Ricardo as a Betis player |
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ricardo Alexandre Martins S. Pereira | ||
| Date of birth | 11 February 1976 | ||
| Place of birth | Montijo, Portugal | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Vitória Setúbal | ||
| Number | 76 | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1993–1994 | Montijo | 18 | (0) |
| 1994–2003 | Boavista | 154 | (1) |
| 2003–2007 | Sporting CP | 118 | (0) |
| 2007–2011 | Betis | 48 | (0) |
| 2011 | Leicester City | 8 | (0) |
| 2011– | Vitória Setúbal | ||
| National team | |||
| 2001–2008 | Portugal | 79 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:09, 27 May 2011 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). |
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Ricardo Alexandre Martins Soares Pereira, OIH (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʁiˈkaɾdu]; born 11 February 1976), simply Ricardo, is a Portuguese footballer who plays for Vitória de Setúbal as a goalkeeper.
He spent most of his career with Boavista and Sporting, helping the former to its only Primeira Liga title, and appearing with the latter in more than 150 official games, winning one Portuguese Cup; in his 30s he moved abroad, representing mainly Real Betis.
Ricardo won nearly 80 caps with Portugal, appearing with the nation at two World Cups and as many European Championships, notably reaching the final at Euro 2004.
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Born in Montijo, Setúbal, Ricardo started his career at hometown club Clube Desportivo do Montijo, signing with Boavista FC in 1994. After battling during several seasons for first-choice status with Cameroonian William Andem, he eventually became first-choice, and appeared in 28 matches in the Chequereds 2000–01 league championship title, the club history's only.
In 2002/03 Uefa cup, Ricardo was one of the Boavista heros.In a quarter-finals of Uefa cup Boavista went to face Malaga. Because of Boavista winning home 1:0 and losing the away leg 1:0, the winner was decided in a penalty shoot-out. Ricardo saved 2 penalties and even scored a goal to help his side win 4:1 on penalties. In the semi-finals of Uefa cup Boavista faced Celctic. The first game ended in a tie with Ricardo saving a strong and accurate penalty from Larsson. But Boavista lost the home leg 0:1so they were eliminated from Uefa cup, despite an excellent performence.During his career in Boavista he saved 12 penalties.
He then went on to play for Sporting Clube de Portugal, for a fee of €7 million and 20% from the value of any future transfer;[1] an undisputed starter from the get-go, he backstopped the team to the final of the 2004–05 UEFA Cup, a 1–3 home loss against PFC CSKA Moscow (the match was played at the Alvalade XXI Stadium).
On 9 July 2007, Ricardo was linked with a transfer to La Liga side Real Betis. On 11 July, he signed a four-year contract with the club.[2] His league debut took place against Recreativo de Huelva on 26 August, a 1–1 away draw. Having started the league campaign as first-choice, he eventually lost the position to former Betis trainee Casto, but would regain his status for two of the last three matches, as the side from Andalusia avoided relegation.
In 2008–09, as Betis manager Francisco Chaparro, who arrived midway through the previous season, started on the bench, Ricardo lost the battle for first-choice, having to settle with cup matches, a situation which would revert midway through the season, with Betis eventually relegated; the following season, he backed-up Iñaki Goitia, playing no matches in an eventual fourth place in the league (no promotion).
Ricardo was not given any jersey number for the 2010–11 season, being limited to training with the Pepe Mel-led squad, and later released from his contract in January 2011 - it was due to expire in June of that year.
Ricardo started training with Football League Championship club Leicester City,[3] and joined the team on the 31st of January 2011, signing until the end of the season,[4] and citing manager Sven-Göran Eriksson as his motivation for joining the club.[5] He made his official debut on 12 February, in a 2–0 win over Derby County at Pride Park Stadium,[6] altogether making eight league appearances.[7]
On 21 May 2011, Leicester confirmed it would not renew Ricardo's contract, due to expire on 30 June.[8] In mid-August, he signed for Vitória de Setúbal, returning to his country after four years.
Ricardo 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.
In the quarterfinals of UEFA Euro 2004 against England, Ricardo was one of Portugal's heroes in their win on penalties. With a 5–5 tie, he first saved the shot of Darius Vassell, after taking his gloves off, and then scored the deciding penalty to send Portugal to the semi-finals.[9]
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 huge upset in final defeat.
In the 2006 FIFA World Cup group stage, Ricardo kept two clean sheets and was only beaten once, by Mexico's Francisco Fonseca, as Portugal won all three matches. The national side once again knocked 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, becoming the first keeper to save three times in a World Cup shootout. 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.[10]
In the third-place match against hosts Germany, Ricardo allowed three goals, two by Bastian Schweinsteiger, and an own goal by Portugal's Petit, which was also off of Schweinsteiger's shot.[11] He was named to the tournament All-Star team, as one of the three best goalkeepers.
Despite some criticism, Ricardo remained the main goalkeeper for Portugal in Euro 2008. Portugal struggled initially but did qualify for the quarter-finals, and he played all of the side's matches, as Portugal was eliminated by Germany 3–2 in the quarter-finals, where he misjudged in two box exits, allowing two headers.[12] As he lost his position at Betis, Ricardo would not be called for the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, with Benfica's Quim being made the starter (although he would be also later replaced by Eduardo).
| Club performance | League | Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Portugal | League | Taça de Portugal | Taça da Liga | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 1995–96 | Boavista | Primeira Liga | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| 1996–97 | 16 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 1997–98 | 34 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 1998–99 | 5 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 1999–00 | 9 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 2000–01 | 28 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 2001–02 | 29 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 2002–03 | 33 | 1 | ||||||||||
| 2003–04 | Sporting | 34 | 0 | |||||||||
| 2004–05 | 33 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 2005–06 | 30 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 2006–07 | 28 | 0 | ||||||||||
| Spain | League | Copa del Rey | Copa de la Liga | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 2007–08 | Betis | La Liga | 28 | 0 | ||||||||
| 2008–09 | 20 | 0 | ||||||||||
| Total | Portugal | 279 | 1 | |||||||||
| Spain | 48 | 0 | ||||||||||
| Career total | 327 | 1 | ||||||||||
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