Mário Rui Silva Duarte (born 27 May 1991), known as Mário Rui, is a Portuguese

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 plays as 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 ...

. Developed at Benfica, he spent most of his professional career in Italy, making 248 appearances in

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

for

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno River, Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Ancient Ro ...

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

and

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

and winning the

2022–23 Serie A The 2022–23 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 121st season of top-tier Italian football, the 91st in a round-robin tournament, and the 13th since its organization under an own league committee, the Lega Serie A ...

and the

2019–20 Coppa Italia The 2019–20 Coppa Italia (branded as the Coppa Italia Coca-Cola for sponsorship reasons during the final) was the 73rd edition of the national cup in Italian football. Lazio were the defending champions having won their seventh cup title in May ...

with the last of those clubs. Mário Rui was part of the Portugal squad at the

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

Club career

Early years and Empoli

Born in

Sines Sines () is a town and a municipality in Portugal. The municipality, divided into two parishes, has around 14,214 inhabitants (2021) in an area of . Sines holds an important oil refinery and several petrochemical industries. It is also a popular ...

Setúbal District The District of Setúbal ( ) is a district located in the south-west of Portugal. It is named for its capital, the city of Setúbal. Geography It is delimited by Lisbon District and Santarém District on the north, Évora District on the eas ...

, Mário Rui started his career at local Vasco da Gama Atlético Clube. He then played for the youth teams of

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,

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

and Benfica, being signed by

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

in summer 2011 and being loaned immediately to fellow Italians

Gubbio Gubbio () is an Italian town and ''comune'' in the far northeastern part of the Italian province of Perugia (Umbria). It is located on the lowest slope of Mt. Ingino, a small mountain of the Apennine Mountains, Apennines. History Prehistory The ol ...

; he joined the

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

club following that year's

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

, with the international transfer certificate arriving on 2 September. In June 2012, Parma signed Mário Rui for

€ 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 ...

595,000 on a five-year contract (paid to Gubbio), effectively on 1 July.Parma FC SpA ''bilancio'' (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2013
PDF purchased from Italian C.C.I.A.A.
(in Italian) Also that month, he joined

Spezia La Spezia (, or ; ; , in the local ) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second-largest city in the Liguri ...

on a temporary deal for free. Mário Rui moved to

on 28 June 2013, for €550,000. He contributed 26 matches in his first season, as his new team returned to

after a six-year absence. In June 2014, Parma gave up the remaining 50% rights of Mário Rui to Empoli. He first appeared in the Italian top flight on 31 August, coming on as a 66th-minute substitute for

Elseid Hysaj Elseid Gëzim Hysaj (; born 2 February 1994) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a full-back for Serie A club Lazio and the Albania national team. Early life Hysaj was born in Reç, Malësi e Madhe, Albania. Two months after ...

in a 2–0 away loss against

Udinese Udinese Calcio (; "Udinese Football") is a professional football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The team currently competes in the Serie A, the first tier of Italian football. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sport ...

Roma

On 8 July 2016, Mário Rui was signed by

in a temporary deal for a loan fee of €3 million (plus €1.5 million in bonuses), with a conditional obligation to sign him outright for an additional €6 million. He started the season injured, only making his debut on 19 January 2017 when he played 78 minutes in a 4–0 home win over

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa, Liguria. Sampdoria was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the ...

in the

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

Napoli

On 13 July 2017, Mário Rui joined

on an initial €3.75 million loan; depending on the achievement of certain sporting targets, the club would have an obligation to buy him outright for a further €5.5 million. He made his debut in the seventh game of the season at home to

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

on 1 October, as a late substitute in a 3–0 win. His first goal in the Italian top division came the following 10 February, helping the hosts to defeat

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

4–1. He became the starting left-back after

Faouzi Ghoulam Faouzi Ghoulam ( (); born 1 February 1991) is a professional Association football, footballer who plays as a left-back. Born in France, Ghoulam is a former Algeria international, scoring five goals in 37 appearances for Algeria national footbal ...

's knee injury in November, and in April his agent threatened to find him a new team if he would not retain that place after the Algeria international's recovery. Mário Rui played the first 81 minutes of the

2020 Coppa Italia final The 2020 Coppa Italia final decided the winners of the 2019–20 Coppa Italia, Italy's main football cup. It was originally scheduled to be played on 13 May 2020, at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, it ...

on 17 June, which Napoli won on penalties after a goalless draw with

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

. On 6 August, he extended his contract to 2025, with an annual salary of €2.5 million. He and Ghoulam were both dropped by manager

Gennaro Gattuso Gennaro Ivan Gattuso (; born 9 January 1978) is an Italians, Italian professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is currently the Manager (association football), head coach of the Italy na ...

for the 1–0 victory at

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

on 8 November for breaking curfew. Mário Rui made 22 appearances in the 2022–23 campaign, helping Napoli to their first league title in 33 years. On 30 December 2024, he left the

Stadio Diego Armando Maradona Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, formerly known as Stadio San Paolo, is an all-seater football stadium in Naples, Italy. Completed in 1959, it is the fourth largest football stadium in Italy after Milan's San Siro, Rome's Stadio Olimpico and ...

by mutual consent, with 227 games and 26 assists to his credit.

International career

All youth levels comprised, Mário Rui earned 51

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 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 ...

. During the

2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 18th FIFA U-20 World Cup. Colombia hosted the tournament between 29 July and 20 August 2011, with matches being played in eight cities. The tournament was won by Brazil national under-20 football team, Brazil w ...

he appeared in five out of seven matches for the eventual finalists, scoring his only goal for his country in a 1–0 group stage victory over

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. His debut with the under-21 team arrived on 5 September 2011, when he played the entirety of a 1–0 friendly defeat of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. In March 2018, Mário Rui was called by full side manager Fernando Santos for exhibition games with

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

and 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 ...

as a replacement for the injured

Fábio Coentrão Fábio Alexandre da Silva Coentrão (; born 11 March 1988) is a Portuguese former professional footballer. Mainly a left-back, he also operated as a winger and occasionally as a defensive midfielder. After starting playing professionally with ...

, making his debut against the latter by playing the full 90 minutes in the 3–0 loss in Switzerland. He was included in the final 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 September 2022, Santos called Mário Rui up for the first time in nearly two years in place of the injured

Raphaël Guerreiro Raphaël Adelino José Guerreiro (; born 22 December 1993) is a professional footballer who plays as a left-back or midfielder for Bundesliga club Bayern Munich and the Portugal national team. He began his career at Caen, signing in 2013 with ...

, for

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is an international European football competition played by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The competition was devised to minimise friendlies a ...

fixtures against the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

; he started the first fixture in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, a 4–0 win. The following month, he was one of 55 players pre-selected for the

2022 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 ...

in Qatar.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Napoli *

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

: 2019–20 Portugal U20 *

runner-up:

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 ...

Portugal *

: 2018–19 Orders * PRT Order of Prince Henry - Knight BAR

Knight of the

Order of Prince Henry The Order of Prince Henry () is a Portuguese order of knighthood created on 2 June 1960, to commemorate the quincentenary of the death of the Portuguese ''infante'' Prince Henry the Navigator, one of the main initiators of the Age of Discovery. M ...

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mario Rui 1991 births Living people People from Sines 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Setúbal District Men's association football fullbacks Liga Portugal 2 players S.L. Benfica footballers C.D. Fátima players Serie A players Serie B players Parma Calcio 1913 players AS Gubbio 1910 players Spezia Calcio players Empoli FC players AS Roma players SSC Napoli players Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portugal men's international footballers 2018 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Nations League–winning players Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Italy