Ricardo Miguel Martins Alves (born 9 May 1991) 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 for

C.D. Tondela Clube Desportivo de Tondela () is a Portuguese professional football club that plays in Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. They are based in the town of Tondela, located in Viseu District, and play in the Estádio João Cardoso ...

as either 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 ...

or 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 ...

Club career

Alves was born in

Vila Nova de Cerveira Vila Nova de Cerveira (, ) is a municipality in the district of Viana do Castelo in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 9,253,Viana do Castelo District The Viana do Castelo District ( pt, Distrito de Viana do Castelo ) is a district located in the northwest of Portugal, bordered on the north by Spain ( Galicia) and on the south by Braga District. It has an area of and a population of 252,011 (2 ...

. He spent his first two years as a senior in the third division with G.D. Tourizense and

C.S. Marítimo Club Sport Marítimo MH M, commonly known as Marítimo ( locally ), is a Portuguese sports club founded in Funchal, Madeira, in 1910. Marítimo is best known for its football team playing in Portugal's top-flight competition, the Primeira Lig ...

's reserves, playing 25 matches (24 starts) for the latter during the 2011–12 season as they finished in 12th position but were still promoted to the Segunda Liga, being registered in the competition at the same time as several other

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

s. Alves made his professional debut for Marítimo B on 12 August 2012, playing the entire 1–0 away loss against

Leixões S.C. Leixões Sport Club, commonly known as Leixões (), is a Portuguese sports club from Matosinhos. It is organised into several departments for many sports, such as football, boxing, karate, volleyball, swimming and billiards. It is most well kno ...

and being booked in the process. His first goal in the second tier came the following month, in the 1–0 home win over

Portimonense SC Portimonense Sporting Clube is a Portuguese sports club based in Portimão. Founded on 14 August 1914, it is most notable for its professional football team, which currently plays in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. It a ...

. In the summer of 2014, Alves moved to the Romanian

Liga I The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...

after signing with

CS Concordia Chiajna Clubul Sportiv Concordia Chiajna, commonly known as Concordia Chiajna, is a Romanian professional football club based in Chiajna, Ilfov County, which competes in the Liga II. Founded in 1957, the team's best period was between 2011 and 2019, when ...

. His first game in top-flight football took place on 17 August, in a 2–0 defeat away to

ASA 2013 Târgu Mureș Asociația Sportivă Ardealul 2013 Târgu Mureș, commonly known as ASA Târgu Mureș or simply as Târgu Mureș, was a Romanian professional football club based in Târgu Mureș, Mureș County, which last played in the Liga II. During its short ...

. He switched to

FC Astra Giurgiu Asociația Fotbal Club Astra Giurgiu (), commonly known as Astra Giurgiu or simply Astra, was a Romanian football club based in the city of Giurgiu, Giurgiu County. Founded in 1921 in Ploiești as ''Clubul Sportiv Astra-Română'', it spent the ...

in the same league at the end of the campaign, being rarely played during his two-year spell. Alves returned to Portugal in June 2017, joining Leixões on a two-year contract. In the following off-season, however, he left for

of the

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, ...

on a three-year deal. On 8 December 2018, Alves made his debut in the Portuguese top division on 8 December 2018, coming on as a first-half substitute for the injured Ricardo Costa in an eventual 0–1 home loss against

S.C. Braga Sporting Clube de Braga () (), commonly known as Sporting de Braga or just Braga, is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Braga. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese f ...

. He scored his first league goal on 5 January 2020, opening the 1–1 draw with

Gil Vicente F.C. Gil Vicente Futebol Clube (), commonly known as Gil Vicente, founded in 1924, is a Portuguese football club that plays in Barcelos. It competes in the Primeira Liga, the top division of football in the country, and it is named after the Portugues ...

also at the

Estádio João Cardoso Estádio João Cardoso is a football stadium in Tondela, Portugal, with a capacity for 5,000 spectators. It is the home stadium of C.D. Tondela, currently playing in the Portuguese Primeira Liga. The stadium, built in 2008, initially held a capa ...

International career

Alves won his only

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

for Portugal at under-21 level on 3 June 2011, playing the second half of the 2–0 friendly victory over

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

held in Faro,

Algarve The Algarve (, , ; from ) is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities ( ''concelhos'' or ''municípios'' in Portuguese). The region has it ...

Honours

Astra Giurgiu *

: 2015–16

References

External links

*
Portuguese League profile
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alves, Ricardo 1991 births Living people Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Viana do Castelo District Men's association football defenders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players G.D. Tourizense players C.S. Marítimo players Leixões S.C. players C.D. Tondela players Liga I players CS Concordia Chiajna players FC Astra Giurgiu players Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Romania