Ricardo Jorge Rodrigues Pessoa (born 5 February 1982) 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 lea ...

who played as a

right-back 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 ...

, currently

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Liga Portugal 2 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 Pr ...

club

Portimonense Portimonense Sporting Clube is a Portuguese sports club based in Portimão. Founded on 14 August 1914, it is most notable for its professional football team, which currently plays in the Liga Portugal 2, the second division of Portuguese football ...

. He spent most of his 17-year professional career with

, but also competed in the

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 ...

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 * Sofia Vitória (bor ...

and

Moreirense Moreirense Futebol Clube is a Portuguese professional football club based in Moreira de Cónegos, Guimarães Municipality, Minho. Founded on 1 November 1938, it plays in the Primeira Liga, holding home games at Parque de Jogos Comendador Joaquim d ...

. He made a record 359 appearances in

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 ...

Club career

Born in

Vendas Novas Vendas Novas (), officially the City of Vendas Novas (), is a municipality in the District of Évora in Portugal. The population in 2021 was 11,245, in an area of 222.39 km2. The city has 10,625 inhabitants. The present Mayor is Valentino Sal ...

Évora District Évora District ( ) is located in Alentejo, in southern Portugal. The district capital is the city of Évora. It borders Spain. Municipalities The district is composed by 14 municipalities: * Alandroal * Arraiolos * Borba * Estremoz * Év ...

, Pessoa started his professional career with

, being sparingly used during his four-year spell with the

Sado River The Sado () is a river in southern Portugal; it is one of the major rivers in the country. It flows in a northerly direction (the only major Portuguese river to do so) through from its springs in the hills of Ourique before entering the Atlanti ...

club. He played 20 games as it returned to the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

after one year of absence, but only made ten appearances at that level over three seasons. In the summer of 2005, Pessoa returned to the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

and signed for

Portimonense SC Portimonense Sporting Clube is a Portuguese sports club based in Portimão. Founded on 14 August 1914, it is most notable for its professional football team, which currently plays in the Liga Portugal 2, the second division of Portuguese football ...

, being an undisputed starter from the beginnings and also eventually gaining

captaincy A captaincy ( , , ) is a historical administrative division of the former Spanish colonies, Spanish and Portuguese colonies, Portuguese colonial empires. It was instituted as a method of organization, directly associated with the home-rule admin ...

. In the 2009–10 campaign, he scored six goals– whilst taking part in all 30 league matches – as the

Algarve The Algarve (, , ) is the southernmost NUTS statistical regions of Portugal, NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities (concelho, ''concelhos'' or ''município ...

team returned to the top flight after 20 years. Aged 35, Pessoa managed another promotion with his main club in

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, contributing four goals (again mostly from penalties) from 29 appearances. On 25 May that year, he renewed his contract until 2020. Pessoa retired at the end of the 2017–18 season, having featured sparingly as Portimonense retained their league status due to injury. During his 12-year spell in

Portimão Portimão () is a city and a municipality in the district of Faro (district), Faro, in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. The population in 2022 was 63,079 in an area of 182.06 km2. It was formerly known as Vila Nova de Portimão. In ...

, he played 426 matches in all competitions.

International career

Pessoa appeared once for Portugal at under-21 level, playing the last 14 minutes of the 2–2 friendly draw against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

held in

Guarda Guarda may refer to: * Guarda, Portugal, city in Portugal * Guarda District, the district containing that city * Roman Catholic Diocese of Guarda, Portugal, the diocese containing that city * Guarda, Switzerland, municipality in Grisons, Switzerlan ...

Career statistics

Honours

Vitória Setúbal *

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 ...

: 2004–05 Portimonense * Segunda Liga: 2016–17

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pessoa, Ricardo 1982 births Living people 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Évora District Men's association football fullbacks Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Vitória F.C. players Portimonense S.C. players Moreirense F.C. players Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portugal men's B international footballers Portuguese football managers Liga Portugal 2 managers S.C. Lusitânia managers Portimonense S.C. managers