João Rodrigo Pereira Escoval (born 8 May 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 lea ...

who plays as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

club Akron Tolyatti.

Club career

Escoval was born in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

. He joined

S.L. 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'', Benfica is one of the " ...

's youth system at the age of 10, signing from SG Sacavenense also in the region. On 24 August 2016, Escoval made his professional debut for Benfica's B team, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 away win against

F.C. Vizela Futebol Clube de Vizela is a Portuguese professional association football, football club that plays in Liga Portugal 2, the second tier of Portuguese football. They are based in the town of Vizela and play in the Estádio do Futebol Clube de Viz ...

in the

LigaPro The Liga Portugal 2 (), also known as Liga Portugal Meu Super 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 ...

. He contributed a further nine starts until the end of the season, helping to a final fourth position. On 18 August 2017, the 20-year-old Escoval and teammate Filipe Ferreira were sold to

NK Istra 1961 Nogometni klub Istra 1961 (), commonly referred to as Istra 1961, is a Croatian professional football club based in Pula, that competes in the Croatian First League. It is a common opinion amongst many people that ''Istra 1961'' was founded i ...

from the

Croatian Football League The Hrvatska nogometna liga (; ), abbreviated as HNL and also known for sponsorship reasons as the SuperSport HNL, is a professional association football league in Croatia and the highest level of the Croatian football league system. Establish ...

, as

Mato Miloš Mato Miloš (; born 30 June 1993) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a right-back for I liga club Odra Opole. Club career Born in Pula, Miloš went through the ranks of his hometown club NK Jadran Poreč, before moving to NK ...

moved in the opposite direction. On 10 January 2018, he signed a -year contract with

HNK Rijeka Hrvatski nogometni klub Rijeka (), commonly referred to as HNK Rijeka, is a Croatian professional association football club from the city of Rijeka. HNK Rijeka competes in Croatia's top division, Croatian First Football League, Supersport HNL, o ...

of the same country and league, with a three-year extension option. He scored his first top-flight goal while in service of the latter club, opening the 2–0 away victory over NK Varaždin on 28 September 2019. Escoval joined

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...

side

Anorthosis Famagusta FC Anorthosis Famagusta (), commonly known as Anorthosis in English or Anorthosi in Greek, is a Cypriot football club, part of the Famagusta multi-sport club founded in 1911 in Varosha, Famagusta.

on 31 January 2022 on a two-and-a-half-year deal, but switched to the

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

with Volos F.C. shortly after. He returned to Portugal in summer 2023, agreeing to a two-year contract at Vizela. He made his

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

debut on 27 August by starting the 2–0 loss at

Vitória de Guimarães 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 * Sofia Vitória (bor ...

and, in December, renewed his link until 2026. On 29 June 2024, Escoval signed for

newcomers

FC Akron Tolyatti FC Akron Tolyatti () is a Russian professional football club based in Tolyatti founded in 2018 who play in the Russian Premier League. History In June 2019, it was confirmed that the club will enter the Russian Professional Football League in th ...

Career statistics

Honours

Rijeka *

Croatian Football Cup The Croatian Football Cup (), is an annually held football tournament for Croatian football clubs and is the second most important competition in Croatian football after the HNL championship. It is governed by the Croatian Football Federation (HNS ...

: 2018–19, 2019–20 Individual *

Goal of the Month: April 2025 (on 27 April 2025 against

Khimki Khimki (, ) is a city in Moscow Oblast, Russia. It is located approximately northwest from central Moscow, and is part of the Moscow metropolitan area. History Origins and formation Khimki was initially a railway station that had existed sin ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Escoval, Rodrigo 1997 births Living people Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Lisbon Men's association football central defenders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Casa Pia A.C. players S.L. Benfica B players F.C. Vizela players Croatian Football League players NK Istra 1961 players HNK Rijeka players Cypriot First Division players Anorthosis Famagusta FC players Super League Greece players Volos F.C. players Russian Premier League players FC Akron Tolyatti players Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Croatia Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Greece Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Russia 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen