Rui Pedro Coimbra Chaves (born 11 September 1990), known as Ruca, is a

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

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 ...

Club career

Born in

Tondela Tondela () is a municipality in the central Portuguese subregion of Dão-Lafões. The population in 2011 was 28,946, in an area of 371.22 km². History Local writer and intellectual Amadeu Ferraz de Carvalho (1876–1951) wrote of the munic ...

Viseu District The District of Viseu ( pt, Distrito de Viseu ) is located in the Central Inland of Portugal, the District Capital is the city of Viseu. Municipalities The district is composed by 24 municipalities: * Armamar * Carregal do Sal * Castro Daire * ...

, Ruca moved to

S.C. Beira-Mar Sport Clube Beira-Mar () is a Portuguese sports club based in Aveiro, Portugal. Its football team currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, the fourth national level, having gained promotion by winning the Aveiro FA First Division 2018/19 ...

's youth system at the age of 16 from local Clube de Futebol Repesenses. After winning the second-division juniors championship in 2009, he signed with Gil Vicente FC. In his first season as a senior, Ruca was loaned to hometown's

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 ...

. He made his competitive debut against

Amarante F.C. Amarante Futebol Clube ''(abbreviated as Amarante FC)'' is a Portuguese football club based in Amarante in the district of Porto. Background Amarante FC currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal which is the fourth tier of Portuguese foot ...

on 30 August 2009, in a

match A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matc ...

for the

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 ...

. He continued to be loaned the following years, to

Vilaverdense FC Länk FC Vilaverdense (formerly known as Vilaverdense F.C.) is a Portuguese football club based in Vila Verde in the district of Braga. Länk FC Vilaverdense FC currently plays in the Liga 3 which is the third tier of Portuguese football. The ...

, GD Oliveira de Frades (two spells) and again Tondela. Ruca joined yet another club in the third division in the summer of 2013,

SC Mirandela Sport Clube de Mirandela ''(Mirandela)'' is a Portuguese football club based in the city of Mirandela, in northeast Portugal (Trás-os-Montes region). Background Mirandela currently plays in the Segunda Divisão Zona Norte, which is the third t ...

. He had been previously deployed as a

left winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

, but switched to

at his new team. On 1 July 2014, Ruca signed for C.D. Mafra as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

after his contract with Gil expired. Starting in all his league appearances, he contributed seven goals to help the side win the championship and subsequently promote to the Segunda Liga. Ruca agreed to a two-year deal 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 ...

from 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 11 June 2015. He scored on his debut in the competition on 16 August, putting the hosts ahead 2–0 in an eventual 2–2 draw against

Boavista FC Boavista Futebol Clube, commonly known as Boavista (), is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Porto. Founded on 1 August 1903 by British entrepreneurs and Portuguese textile workers (thus the "FC" being appended – the British way as oppos ...

. On 30 August 2016, Ruca was linked to Cypriot club

Apollon Limassol Apollon Limassol FC ( el, Απόλλων Λεμεσού, ''Apollon Lemesou'') is a Cypriot sports club, based in Limassol. It has football, basketball and volleyball teams. Founded in 1954, Apollon FC currently plays in the Cypriot First Divisi ...

, but Vitória manager

José Couceiro José Júlio de Carvalho Peyroteo Martins Couceiro (born 4 October 1962) is a Portuguese football manager, currently the national technical director of the Portuguese Football Federation. Managerial career As a manager, Couceiro's career is marke ...

vetoed his departure due to lack of options in his position. On 30 December he left by mutual consent due to lack of playing time and, two days later, returned to Tondela. Ruca continued to compete in the Portuguese second tier in the following seasons (a brief loan spell in the

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and is thus officially ...

notwithstanding), representing Mafra,

C.D. Feirense Clube Desportivo Feirense, commonly known as CD Feirense or just Feirense, is a Portuguese football club based in Santa Maria da Feira. Founded on 18 March 1918, Feirense play in the LigaPro, the second tier of Portuguese football. Their chair ...

and

F.C. Penafiel Futebol Clube de Penafiel ( or ) is a Portuguese Association football, football club founded on 8 February 1951 and based in the city of Penafiel, Portugal, Penafiel. Brief history Penafiel first reached the Portuguese Liga, first division in Po ...

Club statistics

Honours

Vilaverdense *

Braga Football Association The Braga Football Association (''Associação de Futebol de Braga'', abrv. ''AF Braga'') is the district governing body for the all football competitions in the Portuguese district of Braga since 1992. It is also the regulator of the clubs regis ...

: 2010–11 Mafra * Campeonato de Portugal: 2014–15

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruca 1990 births Living people Sportspeople from Viseu District Portuguese footballers Association football defenders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players Gil Vicente F.C. players C.D. Tondela players Vilaverdense F.C. players SC Mirandela players C.D. Mafra players Vitória F.C. players C.D. Feirense players F.C. Penafiel players Cypriot First Division players Alki Oroklini players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players PFC Beroe Stara Zagora players Portuguese expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Expatriate footballers in Bulgaria Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria