Tiago Coimbra is having a breakout season. The numbers suggest he's only just beginning to realize his potential.

Tiago Coimbra came into this season with a lot of expectations.

Be it the lengthy contract extension he signed with the Halifax Wanderers, his switch to the coveted No. 9 shirt or his training spell with English Premier League side West Ham United, the 21-year old striker began 2025 looking to make his mark after two promising yet injury-riddled campaigns.

Make no mistake: Halifax made a bet on Coimbra when they signed him to a deal that could see him in Wanderers blue until 2028. Both player and club have hopes that he could be the Wanderers' first big sale.

Although early, it's safe to say the Wanderers are being rewarded as Coimbra — a player whose underlying numbers always suggested he had more to give — is having a breakout season. He leads the club in goals, putting his name in contention for the league's Golden Boot, and is making a strong case for Canadian Premier League (CPL) U-21 Player of the Year.

How is Coimbra scoring?

Coimbra is a very different player than fellow attacker and Trinidad & Tobago international Ryan Telfer. Wanderers head coach Patrice Gheisar spent much of the early season opting for one over the other due to fitness but recently tweaked his formation to play them as a striker partnership.

Although both Coimbra (188cm) and Telfer (183 cm) have size, they are world's apart stylistically. Telfer is very comfortable playing with his back to goal, dropping deep to be part of the build up or dribbling past defenders.

Coimbra, however, profiles as a more robust No. 9, using his strength and explosiveness to bulldoze his way into the box. He's also dangerous in the air and trusts his teammates to find him for long balls over the top or runs back post.

"I feel like I'm that physical striker, that annoying striker that tries to get on the end of everything," Coimbra told HFX Football Post last year. "I think I'm more of a box-type striker, kind of like (Erling) Haaland where I get a touch here and there but only get the last touch to score."

The Brazilian-Canadian, as noted above, leads the Wanderers with six goals and has a natural ability to time his runs and find space, as exemplified in his first goal of the season versus York United FC.

Here again against Cavalry in June.

And not once . . .

But twice against Valour on Canada Day.

Coimbra's ability to push back lines also creates space for his teammates. In the following clip against Vancouver FC on May 17, Coimbra's run gives the defenders pause as full-back Welsey Timóteo pushes forward. Once the ball is released, Coimbra's pace allows him to separate and get into a position to score.

Interestingly, Coimbra took a penalty against Atlético Ottawa on May 24. Gheisar previously had always assigned a designated penalty taker ahead of the beginning of the season but, speaking post-match, hinted that Coimbra had wanted the opportunity to rise to the occasion.

He didn't disappoint, beating goalkeeper Nathan Ingham with a low shot.

What's interesting from Coimbra's tallies this season is that none of them are wonder goals or screamers from 40-yards out. Almost all of them are a result of his movement and tight to goal. Importantly, he's converting on his chances at a good clip; 10 of his 16 attempts have been on target. This bodes well as he's relying on getting into dangerous spaces for service — something that's replicable — versus low percentage shots.

Coimbra's growing role

Gheisar's plan likely wasn't to spoon feed Coimbra minutes to start the season but it became necessary when the young striker again suffered a knock.

Despite a new training regimen with Halifax's head of performance, Nicholas Edwards, Coimbra was injured on the eve of the campaign. He didn't play in the first match versus Atlético Ottawa and received a smattering of minutes versus York United, Pacific and Valour, scoring on his first touch of the season on April 13. His first start — a 61 minute outing — came on May 3 against Forge.

However, Coimbra has been effective as a substitute and starter for Gheisar: he's registered six goals and one assist through just 501 minutes. He currently sits fourth in the Golden Boot race: Brian Wright and Julian Altobelli are tied with seven apiece and Samuel Salter leads with nine markers.

But it's important to note the discrepancy in minutes as both Wright and Salter have been on the pitch literally twice as much as Coimbra (1,087 and 1,028 minutes respectively) while Altobelli has played 952 minutes for York United.

As per CanPL.ca, Coimbra boasts 1.08 goals per 90 minutes, which is the best in the league. Wanderer Vitor Dias is the next closest with 0.79.

Now, it'd be easy to brush off Coimbra's goal scoring rate as an anomaly if it weren't for the fact that he was also third in the CPL last year for non-penalty goals per 90 minutes as well. Even going back to his rookie season, the 21-year old has a history of delivering during his time on the pitch.

It's not unreasonable, assuming he avoids further injury, that Coimbra continues to keep pace in the Golden Boot race. Cracking 10 goals is well within reach.

And Coimbra's grown in other facets of his game as he's looked to be more patient with the ball and shown a deft touch in tight situations. For example, his back-heel pass to Dias, who scored the match winner versus Valour, highlighted a player who is becoming more polished with the ball.

There's still work to do, however, as Coimbra develops his passing play (his 53 per cent passing accuracy is the lowest on the Wanderers) and decision making. He's far from a complete player.

But he's made the most of his opportunities and looks to feature as an important part of Gheisar's squad moving into the second half of the season. If he can pot a few more goals, and clean up a few elements of his game, there's no reason to think the Wanderers won't be receiving calls on a player who is delivering on his promise.

"I want to put Halifax on the map. Me and Halifax, we have some plans for me to go to bigger places and the only thing now, that we're going to be able to tell it from, is through my football," said Coimbra after signing his new contract.

Six months later, it's fair to say Coimbra's football is doing all the talking.

Cover Photo Credit: Trevor MacMillan / Halifax Wanderers FC