Jorge Miguel de Oliveira Ribeiro (born 9 November 1981) is a Portuguese retired 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 ...

. Mainly a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

, he could also play as a wing-back or

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 ...

. He totalled 118

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 ...

games and 15 goals, for six clubs including two spells at Benfica, and added 185 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 ...

for as many teams. Additionally, he had stints in Russia with

Dynamo Moscow MGO VFSO "Dynamo" (), commonly known as Dynamo Moscow (), is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. Founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky on 18 April 1923, Dynamo Moscow was the first institution created from the All-Union Dynamo Sports Club. Dynamo Mosco ...

and in Spain. Ribeiro earned 52

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for Portugal at youth level, and represented the country at

Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

Club career

Early career

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 ...

, Ribeiro was brought up in

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. In 2002, he was one of three young players sold to fellow

club

Varzim SC Varzim Sport Club () is a Portuguese football club based in Póvoa de Varzim. The club was founded on 25 December 1915, and has played at the Estádio do Varzim Sport Club since its foundation. The club plays in Liga 3, following relegation in ...

, along with

Rui Baião Rui Miguel Marques Baião (born 4 September 1980) is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career Born in Montijo, Setúbal District, Baião joined S.L. Benfica's youth system at the age of 15, making his senior debu ...

and

Pepa Performance Evaluation Process Algebra (PEPA) is a stochastic process algebra designed for modelling computer and communication systems introduced by Jane Hillston in the 1990s. The language extends classical process algebras such as Milner's ...

. In January 2005, after angering his employers Gil Vicente F.C. by an unauthorised absence, he was purchased by the

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 ...

FC Dynamo Moscow FC Dynamo Moscow (''FC Dynamo Moskva'', , ) is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Moscow. Dynamo returned to the Russian Premier League for the 2017–18 season after one season in the second-tier Russian Footba ...

; unadjusted, he left the team precisely a year after, joining

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

side

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, who compete in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system, following the ...

until the end of the season, which ended in relegation. Ribeiro returned to Portugal in January 2007, joining C.D. Aves still on loan from the Russians. On 4 February he made his debut for his new club in a 1–0 away loss against S.C. Braga, as the team he represented again dropped down a level. He would be purchased by

Boavista F.C. Boavista Futebol Clube (), commonly known as Boavista, is a Portuguese professional sports club from the of Porto that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football league system, Portuguese football, at the Estádio do B ...

in July and blossomed as a top-flight player, scoring eight league goals during his only campaign, many from free kicks.

Return to Benfica

On 24 July 2008, Ribeiro returned to Benfica after a deal was agreed upon in April. Having scored his first goal for them on 22 September in a 4–3 win at F.C. Paços de Ferreira, he eventually became first-choice left-back, overtaking Brazilian

Léo Léo is a proper noun in French, meaning "lion". Its etymological root lies in the Latin word Leo. Léo is used as a diminutive or variant of the names Léon, Léonard, Léonardon, Leonardo, Léonid, ''Léonor'', '' Léonore'', ''Eléonore'' ...

. However, Ribeiro soon lost his starting place to

David Luiz David Luiz Moreira Marinho (born 22 April 1987) is a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football), defender for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Fortaleza Esporte Clube, Fortaleza. H ...

, and eventually was deemed surplus to requirements. In the 2009–10 season, as Benfica won the league and the League Cup, he did not play a single competitive match, often training separately and choosing to see out his lucrative contract rather than signing with another club. On 16 August 2011, after spending five months on loan to

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 ...

, Ribeiro signed for two years with

Granada CF Granada Club de Fútbol (), known simply as Granada or ''"Graná"'', is a professional List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in the city of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, that currently plays in Segunda ...

on a free transfer. He only made one official appearance with the

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

ns – 55 minutes against

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

in the

round of 32 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 ...

of the

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

(4–1 away defeat)– losing his No. 16 jersey in the winter

transfer window In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...

and being released from contract on 17 February 2012.

Later years

In the summer of 2013, Ribeiro returned to active, penning a one-year contract with

S.C. Olhanense Sporting Clube Olhanense (), commonly known as Olhanense, is a Portuguese sports club from Olhão, Algarve. Its Association football, football team was founded on 27 April 1912 and currently plays in the Algarve Football Association Portuguese Di ...

but being released less than one month later, still during pre-season play. He subsequently returned to Aves, where he was a regular until his departure. Ribeiro signed a one-year deal with

Atlético Clube de Portugal Atlético Clube de Portugal is a Portuguese sports club based in the parish of Alcântara, in the west side of Lisbon. The club was established on 18 September 1942 through the merger of two local clubs from Alcântara: Carcavelinhos Football ...

also of the

in July 2015. After the season ended with relegation to the third tier, he moved to

S.C. Farense Sporting Clube Farense, simply known as Farense, is a Portuguese professional association football, football club based in Faro, Portugal, Faro in the Faro District, district of the same name and the region of Algarve. Founded in 1910, the club ha ...

at that level. Having scored six times in 30 games to win promotion in his

second year The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of ...

, he extended his contract until 30 June 2019. In July 2019, the 37-year-old Ribeiro joined Casa Pia A.C. in his hometown, newly promoted to division two. He and

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

João Coito rescinded their contracts the following February; Ribeiro, who left due to disputes with new manager Ricardo Peres, retired to spend time with his family instead of taking offers to move to Brazil.

International career

Ribeiro made his debut for

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

in November 2002, against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. He was part of the under-23 team that was eliminated in the group stage at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

in Greece, scoring in the 4–2 defeat against

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 ...

Heraklion Heraklion or Herakleion ( ; , , ), sometimes Iraklion, is the largest city and the administrative capital city, capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion (regional unit), Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in G ...

. Ribeiro did not play a senior game again until a 2–2 draw away to

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

in October 2004. After another two-year absence, he was again called and played as a replacement for

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 ...

José Bosingwa José Bosingwa da Silva (born 24 August 1982) is a Portuguese former professional association football, footballer who played as a right-back. An attacking fullback, his pace and ability to get up and down the flanks created problems for the op ...

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA ( ...

qualifiers with

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

and

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

on 13 and 17 October, respectively. With eight

, Ribeiro was selected for the squad that competed in the finals in Austria and Switzerland, as older brother

Maniche Nuno Ricardo de Oliveira Ribeiro (born 11 November 1977), known as Maniche (), is a Portuguese retired professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. He played top-flight football in Portugal, Russia, England, Spain, Italy and G ...

was left out. He appeared as a substitute in the last group stage match against

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, a 2–0 loss that would be his final international.

Personal life

Jorge's older brother Nuno (nicknamed

) was also a footballer. A midfielder, he represented, among others, Benfica,

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, Order of Prince Henry, MHIH, Order of Merit (Portugal), OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional association footbal ...

and Chelsea, and the two were teammates at Dynamo Moscow.

Career statistics

Honours

Benfica *

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 ...

: 2008–09 Vitória Guimarães *

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 ...

runner-up:

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 ...

Portugal U-21 *

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 ...

: 2001

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ribeiro, Jorge 1981 births Living people 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Lisbon Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football midfielders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players Campeonato de Portugal (league) players S.L. Benfica B players S.L. Benfica footballers C.D. Santa Clara players Varzim S.C. players Gil Vicente F.C. players C.D. Aves players Boavista F.C. players Vitória S.C. players Atlético Clube de Portugal players S.C. Farense players Casa Pia A.C. players Russian Premier League players FC Dynamo Moscow players La Liga players Málaga CF players Granada CF footballers Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portugal men's B international footballers Portugal men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2008 players Olympic footballers for Portugal Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Russia Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain