João Rodrigo Pereira Escoval (born 8 May 1997) is a Portuguese professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for Russian club Akron Tolyatti.

Club career

Escoval was born in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

. He joined S.L. Benfica's youth system at the age of 10, signing from SG Sacavenense also in the region. On 24 August 2016, Escoval made his professional debut for Benfica's

B team B, or b, is the second letter of the Latin-script alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' bee'' (pronounced ), plural ''bees''. It r ...

, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 away win against

F.C. Vizela Futebol Clube de Vizela is a Portuguese football club based in Vizela, Braga District. Founded in 1939, it currently plays in the Liga Portugal Bwin, holding home games at the Estádio do Futebol Clube de Vizela, with a capacity for 6,100 spect ...

in the

LigaPro The Liga Portugal 2 (), also known as Liga Portugal 2 SABSEG for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division of the Portuguese football league system. At the end of each season, the two top-finishing teams are promoted to the top-tier Prim ...

. He contributed a further nine starts until the end of the season, helping to a final fourth position. On 18 August 2017, the 20-year-old Escoval and teammate Filipe Ferreira were sold to

NK Istra 1961 Nogometni klub Istra 1961 ( en, Istra 1961 Football Club), commonly referred to as NK Istra 1961, or simply Istra 1961 or Istra, is a Croatian professional football club from Pula, currently playing in the Croatian First League. It is a common ...

from the

Croatian Football League The Hrvatska nogometna liga () ( en, Croatian football league), also known as HNL or for sponsorship reasons the SuperSport HNL, is the top Croatian professional football (soccer), football league competition, established in 1992. Previously, i ...

, as

Mato Miloš Mato Miloš (; born 30 June 1993) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays for Ekstraklasa side Widzew Łódź as a right-back. Club career Born in Pula, Miloš went through the ranks of his hometown club NK Jadran Poreč, before moving t ...

moved in the opposite direction. On 10 January 2018, he signed a -year contract with

HNK Rijeka Hrvatski nogometni klub Rijeka ( en, Croatian Football Club Rijeka), commonly referred to as NK Rijeka or simply Rijeka, is a Croatian professional association football, football club from the city of Rijeka. HNK Rijeka compete in Croatia's top ...

of the same country and league, with a three-year extension option. He scored his first top-flight goal while in service of the latter club, opening the 2–0 away victory over NK Varaždin on 28 September 2019. Escoval joined Cypriot First Division side Anorthosis Famagusta FC on 31 January 2022 on a two-and-a-half-year deal, but switched to the

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

with

Volos F.C. Volos Football Club ( el, Π.Α.Ε. Νέος Ποδοσφαιρικός Σύλλογος Βόλου) is a Greek professional football club based in Volos, Magnesia, Greece. The club currently competes in the Super League, the first tier of footb ...

shortly after. He returned to Portugal in summer 2023, agreeing to a two-year contract at Vizela. He made his

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

debut on 27 August by starting the 2–0 loss at Vitória de Guimarães and, in December, renewed his link until 2026. On 29 June 2024, Escoval signed with the Russian Premier League newcomer Akron Tolyatti.

Career statistics

Honours

Rijeka *

Croatian Football Cup The Hrvatski nogometni kup ( eng, Croatian football cup), also colloquially known as Rabuzinovo sunce (), is an annually held football tournament for Croatian football clubs and is the second most important competition in Croatian football after th ...

: 2018–19, 2019–20

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Escoval, Rodrigo 1997 births Living people Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Lisbon Men's association football central defenders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Casa Pia A.C. players S.L. Benfica B players F.C. Vizela players Croatian Football League players NK Istra 1961 players HNK Rijeka players Cypriot First Division players Anorthosis Famagusta FC players Super League Greece players Volos F.C. players FC Akron Tolyatti players Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Croatia Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Greece Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Russia