José Ricardo Soares Ribeiro (born 11 November 1974), known as Soares, 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 ...

who played as a winger, currently

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional football in ...

club

Beijing Guoan Beijing Guoan Football Club () is a professional football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in the Chaoyang District in Beijing and their ho ...

. After a playing career spent almost entirely at the amateur level, he began managing in 2005, and took Vizela to the second tier eleven years later. He led Chaves,

Aves Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

, Moreirense,

Gil Vicente Gil Vicente (; c. 1465c. 1536), called the Trobadour, was a Portuguese playwright and poet who acted in and directed his own plays. Considered the chief dramatist of Portugal he is sometimes called the "Portuguese Plautus," often re ...

and

Estoril Estoril () is a town in the Municipality of Cascais, Portugal, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a tourist destination, with luxury hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numerous royal families and celebrities, and has ...

in the

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal ...

, and had a brief spell at

Al Ahly AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media * Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera * Al (''Fullmetal ...

in Egypt.

Playing career

Born in

Felgueiras Felgueiras () is a municipality in Porto District, Portugal. The current mayor is Nuno Fonseca. There are two cities located in the municipality: Felgueiras (city status received on 13 July 1990) and Lixa. The population in 2011 was 58,065, in ...

, Soares' professional input as a player consisted of seven Segunda Liga games for his hometown club

F.C. Felgueiras Futebol Clube de Felgueiras was a Portuguese football club from Felgueiras. The club was founded on 16 August 1936 and ended in 2005 due to financial problems. The club played at the Estádio Dr. Machado de Matos which was their home since the c ...

, over three seasons in as many spells. He amassed

third division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

totals of 232 matches and 28 goals during his 12-year senior career, representing seven teams in the competition.

Coaching career

Early years, Vizela and Chaves

Soares started working as a manager in 2005 at the age of 30, with amateur side Clube Caçadores das Taipas. Having signed with F.C. Vizela in the summer of 2014, he achieved promotion to the second level at the end of the 2015–16 campaign. On 18 December 2016, Soares was appointed at

club

G.D. Chaves Grupo Desportivo de Chaves, commonly known as Chaves (), is a Portuguese football club from Chaves currently playing in the Primeira Liga. They were founded in 1949 and currently play at Estádio Municipal de Chaves. Their home kit is red-and-bl ...

, replacing S.C. Braga-bound Jorge Simão. His first game took place four days later, a 1–0 home win against G.D. Estoril Praia.

Aves, Académica and Covilhã

In May 2017, Soares moved to another top-flight club, C.D. Aves on a two-year deal. He left on 2 October, with the team in last place on six points from eight matches. Soares returned to the second tier on 14 November 2017, succeeding

Ivo Vieira Ivo Ricardo Abreu Vieira (born 10 January 1976) is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a defender, currently head coach of Brazilian club Cuiabá. He spent his entire playing career with Nacional, where he also began his manageria ...

Associação Académica de Coimbra The Associação Académica de Coimbra (AAC) is the students' union of the University of Coimbra (UC). Founded in Coimbra on November 3, 1887, it is the oldest students' union in Portugal. It is also the biggest Portuguese students' union belongi ...

. He left by mutual accord the following 1 April having won half of his 18 fixtures, and as the side was placed fifth and four points off a promotion place. After over a year out of the game, Soares was hired by S.C. Covilhã on 20 May 2019, replacing F.C. Paços de Ferreira-bound Filó.

Moreirense and Gil Vicente

On 18 December 2019, with his Covilhã team ranked seventh, Soares returned to the top flight by succeeding sacked

Vítor Campelos Vítor Fernando de Carvalho Campelos (born 11 May 1975) is a Portuguese football manager, currently manager of Gil Vicente F.C.. After working as an assistant to Toni in the Middle East, he managed in his own right from 2013, leading Vitória d ...

at the helm of

Moreirense FC Moreirense Futebol Clube is a Portuguese professional football club based in Moreira de Cónegos, Guimarães Municipality, in Minho. Founded on 1 November 1938, it plays in the Liga Portugal 2, holding home games at Parque de Jogos Comendador ...

. He left the Parque de Jogos Comendador Joaquim de Almeida Freitas in November 2020, feeling he was not able to maximise his players' potential. Shortly after, Soares was appointed at Gil Vicente F.C. of the same league. In 2021–22, he led the team to fifth place and a European debut in the

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Europa Conference League (abbreviated as UECL) is an annual football club competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on the ...

Al Ahly

In June 2022, Soares moved abroad for the first time in his career, paying €250,000 to release himself from his Gil Vicente contract ahead of a two-year deal at Egypt's

Al Ahly SC AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media * Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera * Al (''Fullmetal ...

. His new annual salary was €1.5 million. On his debut on 2 July, the team won 2–0 at home to

Petrojet SC Petrojet Sporting Club ( ar, نادي بتروجيت الرياضي) is an Egyptian sports club based in Suez, Egypt. The club is related to Petrojet, a construction company specialized in oil, gas and petrochemical industries. Petrojet is mainl ...

in the

semi-finals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final mat ...

of the

national cup The English National Cup is an annual basketball knock-out competition held between professional, semi-professional and amateur teams from the various divisions of the National Basketball League. For most of the competition's history, the draw ha ...

; his

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

bow was a goalless draw at El Gouna FC three days later. In the

cup final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football ev ...

on 21 July 2022, Soares' side lost 2–1 to local rivals

Zamalek SC Zamalek Sporting Club ( ar, نادي الزمالك للألعاب الرياضية), commonly referred to as Zamalek, is an Egyptian sports club based in Giza. It is one of the most successful football clubs in Africa and the Middle East, an ...

, led by veteran compatriot Jesualdo Ferreira. He was dismissed on 31 August, having failed to take the league title back from the same adversary; having slipped behind a third

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo met ...

side, Pyramids FC, Al Ahly finished outside the top two for the first time since 1991–92.

Estoril

Soares returned to Portugal and its main division on 28 February 2023, on a one-and-a-half-year contract at Estoril. He terminated his deal one year early, having concluded the season with the team raised one place to 14th position.

Beijing Guoan

On 15 June 2023, Soares was appointed as the new head coach of

club Beijing Guoan FC.

Managerial statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Soares, Ricardo 1974 births Living people People from Felgueiras Footballers from Porto District Portuguese footballers Men's association football wingers Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players F.C. Vizela players F.C. Lixa players S.C. Freamunde players A.D. Lousada players F.C. Felgueiras players AD Fafe players C.D. Trofense players U.S.C. Paredes players G.D.R.C. Os Sandinenses players Portuguese football managers Primeira Liga managers Liga Portugal 2 managers F.C. Vizela managers G.D. Chaves managers C.D. Aves managers Académica de Coimbra (football) managers S.C. Covilhã managers Moreirense F.C. managers Gil Vicente F.C. managers G.D. Estoril Praia managers Egyptian Premier League managers Al Ahly SC managers Chinese Super League managers Beijing Guoan F.C. managers Portuguese expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Egypt Expatriate football managers in China Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Egypt Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in China