Paulo Renato Rebocho Ferreira (; born 18 January 1979) 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 full-back. After starting out at

Estoril Estoril () is a town in the civil parish of Cascais e Estoril of the Portuguese Municipality of Cascais, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a popular tourist destination, with hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numero ...

, he went on to spend the vast majority of his 16-year professional career with

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

and Chelsea, signing with the latter in 2004 for €20 million. He won several major titles with both clubs, including two

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 ...

titles, three

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

trophies and 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 ...

and 2012 editions of the Champions League. Ferreira earned 62

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 the Portugal national team between 2002 and 2010, playing at two

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

and two World Cups and finishing as runner-up at

Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. Th ...

Club career

Early career

Born in

Cascais Cascais () is a town and municipality in the Lisbon District of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera, Estoril Coast. The municipality has a total of 214,158 inhabitants in an area of 97.40 km2. Cascais is an important tourism in Port ...

Lisbon District Lisbon District () is a district located along the western coast of Portugal. The district capital is the city of Lisbon, which is also the national capital. From its creation until 1926, it included the area of the current Setúbal District. ...

, Ferreira started his career in the Segunda Liga with

. In the following two seasons he was relatively played, representing the club in both that and the third divisions. Ferreira signed with Vitória de Setúbal for 2000–01, scoring two goals in 33 games during the campaign to help his team promote to the

after finishing in third place. His first appearance in the competition took place on 13 August 2001, in a 3–1 away loss against Marítimo.

Porto

Ferreira moved to

in the summer of 2002, signed by coach

José Mourinho José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix (; born 26 January 1963) is a Portuguese professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player, who is currently the head coach of Süper Lig club Fenerba ...

who converted him from right midfielder to

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 ...

. He only missed two league games over his two-year stint, as the club won back-to-back national championships. Ferreira was also in the starting XI in the 2003 UEFA Cup final against

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

(which ended with a 3–2 win), that year's 1–0 defeat of União de Leiria in the

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 ...

which meant the conquest of the treble and the 2004 UEFA Champions League final, won against

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

Chelsea

On 22 June 2004, Ferreira joined Chelsea 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 ...

20 million ( £13.2 million), reuniting at Stamford Bridge with both Mourinho and former Porto teammate

Ricardo Carvalho Ricardo Alberto Silveira de Carvalho (; born 18 May 1978) is a Portuguese professional association football, football coach and former player who is currently assistant head coach of the Portugal national football team, Portugal national team ...

, both of whom were also signed in the off-season. He impressed greatly in his first year, appearing in 42 competitive matches and helping to the

title after a 50-year wait. Ferreira scored his first competitive goal for the Blues on 19 February 2006, in a 3–1 home victory over

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

's fifth round. On 30 April, as his team wrapped up a second successive league title with a 3–0 win over

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

, his tackle on

Wayne Rooney Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who was most recently the head coach of EFL Championship club Plymouth Argyle F.C., Pl ...

fractured the

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 ...

striker's

metatarsal The metatarsal bones or metatarsus (: metatarsi) are a group of five long bones in the midfoot, located between the tarsal bones (which form the heel and the ankle) and the phalanges ( toes). Lacking individual names, the metatarsal bones are ...

and jeopardised his chance's of going to June's

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

. Rooney admitted in 2022 that this injury was caused in part by his choice to wear longer studs on his boots, ironically in order to hurt others. In 2006–07, Ferreira lost his importance in the squad, first being overtaken in his position by Khalid Boulahrouz and then midfielders Lassana Diarra and Geremi; he did play the full 120 minutes of the 1–0 FA Cup win against Manchester United on 19 May 2007, the first

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

to be played at the new

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

. In 2007–08, Ferreira played second-fiddle to

Juliano Belletti Juliano Haus Belletti (born 20 June 1976) is a Brazilian association football, football Coach (sport), coach and former player who mostly played as a right-back. He is currently the head coach at FC Barcelona Atlètic, Barcelona Atlètic. Belle ...

and

Michael Essien Michael Kojo Essien (born 3 December 1982) is a Ghanaian Association football, football coach and former player who is currently an assistant coach at Danish Superliga club FC Nordsjælland, Nordsjælland. During his prime he was regarded as on ...

. He signed a new five-year deal with Chelsea on 18 February 2008, switching from jersey #20 to #19 at the start of the following season following Deco's arrival. On 23 September 2009, following a lengthy injury lay-off, Ferreira returned to action in a League Cup match against

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

. On 2 December, in the same competition, he netted his second and last goal for the Londoners, a late equaliser in

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

of the quarter-finals at

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 ...

which ended in a

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 ...

loss. Following physical problems that afflicted

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 ...

, Ashley Cole and

Branislav Ivanović Branislav Ivanović ( sr-Cyrl, Бранислав Ивановић, ; born 22 February 1984) is a Serbian former professional Association football, footballer. A versatile defender, Ivanović played as a Defender (association football)#Full-back ...

, Ferreira was given a more consistent role as a starter as Yuri Zhirkov featured in the other defensive wing, most significantly in the 7–1 rout of

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

and the 2–1 victory at Manchester United. He still contributed with 20 official appearances, helping his team win the

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

Ferreira appeared in his 200th game for Chelsea on 20 April 2011, playing the entire 3–1 home win against

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

. He was once described by Mourinho as "a player who will never be '' Player of the match'' but will always score 7/10 for his individual display". Ferreira featured often under

Carlo Ancelotti Carlo Ancelotti (; born 10 June 1959) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of the Brazil national team. Nicknamed "Carletto" in Italy and "Don Carlo" in Spain, he is regarded as one of the greatest ...

but, after his sacking and his replacement with

André Villas-Boas Luís André de Pina Cabral e Villas-Boas (; born 17 October 1977) is a Portuguese sports executive, and former professional Manager (association football), football manager, who is currently the List of FC Porto presidents, president of Port ...

, found it hard to find a place in the squad as the latter manager opted for a younger squad in detriment of several veterans. His first game of the 2011–12 campaign was on 21 September 2011, on a penalty shootout win over

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 ...

for the League Cup. His first league appearance occurred on 22 December, after coming on for injured Ivanović in a 1–1 draw away to

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 ...

; in the final minutes of that match, he suffered a fractured

cheekbone In the human skull, the zygomatic bone (from ), also called cheekbone or malar bone, is a paired irregular bone, situated at the upper and lateral part of the face and forming part of the lateral wall and floor of the orbit (anatomy), orbit, of t ...

in a clash with

Gareth Bale Gareth Frank Bale (born 16 July 1989) is a Welsh former professional Association football, footballer who played as a right winger, most notably for Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur, Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid, and the Wales national ...

. On 27 March 2012, in his first

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 ...

start of the season, Ferreira had another solid defensive performance to help Chelsea defeat Benfica 1–0 at the Estádio da Luz. and eventually win the quarter-final tie 3–1. On 19 May, he was an unused substitute in the final against Bayern Munich. Ferreira's contract ran through the summer of 2013, and both player and club confirmed that they would not renew it upon its expiration. He made his last appearance in a league fixture with Everton on 19 May 2013, coming on as a late substitute to a round of applause as the 2–1 win secured the hosts a spot in the Champions League group stage. Afterwards, teammate

Frank Lampard Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of English club Coventry City. Widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time, one of Chelsea's greates ...

addressed the crowd and praised the 34-year-old defender, who announced he was retiring from professional football and thanked the fans for their continued support; over nine seasons, he appeared in 217 official games.

International career

Between the Portuguese under-20 and under-21 sides, Ferreira appeared in a total of 27 matches. He made his debut for the full side on 7 September 2002, playing the second half of a 1–1 friendly draw with England at

Villa Park Villa Park is a association football, football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, with a seating capacity of 42,918. It has been the home of Premier League club Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witt ...

. Ferreira was selected by coach

Luiz Felipe Scolari Luiz Felipe Scolari (; born 9 November 1948), also known as Felipão ("Big Phil"), is a Brazilian football manager and former player who currently serves as the technical director of Grêmio. Considered to be one of the greatest and most su ...

for the

UEFA Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football competition contested by the List of men's national associatio ...

tournament. He started their opening 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 ...

, but a series of mistakes in the 1–2 loss saw him dropped for Miguel for the rest of the tournament. Following an injury to the latter late into the first half of the final, however, he returned to action in another defeat to the same opponent, now 1–0. Ferreira made two appearances for Portugal in the 2006 World Cup: in the 0–1 semi-final loss against

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 ...

, he replaced injured Miguel during the second half, and started the third place play-off against the host country

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

(1–3 defeat). Subsequently, he faced competition from Bosingwa and Miguel for the right-back slot, and was often deployed at the opposite flank following the retirement of

Nuno Valente Nuno Jorge Pereira da Silva Valente (; born 12 September 1974) is a former Portuguese professional footballer who played as a left-back or a winger. He later became a manager. He played professionally in Portugal and England for Sporti ...

. Ferreira was named in the squad for the Euro 2008. He started all four games as a left-back, in an eventual quarter-final exit. A regular in the 2010 World Cup qualifying phase, Ferreira would then be included in the 23-men squad to represent the ''Selecção'' in the finals. He only played the opening game in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, a goalless draw to the

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

. On 30 August 2010, Ferreira announced he would be also retiring from the national team, shortly after Simão Sabrosa did.

Post-retirement

After retiring, Ferreira worked for Chelsea as an ambassador and assistant loan player technical coach. On 5 July 2023, he was appointed assistant manager at French

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

club

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

, joining his compatriot Paulo Fonseca's staff. The pair continued working together subsequently, at

AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

and

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Porto *

: 2002–03, 2003–04 *

: 2002–03 *

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 ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

: 2003–04 *

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

: 2002–03 Chelsea *

: 2004–05, 2005–06, 2009–10 *

: 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2011–12 *

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

: 2004–05, 2006–07 *

FA Community Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is Football in England, English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA ...

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 ...

*UEFA Champions League: 2011–12 *

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 ...

: 2012–13 Portugal *

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

runner-up:

Individual * UEFA Team of the Year: 2002–03 * ESM Team of the Year: 2003–04 Orders * PRT Ordem de Nossa Senhora da Conceicao de Vila Vicosa Cavaleiro ribbon

PRT Ordem de Nossa Senhora da Conceicao de Vila Vicosa Cavaleiro ribbon

Medal of Merit, Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa (

House of Braganza The Most Serene House of Braganza (), also known as the Brigantine dynasty (''dinastia Brigantina''), is a dynasty of emperors, kings, princes, and dukes of Portuguese people, Portuguese origin which reigned in Europe and the Americas. The hous ...

)

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferreira, Paulo 1979 births Living people Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Cascais Men's association football fullbacks Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players G.D. Estoril Praia players Vitória F.C. players FC Porto players Premier League players Chelsea F.C. players UEFA Champions League–winning players UEFA Europa League–winning players Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portugal men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2004 players 2006 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2008 players 2010 FIFA World Cup players Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in England Chelsea F.C. non-playing staff Lille OSC non-playing staff Olympique Lyonnais non-playing staff AC Milan non-playing staff Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in France Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Italy