Bryan Jafet Ruiz González (; born 18 August 1985) is a Costa Rican former 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 ...

. A left-footed

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

, he also played as a

second striker In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on bein ...

. Ruiz is the only Central American footballer to have played in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

, the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

, and the

CONMEBOL CONMEBOL ( ) or CSF (; ; ), is the continental governing body of football in South America and it is one of FIFA's six continental confederations. The oldest continental confederation in the world, its headquarters are located in Luque, Parag ...

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

Club career

Alajuelense

Ruiz began his professional career at 18, making his debut for

Liga Deportiva Alajuelense Liga Deportiva Alajuelense (LDA, ), commonly known as Alajuelense and nicknamed La Liga (), is a Costa Rican multisport club based in the borough of El Llano, Alajuela, Alajuela province. Although they compete in a number of different sports, Ala ...

on 30 November 2003 against Municipal Pérez Zeledón,Vida de Bryan Ruiz (Profile)
– Nación in Costa Rica's top division. He formed a trio with 2 strikers,

Rolando Fonseca Rolando Fonseca Jiménez (born 6 June 1974) is a Costa Rican former professional association football, footballer who played as a forward (association football), forward. Nicknamed ''El Principito'' (The little prince)''La Nación (San José), ...

and Froylán Ledezma, where he built a reputation as a goalscorer and a play maker. Ruiz scored his first goal on 23 December 2003 against Ramonense, netting twice against Fernando Patterson. In Alajuelense, he was nicknamed ''La Comadreja'' (The

Weasel Weasels are mammals of the genus ''Mustela'' of the family Mustelidae. The genus ''Mustela'' includes the least weasels, polecats, stoats, ferrets, and European mink. Members of this genus are small, active predators, with long and slend ...

), for his facial profile. He was on the team when it won regional titles such as the UNCAF Cup and the CONCACAF Champions' Cup.

Gent

In the summer of 2006, Ruiz was signed by Gent in a four-year deal along with Randall Azofeifa from

Deportivo Saprissa Deportivo Saprissa is a Costa Rican sports club, mostly known for its Association football, football team. The club is based in San Juan de Tibás, San José, Costa Rica, San José, and play their home games at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aym ...

and Roy Myrie from

. He scored his first

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

playing on 8 December 2007 against

Lokeren Lokeren () is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of East Flanders, and belongs to the Waasland, also called ''Land van Waas'', of which it is the second ...

. In that season in the Belgian League, he was the captain and top scorer for the team.

Twente

On 15 July 2009, the Dutch club

FC Twente Football Club Twente (), sometimes known internationally as FC Twente Enschede, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from the city of Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub E ...

announced that they had signed Ruiz for a fee of around

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

5 million, and agreed to receive a percentage of a subsequent transfer. He signed a four-year deal with the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

side. Ruiz made his debut for the new club by scoring the second goal of the match, with an assist from another newcomer,

Miroslav Stoch Miroslav Stoch (born 19 October 1989) is a Slovak former professional association football, footballer who plays as a winger (association football), winger. He earned 60 caps for Slovakia, first debuting in 2009, and was included in their squad ...

, in an away defeat of

Sparta Rotterdam Sparta Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam. Established on 1 April 1888, Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands. Sparta currently competes in the Eredivisie, the top flig ...

. His goal against NAC Breda on 12 December 2009 marked the tenth consecutive match in which he had scored. On 27 March 2010, Ruiz made one of the quickest

s ever against Sparta, with goals in the 46th, 49th and 50th minutes. On 2 May 2010, FC Twente were crowned champions of

for the first time in their history, with a 2–0 win at NAC Breda; Ruiz scored the first goal of the match during the 23rd minute of play. He finished the season as top scorer for Twente with 24 goals in

play. In August 2011, Ruiz was being watched by scouts from

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

; however, on 18 August 2011 Ruiz claimed that

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

was in talks with him. He stated to a local source "Fulham is a serious option for me. "That is also a Premier League side and it is a fantastic league. "Fulham already contacted my agent. If Fulham does become serious, we will definitely talk."

Fulham

On 31 August 2011, the last day of the Premier League summer transfer window, Fulham announced signing Ruiz for an undisclosed fee. His début was on Sunday, 11 September 2011 at home to

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

and he scored his first goal for Fulham in a 3–1 home defeat against Everton on 23 October 2011. In the fixture against

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

at the

Reebok Stadium The Toughsheet Community Stadium is a Association football, football stadium in Horwich near Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. It is the home ground of Bolton Wanderers F.C., Bolton Wanderers Football Club, with an all-seated capacity of 28, ...

on 7 April 2012, Ruiz broke a bone in his foot, leading to a stretcher taking him off and him needing an operation, which sidelined him for 10 weeks. On 18 August 2012, Ruiz started Fulham's first Premier League game of the season, a 5–0 win against

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

and assisted

Mladen Petrić Mladen Petrić (; born 1 January 1981) is a retired professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. During his career, he played for Grasshopper Club Zürich, Grasshopper, FC Basel, Basel, B ...

in scoring his second goal in his debut match. He finished the 2012–13 season making 31 first-team appearances and scoring five goals.

PSV Eindhoven (loan)

Ruiz joined

club

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional association football, football department, which has pla ...

on 15 January 2014, on loan until the end of the season. He made his debut on 19 January 2014 in a 1–0 loss to

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

and scored his first goal for the club on 14 February with a 63rd-minute winner against

Heracles Almelo Heracles Almelo is a Dutch professional football club based in Almelo, founded in 1903. The club has won the Dutch national title twice, in 1927 and 1941. Heracles won the Eerste Divisie title during the 2004–05 season, gaining promotion to t ...

Sporting CP

On 7 July 2015, Ruiz joined

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

on a three-year contract. He made his debut for the club in the 2015 Supertaça match against Lisbon rivals S.L. Benfica, which Sporting won 1–0. On 1 October 2015, Ruiz scored his first goal for Sporting against

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...

in the group stage of the

. His first goal 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 ...

came in a 3–0 Lisbon derby defeat of Benfica 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, Ben ...

on 25 October. In another derby, on 5 March 2016, he missed an open goal, and Benfica won the match 1–0 at

Estádio José Alvalade The Estádio José Alvalade (; ') is a Football (soccer), football stadium in Lisbon, Portugal, home of Sporting Clube de Portugal. It was built adjacent to the site of the Estádio José Alvalade (1956), older stadium. The stadium is named afte ...

, knocking out Sporting to second place in the league.

Santos

On 11 July 2018,

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

Ruiz signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with

Santos FC Santos Futebol Clube () is a Brazilian sports club based in Vila Belmiro, a ''bairro'' in the city of Santos, São Paulo, Santos. It plays in the Campeonato Paulista, the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo's premier State football lea ...

. He made his debut for the club on 8 August, replacing Diego Pituca at half-time in a 1–1 away draw against

Ceará Ceará (, ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. It is the List of Brazilian states by population, eighth-largest Brazilian State by ...

. After only 12 league matches during his first season, Ruiz failed to appear a single minute during his second, under Jorge Sampaoli. On 13 July 2020, after again failing to play under Jesualdo Ferreira, he terminated his contract with the club after alleging "wage breaches and moral damage".

Return to Alajuelense

On 23 July 2020, Ruiz announced his return to Alajuelense. In December 2022, he officially retired from the professional game, and marked the occasion by participating in a friendly between Alajuelense and his former club Twente.

International career

Ruiz made his debut for

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

against

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

on 19 June 2005. He has represented the ''Ticos'' at the

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

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 ...

and

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup () is an association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for men's senior national teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament is held every two ...

s, captaining the team at the latter tournament. His first international goal came against

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

in the 2005 tournament. Ruiz scored six times during the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign, as Costa Rica was knocked out by

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

in the intercontinental play-off. In the 2014 qualifiers, he scored three goals to lead the team to the tournament finals in Brazil. In June 2014, Ruiz was named in Costa Rica's squad for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

. In the team's opening match, he captained ''Los Ticos'' to a 3–1 defeat of

Fortaleza Fortaleza ( ; ; ) is the state capital of Ceará, located in Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeastern Brazil. It is Brazil's 4th largest city—Fortaleza surpassed Salvador, Bahia, Salvador in 2022 census with a population of slightly over 2.4 mi ...

. On 20 June, Ruiz scored the only goal as Costa Rica upset four-time champions

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

1–0 to qualify for the

round of 16 A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

, while also confirming

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

's elimination; Ruiz played the entire match as Costa Rica went unbeaten in the group stage after a 0–0 draw with England in their final game. In the round of 16 match against

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, Ruiz scored the opening goal in a 1–1 draw after extra time, before successfully converting his kick as Costa Rica prevailed 5–3 in the

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

. At the quarter-final stage, Ruiz was one of two Costa Ricans to have their kicks saved by

Tim Krul Timothy Michael Krul (; born 3 April 1988) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Luton Town. Krul's career began at youth clubs RAS and ADO Den Haag before moving to Newcastle United in 2005. At Newcastle, he m ...

in a 4–3 penalty shootout loss to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. In May 2018, he was named in Costa Rica's 23-man squad for the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

in Russia. In the last group-stage match against Switzerland, he scored a last-minute equalizing goal from a penalty spot in 2–2 draw; however, the goal was credited as an own goal by Swiss goalkeeper

Yann Sommer Yann Sommer (born 17 December 1988) is a Swiss professional association football, footballer who plays as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Serie A club Inter Milan. Known for his exceptional reflexes and high agility, Sommer is ...

. In November 2022, Ruiz was named to the 26-man squad for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

, his final tournament for Costa Rica as he retired after the tournament.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Costa Rica's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ruiz goal''.

Honours

Alajuelense *

CONCACAF Champions' Cup The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, a ...

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 ...

* Copa Interclubes UNCAF:

* Primera División: Apertura 2005, Clausura 2006, Apertura 2020 *

CONCACAF League The CONCACAF League was an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its secondary continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. It was announced on 8 May 2017. The compet ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

Twente *

: 2009–10 *

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Johan Cruyff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footbal ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Sporting CP *

Taça da Liga The Taça da Liga (), known outside Portugal as Portuguese League Cup, is an annual club football competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) for teams competing in the top two tiers of Portuguese football – the ...

: 2017–18 *

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese association football, football match played since 1979 between the winners of the top-tier league (Primeira L ...

Costa Rica *

Copa Centroamericana The Copa Centroamericana () was an association football competition organized by UNCAF as its top regional tournament for men's senior national teams from Central America. The tournament was held from 1991 to 2017, every two years in the years be ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Individual * CONCACAF Men's Player of the Year:

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

* CONCACAF Goal of the Year:

* CONCACAF Best XI:

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 ...

* Jean-Claude Bouvy Trophy: 2008, 2009 *Player of the season at

: 2010 *

BBC Goal of the Month The Goal of the Month is a monthly segment on BBC's ''Match of the Day'' television programme, in honour of the best goal scored each month. The segment has been featured on the programme since the 1970–71 season. Typically, a selection of ei ...

: October 2011 * IFFHS CONCACAF team of the decade 2011–2020 * IFFHS CONCACAF Men's Team of All Time: 2021

Personal life

Ruiz has two brothers; one of them, Yendrick, is also a football player. Both Bryan and Yendrick were teammates in Alajuelense for a period of two weeks before Bryan signed for Gent. It was not until 14 August 2013, when both played together for the first time, in a friendly that Costa Rica played against

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

. Ruiz worked as a columnist for Costa Rican sports newspaper '' Al Día'' from 2011 until the journal's ceasing in 2014.

References

External links

* *
Bryan Ruiz
at ''

Voetbal International ''Voetbal International'' (VI) is a Dutch football magazine. It is the oldest Dutch football magazine that is still running. History and profile ''Voetbal International'' was established in 1965. VI was one of the founding members of ESM. It l ...

'' * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruiz, Bryan 1985 births Living people Footballers from San José, Costa Rica Men's association football forwards Costa Rican men's footballers 21st-century Costa Rican sportsmen Costa Rica men's international footballers K.A.A. Gent players FC Twente players Fulham F.C. players PSV Eindhoven players Sporting CP footballers Santos FC players Liga FPD players Belgian Pro League players Eredivisie players Premier League players English Football League players Primeira Liga players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Costa Rican expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in England Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in Brazil FIFA Men's Century Club 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Copa América Centenario players 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2018 FIFA World Cup players 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2022 FIFA World Cup players Liga Deportiva Alajuelense footballers CONCACAF Champions Cup–winning players