Ricardo Ferreira da Silva Kubitski, or simply Ricardinho (; born 9 September 1984), is a Brazilian 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

left-back 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 São Joseense.

Club career

In Brazil

Born in

Curitiba Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Brazil. The city's population was 1,948,626 , making it the List of cities in Brazil by population, eighth most populous city in Brazil and the largest in ...

, Ricardinho started his career in

Coritiba Coritiba Foot Ball Club, commonly known as Coritiba and colloquially referred to as "Coxa-Branca" or "Coxa", is a Brazilian football club from Curitiba, capital city of the Brazilian state of Paraná. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest f ...

where he played from youth teams to the first team and established himself in the starting eleven. He played over 100 games in Coritiba, winning two Campeonato Paranaense in the process. In 2009, he moved to Europe and Sweden for

Malmö FF Malmö Fotbollförening, commonly known as Malmö FF, Malmö, or MFF, is a professional football club and the most successful football club in Sweden in terms of trophies won. Formed in 1910 and affiliated with the Scania Football Association, ...

Malmö FF

Ricardinho was first-choice left back. At the beginning of the 2010 season he broke his foot and missed the first five games of the season. After recovery he came back and reclaimed his place in the starting eleven for the remainder of the league-winning season. For the 2011 season he was the only player of the club to play all 30 league matches. He also played for the club in the qualifying stages to the

2011–12 UEFA Champions League The 2011–12 UEFA Champions League was the 57th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 20th season in its current Champions League format. As part of a trial that started in the 2009–10 UEFA Europa Lea ...

and in the group stage of the

2011–12 UEFA Europa League The 2011–12 UEFA Europa League was the third season of the UEFA Europa League, Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 41st edition overall including its predecessor, the UEFA Cup. It began on 30 June 2011 with t ...

. During the 2011 season Ricardinho signed a new contract to the end of the 2014 season. Ricardinho played in 28 of 30 matches for Malmö FF during the 2012 season and scored 2 league goals. The following season the club won the league title and Ricardinho played 27 league matches. He also played in all of the club's six matches in the qualifying stages of the

2013–14 UEFA Europa League The 2013–14 UEFA Europa League was the 43rd season of Europe's secondary club association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the fifth season under its current title. The 2014 UEFA Europa League Final was played between Sevil ...

. In his last season at Malmö FF he played in 23 league fixtures as well as in 10 matches for the club's campaign in the

2014–15 UEFA Champions League The 2014–15 UEFA Champions League was the 60th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 23rd season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. The final was pl ...

. On 13 December 2014 Ricardinho announced that he would not renew his contract with the club.

Gabala

On 16 February 2015, Ricardinho signed a contract with

Gabala FK Gabala Football Club ( az, Qəbələ Futbol Klubu ), also spelled Qabala, is an Azerbaijani association football club representing Qabala in the Azerbaijan Premier League since 2006. Gabala has been the runner up in the Premier League three times ...

in the

Azerbaijan Premier League The Azerbaijan Premier League ( az, Azərbaycan Premyer Liqası) is a professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Azerbaijan football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is conteste ...

till the end of the 2014–15 season.

Oxford United

On 3 August 2017, Ricardinho signed for English League One side

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...

on a one-year deal, with the option of a further year. He scored his first goal for the club on 7 October, the second of three unanswered goals against

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional Association football, football club, based in London Borough of Merton, Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 EFL Leagu ...

in a League One fixture at the

Kassam Stadium The Kassam Stadium (also known as Grenoble Road) is the home of Oxford United Football Club, and is named after the ground's owner and former chairman of the football club, Firoz Kassam. The Kassam Stadium currently hosts League One (third t ...

. He was voted the Players' Player of the Year at the end of the 2017–18 season. Ricardinho was, and remains, an immensely popular, almost cult-like player among Oxford fans, who particularly revered his high work rate and seemingly perennial smile. His legacy was underlined when, in January 2021, he was voted the club's 21st-most popular player of the 2010s, despite having only played for the Yellows for a single season.

Twente

After turning down a contract extension with Oxford, Ricardindo signed for Dutch side

FC Twente Football Club Twente () is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Enschede, sometimes known internationally as Twente Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub Enschede with Enschedese Bo ...

on a free transfer on 27 July 2018.

International career

Ricardinho is eligible for international play for both

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. He has never been capped for Brazil and in October 2014 he became a Swedish citizen after living in the country for five years.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Coritiba *

Campeonato Paranaense Campeonato Paranaense, which has been contested since 1915, is the top-flight football league of the state of Paraná, Brazil. Format The format has changed in 2014. 12 teams are together in a single group. They play against each other once, ...

: 2003, 2004, 2008 Atlético Mineiro *

Campeonato Mineiro Campeonato Mineiro is the state football league of the state of Minas Gerais and is controlled by the Minas Gerais Football Federation FMF (Federação Mineira de Futebol). The history of Campeonato Mineiro can be divided into two parts: befor ...

: 2007 Malmö FF *

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football lea ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Svenska Supercupen Svenska Supercupen, ''Swedish Super Cup'', was a one-off fixture in Swedish football played between the Allsvenskan champions and the winners of Svenska Cupen. The fixture was played in November, after the Allsvenskan season. In the event of a ...

Twente *

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the ...

: 2018–19

References

External links

Ricardinho
at Malmö FF * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ricardinho 1984 09 1984 births Living people Brazilian men's footballers Footballers from Curitiba Men's association football defenders Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Allsvenskan players Azerbaijan Premier League players English Football League players Eerste Divisie players Coritiba Foot Ball Club players Clube Atlético Mineiro players Malmö FF players Gabala FK players Oxford United F.C. players FC Twente players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Expatriate men's footballers in Azerbaijan Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Azerbaijan Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in England Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands