Ricardo Jorge Rodrigues Pessoa (born 5 February 1982) is a Portuguese former

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 played as a

right-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 ...

, currently

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

S.C. Lusitânia The Sport Clube Lusitânia (commonly shortened to ''S.C. Lusitânia'') is a sports club located in Angra do Heroísmo on the island of Terceira, in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. Besides a football department, the club also has a bask ...

. He spent most of his 17-year professional career with

Portimonense 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 al ...

, but also competed in 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, ...

with

Vitória de Setúbal Vitoria or Vitória may refer to : People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Steven Vitória (b ...

and

Moreirense Moreirense Futebol Clube is a Portuguese professional football club based in Moreira de Cónegos, Guimarães Municipality, in Minho. Founded on 1 November 1938, it plays in the Liga Portugal 2, holding home games at Parque de Jogos Comendador Joa ...

. He made a record 359 appearances in

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 ...

Club career

Born in

Vendas Novas Vendas Novas () is a municipality in the District of Évora in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 11,846, in an area of 222.39 km2. The city has 10,235 inhabitants. The present Mayor is Luís Dias, elected by the Socialist Party. The munici ...

Évora District Évora District ( pt, Distrito de Évora ) is located in Alentejo, in southern Portugal. The district capital is the city of Évora. Municipalities The district is composed by 14 municipalities: * Alandroal * Arraiolos * Borba * Estremoz * Év ...

, Pessoa started his professional career with

, being sparingly used during his four-year spell with the

Sado River The river Sado () is a river in southern Portugal; it is one of the major rivers in the country. It flows in a northerly direction (the only major Portuguese river to do so) through from its springs in the hills of Ourique before entering the A ...

club. He played 20 games as it returned to the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

after one year of absence, but only made ten appearances at that level over three seasons. In the summer of 2005, Pessoa returned to the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

and signed for

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 ...

, being an undisputed starter from the beginnings and also eventually gaining

captaincy A captaincy ( es, capitanía , pt, capitania , hr, kapetanija) is a historical administrative division of the former Spanish and Portuguese colonial empires. It was instituted as a method of organization, directly associated with the home-rule ...

. In the 2009–10 campaign, he scored six goals– whilst taking part in all 30 league matches – as the

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 ...

team returned to the top flight after 20 years. Aged 35, Pessoa managed another promotion with his main club in

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, contributing four goals (again mostly from

penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

) from 29 appearances. On 25 May that year, he renewed his contract until 2020. Pessoa retired at the end of the 2017–18 season, having featured sparingly as Portimonense retained their league status due to injury. During his 12-year spell in

Portimão Portimão () is a city and a municipality in the district of Faro, in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. The population in 2011 was 55,614, in an area of 182.06 km2. It was formerly known as Vila Nova de Portimão (). In 1924, it was ...

, he played 426 matches in all competitions.

International career

Pessoa appeared once for Portugal at under-21 level, playing the last 14 minutes of the 2–2 friendly draw against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

held in Guarda.

Career statistics

Honours

Vitória Setúbal *

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 seaso ...

: 2004–05 Portimonense * Segunda Liga: 2016–17

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pessoa, Ricardo 1982 births Living people Sportspeople from Évora District Portuguese men's footballers Men's association football defenders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Vitória F.C. players Portimonense S.C. players Moreirense F.C. players Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portugal men's B international footballers Portuguese football managers S.C. Lusitânia managers