José Ricardo Soares Ribeiro (born 11 November 1974), known as Soares, 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 ...

who played as a winger, 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 ...

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional association ...

club

Beijing Guoan Beijing Guoan Football Club () is a professional football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in the Chaoyang District in Beijing and their hom ...

. After a playing career spent almost entirely at the amateur level, he began managing in 2005, and took

Vizela Vizela () is a municipality in the Braga District in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 23,736, in an area of 24.70 km². The present mayor is Vitor Hugo Salgado, elected as an independent. The municipal holiday is March 19. History In A ...

to the second tier eleven years later. He led Chaves, Aves,

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 ...

Gil Vicente Gil Vicente (; c. 1465c. 1536), called the Trobadour, was a Portuguese playwright and poet who acted in and directed his own plays. Considered the chief dramatist of Portugal he is sometimes called the "Portuguese Plautus," often ref ...

and

Estoril Estoril () is a town in the Municipality of Cascais, Portugal, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a tourist destination, with luxury hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numerous royal families and celebrities, and has h ...

in the Primeira Liga, and had a brief spell at

Al Ahly AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media * Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera * Al (''Fullmetal ...

in Egypt.

Playing career

Born in Felgueiras, Soares' professional input as a player consisted of seven Segunda Liga games for his hometown club F.C. Felgueiras, over three seasons in as many spells. He amassed third division totals of 232 matches and 28 goals during his 12-year senior career, representing seven teams in the competition.

Coaching career

Early years, Vizela and Chaves

Soares started working as a manager in 2005 at the age of 30, with amateur side

Clube Caçadores das Taipas Clube Caçadores das Taipas is a Portuguese sports club from Caldas das Taipas. The men's football team plays in the Braga Football Association Serie 2. They played for many years in the old Terceira Divisão, but had stints on the third tier, ...

. Having signed with

F.C. Vizela Futebol Clube de Vizela is a Portuguese Association football, 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 cap ...

in the summer of 2014, he achieved promotion to the second level at the end of the 2015–16 campaign. On 18 December 2016, Soares was appointed at Primeira Liga club

G.D. Chaves Grupo Desportivo de Chaves, commonly known as Chaves (), is a Portuguese association football, football football team, club from Chaves, Portugal, Chaves currently playing in the Primeira Liga. They were founded in 1949 and currently play at Está ...

, replacing

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 ...

-bound

Jorge Simão António Jorge Rocha Simão (born 12 August 1976) is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a midfielder, currently a manager. Having played only as an amateur, he began work as an assistant manager at 26, before his first outright posit ...

. His first game took place four days later, a 1–0 home win against G.D. Estoril Praia.

Aves, Académica and Covilhã

In May 2017, Soares moved to another top-flight club,

C.D. Aves Clube Desportivo das Aves (), commonly known as Desportivo das Aves, or simply as Aves, is a Portuguese professional football club based in Vila das Aves, Santo Tirso. The club was founded on 12 November 1930 and plays at the Estádio do Clube ...

on a two-year deal. He left on 2 October, with the team in last place on six points from eight matches. Soares returned to the second tier on 14 November 2017, succeeding

Ivo Vieira Ivo Ricardo Abreu Vieira (born 10 January 1976) is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a defender, currently head coach of Brazilian club Cuiabá. He spent his entire playing career with Nacional, where he also began his managerial c ...

Associação Académica de Coimbra The Associação Académica de Coimbra (AAC) is the students' union of the University of Coimbra (UC). Founded in Coimbra on November 3, 1887, it is the oldest students' union in Portugal. It is also the biggest Portuguese students' union belongi ...

. He left by mutual accord the following 1 April having won half of his 18 fixtures, and as the side was placed fifth and four points off a promotion place. After over a year out of the game, Soares was hired by

S.C. Covilhã Sporting Clube da Covilhã, commonly known as just Sporting da Covilhã, is Portuguese association football, football club from the city of Covilhã that plays in the second-tier Liga Portugal 2. The club was founded in 1923. Their nickname is the ...

on 20 May 2019, replacing

F.C. Paços de Ferreira Futebol Clube Paços de Ferreira () is a Portuguese football club based in Paços de Ferreira, Porto district. Founded in 1950, the club competes in the Primeira Liga, holding home games at the 9,077-seater Estádio da Mata Real, a municipal s ...

-bound Filó.

Moreirense and Gil Vicente

On 18 December 2019, with his Covilhã team ranked seventh, Soares returned to the top flight by succeeding sacked Vítor Campelos at the helm of

Moreirense FC 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 left the

Parque de Jogos Comendador Joaquim de Almeida Freitas Parque de Jogos Comendador Joaquim de Almeida Freitas is a multi-use stadium in Moreira de Cónegos, Braga Braga ( , ; cel-x-proto, Bracara) is a city and a municipality, capital of the northwestern Portuguese district of Braga and of the ...

in November 2020, feeling he was not able to maximise his players' potential. Shortly after, Soares was appointed at

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 ...

of the same league. In 2021–22, he led the team to fifth place and a European debut in the

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Europa Conference League (abbreviated as UECL) is an annual football club competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on thei ...

Al Ahly

In June 2022, Soares moved abroad for the first time in his career, paying €250,000 to release himself from his Gil Vicente contract ahead of a two-year deal at Egypt's Al Ahly SC. His new annual salary was €1.5 million. On his debut on 2 July, the team won 2–0 at home to Petrojet SC in the

semi-finals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

of the

national cup The English National Cup is an annual basketball knock-out competition held between professional, semi-professional and amateur teams from the various divisions of the National Basketball League. For most of the competition's history, the draw has ...

; his

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

bow was a goalless draw at

El Gouna FC El Gouna Football Club ( ar, نادي الجونة لكرة القدم), is an Egyptian association football club based in El Gouna, Hurghada, Egypt. The club currently plays in the Egyptian Premier League, the highest league in the Egyptian foot ...

three days later. In the cup final on 21 July 2022, Soares' side lost 2–1 to local rivals

Zamalek SC Zamalek Sporting Club ( ar, نادي الزمالك للألعاب الرياضية), commonly referred to as Zamalek, is an Egyptian sports club based in Giza. It is one of the most successful football clubs in Africa and the Middle East, an ...

, led by veteran compatriot

Jesualdo Ferreira Manuel Jesualdo Ferreira (born 24 May 1946) is a Portuguese football manager. He is currently the manager of Zamalek in the Egyptian Premier League. In a managerial career of over forty years, he was in charge of all of his country's Big Thre ...

. He was dismissed on 31 August, having failed to take the league title back from the same adversary; having slipped behind a third

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

side,

Pyramids FC Pyramids Football Club ( ar, نادي بيراميدز لكرة القدم or ) is an Egyptian professional football club based in Cairo that competes in the Egyptian Premier League, the highest league in the Egyptian football league system. ...

, Al Ahly finished outside the top two for the first time since 1991–92.

Estoril

Soares returned to Portugal and its main division on 28 February 2023, on a one-and-a-half-year contract at Estoril. He terminated his deal one year early, having concluded the season with the team raised one place to 14th position.

Beijing Guoan

On 15 June 2023, Soares was appointed as the new head coach of

club Beijing Guoan FC.

Managerial statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Soares, Ricardo 1974 births Living people People from Felgueiras Footballers from Porto District Portuguese footballers Men's association football wingers Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players F.C. Vizela players F.C. Lixa players S.C. Freamunde players A.D. Lousada players F.C. Felgueiras players AD Fafe players C.D. Trofense players U.S.C. Paredes players G.D.R.C. Os Sandinenses players Portuguese football managers Primeira Liga managers Liga Portugal 2 managers F.C. Vizela managers G.D. Chaves managers C.D. Aves managers Académica de Coimbra (football) managers S.C. Covilhã managers Moreirense F.C. managers Gil Vicente F.C. managers G.D. Estoril Praia managers Egyptian Premier League managers Al Ahly SC managers Chinese Super League managers Beijing Guoan F.C. managers Portuguese expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Egypt Expatriate football managers in China Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Egypt Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in China