was announced as the head coach of Bordeaux, returning to the post after several weeks following the sacking of previous manager Gus Poyet.