Ricardo Gomes Raymundo (born 13 December 1964) is a Brazilian retired professional footballer and manager. As a player, he played as a central defender, in a 14-year professional career, for Fluminense (six years), Benfica (four) and Paris Saint-Germain (four). Gomes played for

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

during the 1980s and 1990s, representing the nation at the 1990 World Cup and in two Copa América tournaments. Subsequently, he went on to have a lengthy managerial career, in both his country and France.

Club career

Born in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, Gomes started playing professionally with Fluminense Football Club. With the club, he won three consecutive state leagues, adding the 1984 Série A. In the middle of 1988, he signed with S.L. Benfica of Portugal, alongside compatriot Valdo, a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. Both were important elements in their debut season, as Benfica won the national championship, a feat which was again accomplished in 1991, with the defender scoring an astonishing 17 goals in both conquests combined, due to his superb aerial ability. Both Gomes and Valdo left for Paris Saint-Germain F.C. in the middle of 1991, and both would return four years later to

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 ...

, having won a total of four titles, including the 1993–94 first division title. In his second Benfica spell, he played sparingly, but still managed to score four times in the league, and helped the team win the domestic cup, before retiring from football in June 1996, at only 31.

International career

During one decade, Gomes won 45 caps for

. He appeared for the nation at two Copa América tournaments, winning the 1989 edition played on home soil, and was present at the 1990 FIFA World Cup, where he played all the matches and minutes until being sent off in the 85th minute for a foul on José Basualdo, in the round of 16 0–1 loss against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. Gomes was also selected – again as captain – to the 1994 World Cup, but had to be removed from the squad in the last hour, due to injury. Additionally, he was part of the team that won the silver medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics.

Coaching career

Gomes immediately started coaching with Paris Saint-Germain, leaving the French side after two years, having finished second in the 1996–97 season and winning the following season's French Cup. He then returned to his country, managing seven teams until 2004, also having a spell with the Brazilian Olympic team. In the following four seasons, Gomes worked again in France, with FC Girondins de Bordeaux then going on to manage Monégasque side AS Monaco FC, leaving his post at the latter in late May 2009, with the team eventually ranking 11th. On 20 June 2009, Gomes signed with São Paulo FC, replacing Muricy Ramalho. In early February 2011, he moved to CR Vasco da Gama, leading his hometown club to its first ever Brazilian Cup, a 3–3 aggregate win against Coritiba Football Club. On 28 August 2011, 46-year-old Gomes suffered a stroke during the match between Flamengo and Vasco da Gama. He was taken to hospital in an ambulance with the game still playing, and was diagnosed with a life-threatening brain hemorrhage that required emergency head surgery. On 14 November 2012, after more one year away from football, Gomes came back to Vasco da Gama as technical director. On 22 July 2015, he returned to command Botafogo in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série B. In August 2016, Gomes was appointed as the head coach of São Paulo FC. However, on 23 November 2016, he was dismissed following poor form which left São Paulo one point away from the relegation zone. On 5 September 2018, after two months as Santos FC's director of football, Gomes was announced as the head coach of Bordeaux, returning to the post after several weeks following the sacking of previous manager Gus Poyet.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Fluminense * Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: 1984 * Campeonato Carioca: 1983, 1984, 1985 Benfica * Primeira Liga: 1989–89, 1990–91 *

Taça de Portugal The Taça de 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 Generali Tranquilidade since the 2024–25 seaso ...

: 1995–96 Paris Saint-Germain * Ligue 1: 1993–94 * Coupe de France: 1992–93, 1994–95 * Coupe de la Ligue: 1994–95 Brazil * Pan American Games: 1987 * Olympic Silver Medal: 1988 * Copa América: 1989

Manager

Paris Saint-Germain * Coupe de France: 1997–98 * Coupe de la Ligue: 1997–98 Vitória * Copa do Nordeste: 1999 * Campeonato Baiano: 1999 Bordeaux * Coupe de la Ligue: 2006–07 Vasco da Gama * Copa do Brasil:

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Botafogo * Campeonato Brasileiro Série B: 2015

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gomes, Ricardo 1964 births Living people Footballers from Rio de Janeiro (city) Brazilian men's footballers Brazilian football managers Brazilian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in France Men's association football defenders Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Primeira Liga players Ligue 1 players Brazil men's international footballers 1990 FIFA World Cup players 1987 Copa América players 1989 Copa América players Copa América–winning players Olympic footballers for Brazil Footballers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Brazil Olympic medalists in football Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in France Campeonato Brasileiro Série A managers Ligue 1 managers Campeonato Brasileiro Série B managers Fluminense FC players S.L. Benfica footballers Paris Saint-Germain FC players Paris Saint-Germain FC managers Sport Club do Recife managers Esporte Clube Vitória managers Guarani FC managers Coritiba Foot Ball Club managers Esporte Clube Juventude managers Fluminense FC managers CR Flamengo managers FC Girondins de Bordeaux managers AS Monaco FC managers São Paulo FC managers CR Vasco da Gama managers Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas managers Brazil national football team managers Brazil national under-23 football team managers Pan American Games gold medalists for Brazil Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists in football Al-Nassr FC managers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in France Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate football managers in Saudi Arabia Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Footballers at the 1987 Pan American Games Saudi Pro League managers Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games 20th-century Brazilian sportsmen