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 lea ...

who played as a winger, currently

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

club

Changchun Yatai Changchun Yatai Football Club () is a Chinese professional football club based in Changchun, Jilin, that competes in . Changchun Yatai plays its home matches at the Changchun Stadium, located within Nanguan District. The club's founder and main ...

. After a playing career spent almost entirely at the amateur level, he began managing in 2005, and took

Vizela Vizela () is a municipality in the Braga District in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 23,736, in an area of 24.70 km². The present mayor is Vitor Hugo Salgado, elected as an independent. The municipal holiday is March 19. History In Au ...

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 lightweight ...

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

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 refe ...

and

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 ...

in the

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 ...

, had a brief spell at

Al Ahly Al-Ahly Sporting Club (), commonly known as Al-Ahly, is an Egyptian professional sports club based in Cairo, Egypt. The club is mainly known for its professional football team which currently plays in the Egyptian Premier League, the highest ...

in Egypt and spent one year in the

with

Beijing Guoan Beijing Guoan Football Club (), known in AFC competitions as Beijing FC, is a Chinese professional football club based in Beijing, that competes in . Beijing Guoan plays its home matches at the Workers' Stadium, located within Chaoyang Distr ...

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 a ...

, Soares' professional input as a player consisted of seven Segunda Liga games for his hometown club F.C. Felgueiras, over three seasons in as many spells. He amassed third division 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 Clube Caçadores das Taipas is a Portuguese sports club from Caldas das Taipas, Guimarães. The men's football team plays in the Braga Football Association Serie 2. They played for many years in the old Terceira Divisão, but had stints on th ...

. Having signed with

F.C. Vizela Futebol Clube de Vizela is a Portuguese professional association football, football club that plays in Liga Portugal 2, the second tier of Portuguese football. They are based in the town of Vizela and play in the Estádio do Futebol Clube de Viz ...

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, replacing

S.C. Braga Sporting Clube de Braga (), commonly known as Sporting de Braga or just Braga, is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Braga. Best known for the men's professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese foo ...

-bound Jorge Simão. His first game took place four days later, a 1–0 home win against

G.D. Estoril Praia Grupo Desportivo Estoril Praia (), commonly known as Estoril, is a Portuguese professional sports club from Estoril, Cascais, Lisbon. Founded on 17 May 1939, its Association football, football team currently plays in Primeira Liga and hold home g ...

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 a manager. He spent his entire playing career with Nacional, where he also began his managerial career in 2011. He managed s ...

at Académica de Coimbra. 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 Sporting Clube da Covilhã, commonly known as just Sporting da Covilhã or Sp. Covilhã, is a Portuguese association football, football club from the city of Covilhã that plays in the third-tier Liga 3 (Portugal), Liga 3. The club was founded on ...

on 20 May 2019, replacing F.C. Paços de Ferreira-bound

Filó Filipe André Paula da Rocha (born 19 May 1972), known as Filó, is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a centre-back, and a current manager. He played mostly for Espinho, while also representing Paços de Ferreira in the Primeira Li ...

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 Association football, football Manager (association football), manager. After working as an assistant to Toni (footballer, born 1946), Toni in the Middle East, he managed i ...

at the helm of

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

. He left the

Parque de Jogos Comendador Joaquim de Almeida Freitas Parque de Jogos Comendador Joaquim de Almeida Freitas is a multi-use stadium in Moreira de Cónegos, Braga, Portugal. It is currently used for football (soccer), football matches and is the home stadium of Moreirense F.C., Moreirense. The stadi ...

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 Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual association football, football competition organised since 2021 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European foot ...

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-Ahly Sporting Club (), commonly known as Al-Ahly, is an List of football clubs in Egypt, Egyptian professional sports club based in Cairo, Egypt. The club is mainly known for its professional Association football, football team which curren ...

. 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 () is an Egyptian sports club based in Suez, Egypt. The club is related to Petrojet, a construction company that specializes in oil, gas and petrochemical industries. Petrojet is mainly known for its football team, which c ...

in the

semi-finals 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, ...

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 (England), National Basketball League. For most of th ...

; his

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 ...

bow was a goalless draw at

El Gouna FC El Gouna Football Club () is an Egyptian football club based in the city of El Gouna, Egypt. The club currently plays in the Egyptian Premier League, the highest league in the Egyptian football league system. History The club's first league se ...

three days later. In the cup final on 21 July 2022, Soares' side lost 2–1 to local rivals

Zamalek SC Zamalek Sporting Club (), commonly referred to as Zamalek, is an List of football clubs in Egypt, Egyptian Club based in Cairo, Egypt. The club is best known for its professional men's Association football, football team, which plays in the Egy ...

, led by veteran compatriot

Jesualdo Ferreira Manuel Jesualdo Ferreira (born 24 May 1946) is a Portuguese Manager (association football), football manager who last managed Zamalek SC, Zamalek in the Egyptian Premier League. In a managerial career of over forty years, he was in charge of all ...

. 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 ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

side,

Pyramids FC Pyramids Football Club ( or ) is an Egyptian professional football club based in New Cairo, Cairo that competes in the Egyptian Premier League, the highest league in the Egyptian football league system. Formed in 2008 as Al Assiouty Sport in Ass ...

, 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. He left on 10 December 2024, having achieved 30 wins, 11 draws and 13 losses in his 54 games in charge.

Managerial statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Soares, Ricardo 1974 births Living people People from Felgueiras Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Porto District 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 Changchun Yatai 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