Ricardo Jorge Tavares Machado (born 13 September 1988) is a Portuguese 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 ...

who plays for

Al-Sahel SC (Saudi Arabia) Al-Sahel FC is a Saudi Arabian football (soccer) team in Anak, Qatif City playing at the Saudi First Division League. Stadium Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Stadium in Qatif, Saudi Arabia Current squad ''As of Prince Mohammad bin Salm ...

as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Club career

Portugal

Born in

Vila Nova de Gaia Vila Nova de Gaia (; cel-x-proto, Cale), or simply Gaia, is a city and a municipality in Porto District in Norte Region, Portugal. It is located south of the city of Porto on the other side of the Douro River. The city proper had a population ...

Porto District The District of Porto ( pt, Distrito do Porto ) is located on the north-west coast of Portugal. The district capital is the city of Porto, the second largest city in the country. It is bordered by the Aveiro and Viseu districts to the south, B ...

, Machado spent the vast majority of his youth career with local

S.C. Dragões Sandinenses Sport Clube Os Dragões Sandinenses is a Portuguese sports club from Sandim, Vila Nova de Gaia. The men's football team plays in the Honra Série A of the Porto Football Association. The team played in the third tier of Portuguese football unti ...

. He made his debut as a senior in 2007 with A.D. Machico in the third division, signing with fellow league team C.S. Marítimo B after one season. In the summer of 2010, Machado was loaned by C.S. Marítimo to

C.D. Feirense Clube Desportivo Feirense, commonly known as CD Feirense or just Feirense, is a Portuguese football club based in Santa Maria da Feira. Founded on 18 March 1918, Feirense play in the LigaPro, the second tier of Portuguese football. Their chairm ...

of the Segunda Liga. He appeared in his first game as a professional on 12 September, starting in a 2–2 away draw against

F.C. Arouca Futebol Clube de Arouca () is a football club based in Arouca, Porto Metropolitan Area, Portugal. Founded in 1951, the club plays in the Primeira Liga, holding home games at Estádio Municipal de Arouca, with a 5,000-seat capacity. History Foun ...

Romania

Machado competed in Romania and its

Liga I The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...

the following years, starting out at FC Brașov. On 13 February 2015, he signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with

FC Dinamo București Fotbal Club Dinamo București (), commonly known as Dinamo București or simply Dinamo, is a Romanian professional football club based in Bucharest. Founded in 1948, they have spent almost their entire history in Romania's top tier, the Liga ...

of the same league. Machado's first top-flight match occurred on 31 October 2011 while at the service of the former club, when he played the entire 1–2 home loss to

CFR Cluj Fotbal Club CFR 1907 Cluj, commonly known as CFR Cluj ( or ), is a Romanian professional football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, which competes in the Liga I. It was founded in 1907 as ''Kolozsvári Vasutas Sport Club'', wh ...

. His first goal was scored the following 4 May, helping the hosts defeat

CSU Voința Sibiu CSU Voința Sibiu was a Romanian football team from Sibiu, Sibiu County, founded in 1965 and dissolved in the autumn of 2012. In the summer of 2007, to continue the football tradition of Sibiu after the dissolution of Inter Sibiu in 2001 and FC ...

3–0. In the 2012–13 campaign, Machado scored a career-best five goals for Brașov, helping the side to the seventh position.

Al Taawoun

Machado joined

Saudi Professional League The Saudi Pro League (SPL for short) ( ar, دوري المحترفين السعودي, link=no, ''Dawriyy al-Muḥtarifayni as-Suʿūdī''), known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL for short) for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of associat ...

Al Taawoun FC Al Taawoun Football Club ( ar, التعاون, lit=Cooperation) is a professional multi-sports club based in Buraidah, Saudi Arabia. The football team competes in the Saudi Professional League, the top tier of Saudi Football. The club play th ...

in 2015. On 5 December 2017, he agreed to a two-year extension. In July 2020, Machado announced his decision to leave, citing a "need for a new challenge".

Later years

On 25 January 2021, aged 32, Machado returned to Portugal and its second tier by joining

F.C. Penafiel Futebol Clube de Penafiel ( or ) is a Portuguese football club founded on 8 February 1951 and based in the city of Penafiel. Brief history Penafiel first reached the first division in 1980–81, first lasting two seasons. They also played the ...

on a short-term deal. After several months of inactivity, he signed with

Académico de Viseu F.C. Académico de Viseu Futebol Clube is a Portuguese professional football club based in Viseu. Founded in 1914 as ''Clube Académico de Futebol'', the club went through several changes over the course of the years, folding in 2005 due to financial ...

in the same level, reuniting with manager Pedro Ribeiro. Machado moved back to Saudi Arabia in July 2022, with

Al-Sahel SC Al-Sahel Sports Club ( ar, نادي الساحل الرياضي) is a Syrian professional multi-sports club based in Tartus, mostly known for its football team that competes in the Syrian League 1st Division. History Club's women's basketball ...

of the First Division League.

Honours

Al Taawoun *

Kings Cup __NOTOC__ King's Cup (incl. translations), may refer to: Sports Football * Copa del Rey, Spanish for "King's Cup," the main national knockout tournament in men's football * King Cup (sometimes named King's Cup), Saudi Arabian men's football nati ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Machado, Ricardo 1988 births Living people Footballers from Vila Nova de Gaia Portuguese men's footballers Men's association football defenders Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players S.C. Dragões Sandinenses players C.S. Marítimo players C.D. Feirense players F.C. Penafiel players Académico de Viseu F.C. players Liga I players FC Brașov (1936) players FC Dinamo București players Saudi Professional League players Saudi First Division League players Al Taawoun FC players Al-Sahel SC (Saudi Arabia) players Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Romania Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia