David Arturo Ferreira Rico (born August 9, 1979) is a Colombian 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

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 ...

Career

Professional

Ferreira began his professional career in 1997 with the Colombian Primera B club Expresso Rojo. By 1999 he had joined

Real Cartagena Real Cartagena is a professional Colombian football team based in Cartagena, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera B. They play their home games at the Jaime Morón León stadium. History The origins of Real Cartagena date back to 197 ...

, helping them win a league title. In 2000, he joined

América de Cali América de Cali S. A., best known as América de Cali or América, is a Colombian professional football club based in Cali. It competes in the Categoría Primera A, the top-flight league of Colombian football. The team plays its home games at ...

in the first division, helping the team win three consecutive championships from 2000 to 2002 before moving to Brazilian club Atletico Paranaense in 2005. During his stay with Atletico Paranaense, from 2005 to 2008, he appeared in 179 games, starting in 175 of them while scoring 38 goals and recording 42 assists. He also appeared in the first-ever

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

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 ...

Challenge game against his soon-to-be team

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The franchise be ...

Curitiba, Brazil Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Southern Brazil. The city's population was 1,773,718 , making it the List of cities in Brazil by population, eighth most populous city in Brazil and the larg ...

on March 7, 2007. From February to June 2008, David was on loan to club Al-Shabab in

Dubai, United Arab Emirates Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

, making 12 appearances and helping the team win the league title before returning to Atletico Paranaense. On February 24, 2009, Ferreira was loaned to

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

. He was named MLS league

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

on November 19, 2010, after scoring eight goals and adding 13 assists during the regular season. In the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

, he also scored a goal against the

LA Galaxy The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Gal ...

in the Western Conference finals and the club's lone goal in their

MLS Cup Final MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Playoffs. The game is held in November or December and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Confere ...

loss to the

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Founded in ...

. On December 20, 2010, it was announced that FC Dallas had signed him to a multi-year contract, purchasing his rights from Atletico Paranaense. He was named to the MLS Team of Week 4 in the

2011 MLS season The 2011 Major League Soccer season was the 16th season of Major League Soccer. It was also the 99th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States, and the 33rd with a national first-division league. This season marked the arrival of ...

for his two-goal performance against the Rapids. On April 24, 2011, he suffered a season-ending injury while playing against the

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March 18, ...

. After an absence of more than a year, on July 4, 2012, he finally made his return to the field appearing in the second half against

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matc ...

. He captained the squad during the 2013 season. However, his play never returned to the high level that it was before his 2011 injury, and the club declined his contract option following the season. David then returned to play in his native

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

International

Ferreira was a member of the Colombia national team, winning the

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, and taking part in Copa América tournaments in

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 ...

and

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

Personal life

David is the father of

Jesús Ferreira Jesús David Ferreira Castro (born December 24, 2000) is a professional soccer player who plays as a forward for Major League Soccer club Seattle Sounders FC. Born in Colombia, he represents the United States national team. He scored his fir ...

, who plays professionally for

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The club was established on ...

and the

United States national team The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

Honours

Club

Real Cartagena *

Categoría Primera B Categoría Primera B, commonly referred to as Torneo BetPlay Dimayor due to Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by online betting company BetPlay, is the second-division association football, football league in Colombia. The tournament was inaugura ...

: 1999 América de Cali *

: 2016 *

Categoría Primera A The Categoría Primera A (), commonly referred to as Liga BetPlay Dimayor due to Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by online betting company BetPlay, is a professional association football league in Colombia and the highest level of the Colombian ...

: 2000, 2001, 2002 Al-Shabab *

UAE League The UAE Pro League (), also known as the ADNOC Pro League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the highest level of the Emirati football league system. The first team to w ...

: 2007–08 FC Dallas *

Western Conference Championship:

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 ...

International

Colombia *

Toulon Tournament The Maurice Revello Tournament (officially French: the ''Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello''), previously known as the Toulon Tournament, is a Association football, football tournament, which traditionally features invit ...

: 1999, 2000 *

Copa America Copa or COPA may refer to: COPA COPA may refer to: * Child Online Protection Act The Child Online Protection Act (COPA) was a United States law, law in the United States, United States of America, passed in 1998 with the declared purpose of ...

Individual

MLS Best XI The MLS Best XI is an annual acknowledgment of the best eleven players in Major League Soccer. The selection is determined by a collection of media, players, and MLS club technical staffs. Winners Appearances by player The following players ...

: 2010 * MLS MVP: 2010

References

External links

* *
Atletico Paranaense's Official Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferreira, David 1979 births Living people Footballers from Santa Marta Colombian men's footballers Colombian expatriate men's footballers Real Cartagena footballers América de Cali footballers Club Athletico Paranaense players Al Shabab Al Arabi Club (Dubai) players FC Dallas players Independiente Santa Fe footballers Atlético Huila footballers Unión Magdalena footballers Colombia men's international footballers 2001 Copa América players 2004 Copa América players 2007 Copa América players Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil Expatriate men's footballers in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Categoría Primera A players Categoría Primera B players Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars Designated Players (MLS) Copa América–winning players Tigres F.C. footballers UAE Pro League players Men's association football midfielders Footballers from Magdalena Department