RICARDO PEREIRA

:''For the Portuguese comedian, see Ricardo de Araújo Pereira.''
'Ricardo Pereira', usually referred to simply as 'Ricardo' (pron. ; full name 'Ricardo Alexandre Martins Soares Pereira', OIH; born February 11, 1976 in Montijo), is a Portuguese football player.

Contents

Club career

Real Betis

International career

Euro 2004

2006 World Cup

Notes

Club career

As a goalkeeper, Ricardo was the hero of Boavista FC's European campaign in 2003, making a string of saves as his team reached the semifinals of the UEFA Cup.
He now plays at Real Betis at club level, and has been goalkeeper for Portugal since Luiz Felipe Scolari chose him for the spot.

Real Betis

In 09 July, 2007 Ricardo was linked with a transfer to La Liga side Real Betis. On 11 July Ricardo signed a four year contract with the club, a signing which would cost Betis €3,000,000. Real Betis presented the player to the press and fans on July 17 2007. His first competitive debut came in the La Liga season against Recreativo de Huelva on 26 August.

International career

He made his international debut in 2001 against the Republic of Ireland, taking the place of Vítor Baía, who was recovering from a serious knee injury.

Euro 2004

In the quarterfinals of Euro 2004 against England, Ricardo was one of Portugal's heroes in their win on penalties. With the penalty shootout tied 5-5, he first saved the shot of Darius Vassell, after taking his gloves off. He then scored the deciding penalty against England to send Portugal to the semifinals.
Nevertheless, Ricardo did not manage to help his team avoid the loss from Greece in the final match of Euro 2004. Ricardo jumped helplessly in an attempt to save the only goal of the game, however he was blocked from grabbing the ball by Angelos Charisteas who managed to score the goal. The referee allowed the goal and Greece therefore won the Championship.

2006 World Cup

Ricardo and his team won all three games in their group, keeping two clean sheets and only being beaten once by Mexico's Francisco Fonseca.
A string of saves by Ricardo allowed Portugal once again knock out England in the quarter-finals of a major championships on penalties, this time the 2006 FIFA World Cup as he saved from Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher in a 3-1 shoot-out win after a 0-0 draw after extra time. Carragher did beat Ricardo but since his kick was made before the referee blew the whistle, the Englishman had to retry the spot kick which was then saved.
The semi-final match pitted Portugal against France. Ricardo conceded one goal in this game, which was a penalty spot kick by Zinedine Zidane, awarded for a foul by Ricardo Carvalho over Thierry Henry in the box (contested by some Portuguese supporters, although Carvalho admitted to making contact with Henry ^[1]). Zidane did not shoot hard, but his kick was at a steep angle which was sufficient to elude Ricardo, and it turned out to be the winning goal as France won 1-0.
During the third place match against hosts Germany, Ricardo kept a clean sheet for the first half. In the second half, he was badly beaten by Bastian Schweinsteiger's two goals and an own goal, also off his shot, by Portugal's Petit.

Notes

1. Diário Digital.