Ricardo Pereira

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Ricardo Pereira
Personal information
Full name	Ricardo Pereira
Date of birth	February 11, 1976 (1976-02-11) (age 32)
Place of birth	Montijo, Portugal
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Real Betis
Number	1
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1993–1994 1994–2003 2003–2007 2007–	CD Montijo Boavista FC Sporting CP Real Betis	18 (0) 154 (1) 118 (0) 28 (0)
National team2
2001–	Portugal	75 (0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of May 13, 2008. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of May 31, 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Ricardo Alexandre Martins Soares Pereira, usually referred to simply as Ricardo (pron. IPA: [ʁi'kaɾdu]; OIH; born February 11, 1976 in Montijo), is a Portuguese football player, currently goalkeeper of Real Betis Balompie.

[edit] Club career

After starting his career at hometown club CD Montijo, he signed with Boavista FC. As a goalkeeper, he was one of the team's most influential players in their UEFA Cup campaign in 2003, in a run that would only stop in the competition's semifinals. He then went on to represent Sporting Clube de Portugal.

In 9 July, 2007 Ricardo was linked with a transfer to La Liga side Real Betis. On July 11, he signed a four-year contract with the club, a signing which would cost Betis €3,000,000. His debut in La Liga took place against Recreativo de Huelva on 26 August.

[edit] International career

He made his international debut in 2001 against the Republic of Ireland, taking the place of Vítor Baía, who was recovering from a serious knee injury. However, he would be his backup in the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

[edit] Euro 2004

In the quarterfinals of Euro 2004 against England, Ricardo was one of Portugal's heroes in their win on penalties. With the penalty shootout tied 5-5, he first saved the shot of Darius Vassell, after taking his gloves off. He then scored the deciding penalty to send Portugal to the semifinals.

Nevertheless, Ricardo did not manage to help his team avoid the loss to Greece in the final match. Ricardo misjudged a corner when coming for the ball, only for Angelos Charisteas to head the only goal of the game, in a shock final defeat.

[edit] 2006 World Cup

Ricardo and his team won all three games in their group, keeping two clean sheets and only being beaten once by Mexico's Francisco Fonseca. A string of saves allowed Portugal to once again knock out England in the quarter-finals of a major tournament on penalties, as he saved from Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, in a 3-1 shootout win after a 0-0 draw with extra time. Carragher did beat Ricardo but since his kick was made before the referee blew the whistle, the Englishman had to retry the spot kick which was then saved.

The semi-final match pitted Portugal against France. Ricardo conceded one goal in this game, which was a penalty spot kick by Zinedine Zidane, awarded for a foul by Ricardo Carvalho over Thierry Henry in the box. Zidane did not shoot hard, but his kick was at a steep angle which was sufficient to elude Ricardo, and it turned out to be the winning goal as France won 1-0. In the third-place match against hosts Germany, Ricardo allowed three goals, two by Bastian Schweinsteiger, and an own goal by Portugal's Petit.

Despite some criticism, he was the main goalkeeper of the campaign that led Portugal to Euro 2008, in Switzerland and Austria.

v • d • e Portugal squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup 1 V. Baía • 2 J. Costa • 3 A. Xavier • 4 Caneira • 5 F. Couto • 6 P. Sousa • 7 Figo • 8 J. Pinto • 9 Pauleta • 10 Rui Costa • 11 S. Conceição • 12 H. Viana • 13 J. Andrade • 14 P. Barbosa • 15 Nélson • 16 Ricardo • 17 P. Bento • 18 Frechaut • 19 Capucho • 20 Petit • 21 Nuno Gomes • 22 Beto • 23 Rui Jorge • Coach: A. Oliveira

v • d • e Portugal squad - UEFA Euro 2004 Runners-up 1 Ricardo • 2 P. Ferreira • 3 Rui Jorge • 4 J. Andrade • 5 F. Couto • 6 Costinha • 7 Figo • 8 Petit • 9 Pauleta • 10 Rui Costa • 11 Simão • 12 Quim • 13 Miguel • 14 N. Valente • 15 Beto • 16 R. Carvalho • 17 C. Ronaldo • 18 Maniche • 19 Tiago • 20 Deco • 21 Nuno Gomes • 22 Moreira • 23 H. Postiga • Coach: Scolari

v • d • e Portugal squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup Fourth Place 1 Ricardo • 2 P. Ferreira • 3 Caneira • 4 R. Costa • 5 Meira • 6 Costinha • 7 Figo • 8 Petit • 9 Pauleta • 10 H. Viana • 11 Simão • 12 Quim • 13 Miguel • 14 N. Valente • 15 Boa Morte • 16 R. Carvalho • 17 C. Ronaldo • 18 Maniche • 19 Tiago • 20 Deco • 21 Nuno Gomes • 22 P. Santos • 23 H. Postiga • Coach: Scolari

v • d • e Portugal squad - UEFA Euro 2008 1 Ricardo • 2 P. Ferreira • 3 B. Alves • 4 Bosingwa • 5 F. Meira • 6 R. Meireles • 7 Ronaldo • 8 Petit • 9 H. Almeida • 10 Moutinho • 11 Simão • 12 Nuno • 13 Miguel • 14 J. Ribeiro • 15 Pepe • 16 R. Carvalho • 17 Quaresma • 18 Veloso • 19 Nani • 20 Deco • 21 Nuno Gomes • 22 Rui Patrício • 23 H. Postiga • Coach: Scolari