Yuri Oliveira Ribeiro (born 24 January 1997) 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 ...

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 ...

or wing-back for Polish club Legia Warsaw.

Club career

Benfica

Born in Switzerland to Portuguese migrant parents, Ribeiro moved to

Vieira do Minho Vieira do Minho (, ) is a municipality in the district of Braga, in the north of Portugal. The population in 2011 was 12,997, in an area of 216.44 km². The present mayor is António Cardoso, elected by a coalition between PSD and the CDS– ...

, Braga District at the age of two. He started playing football at Escola Os Craques when he was 9. He joined

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 ...

's academy four years later and, at the age of 13, signed for

S.L. Benfica Sport Lisboa e Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. Founded on 28 February 1904 as ''Sport Lisboa'', Be ...

, where he went on to finish his development and win the 2013 juvenile national championship. Ribeiro made his senior debut for Benfica's reserves on 29 May 2015, starting in a 2–1 home win over Vitória S.C. B in the Segunda Liga. He started the following season as a backup to Pedro Rebocho but was called to action when the latter injured himself at Varzim SC. Ribeiro first appeared in official matches with the first team on 14 December 2016, playing the entire 3–0 away victory over Real S.C. in the

round of 16 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

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 sea ...

. The following 3 January, he also started against

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 Taça da Liga (4–0 win at the

Estádio da Luz The Estádio da Luz (), officially named Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Lisbon, Portugal. It is used mostly for association football matches, hosting the home games of Portuguese club S.L. Benfica, it ...

in the group stage). On 30 June 2017, Ribeiro joined Rio Ave F.C. on a

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

-long loan deal. His maiden appearance in the Primeira Liga took place on 7 August, in a 1–0 home defeat of C.F. Os Belenenses. He totalled 29 games in his year in

Vila do Conde Vila do Conde (, ; "the Count's Town") is a municipality in the Norte Region of Portugal. The population in 2011 was 79,533, in an area of 149.03 km². The urbanized area of Vila do Conde, which includes the parishes of Vila do Conde, Azurar ...

, and scored a first career goal in a 2–0 home win over

Boavista F.C. 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 ...

the following 21 January. Ribeiro returned to Benfica for the 2018–19 campaign, extending his contract with the club for an additional five years. On 14 February 2019, he made his European debut as they beat

Galatasaray SK Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

2–1 in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League round of 32, their first-ever victory in Turkey.

Nottingham Forest

On 8 July 2019, Ribeiro joined English side

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

on a permanent deal, along with Benfica teammate Alfa Semedo who also moved to the

City Ground The City Ground is a football stadium in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, on the banks of the River Trent. It has been home to Nottingham Forest Football Club since 1898 and has a capacity of 30,445. The stadium was a venue when En ...

but on a

-long loan. He made his debut on 13 August in the first round of the EFL Cup, playing the full 90 minutes of a 3–0 home win over Fleetwood Town, and went on to make the starting position his own ahead of Jack Robinson. Ribeiro scored his first goal for the club on 15 December 2020, in a 2–0 victory against

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

. He was released the following June.

Legia Warsaw

On 23 August 2021, Ribeiro signed a three-year contract with Legia Warsaw.

International career

Ribeiro represented

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

in the

2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship The 2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship was the 13th edition of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship, an annual football competition between men's under-17 national teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament was hosted for the first t ...

, helping his team reach the semi-finals, where they lost to eventual winners

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. On 7 July 2016, he was selected by the under-19 side for that year's European Championship in Germany. On 2 September 2016, Ribeiro won his first

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 the under-21s at 19, featuring the full 90 minutes in a 0–0 home draw with

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

for the 2017 European Championship qualifiers.

Personal life

Ribeiro was named after

Youri Djorkaeff Youri Raffi Djorkaeff (born 9 March 1968) is a French former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or forward. Throughout his club career, he played for teams in France, Italy, Germany, England, and the United States. A ...

after his parents saw the French international play. His father was a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

, and his older brother, Romeu, also played for Benfica and Portugal at youth level.

Career statistics

Honours

Benfica *

: 2016–17 Legia Warsaw *

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in football ( pl, Puchar Polski w piłce nożnej ) is an elimination tournament for Polish football clubs, held continuously from 1950, and is the second most important national title in Polish football after the Ekstraklasa title. ...

: 2022–23 *

Polish Super Cup The Polish Super Cup (, ) is an annually held match between the champions of the Ekstraklasa and the Polish Cup winners or, if the Ekstraklasa champions also win the Polish Cup, the Cup's runners-up. As of 2021, the Polish Super Cup has been pl ...

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

References

External links

*
Portuguese League profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ribeiro, Yuri 1997 births Living people People from Vieira do Minho Swiss people of Portuguese descent Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Braga District Men's association football fullbacks Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players S.C. Braga players S.L. Benfica B players S.L. Benfica footballers Rio Ave F.C. players English Football League players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Ekstraklasa players III liga players Legia Warsaw players Legia Warsaw II players Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in England Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Poland