Ricardo Silva

A Portuguese footballer Ricardo Emídio Ramalho Silva was born on 26 September 1975 in Porto.

His football career started at the local club – Porto in 1995. But the bulk of his time with the club was spent serving loans to various clubs. Among them were Esposende, Felgueiras, Marítimo and União Leiria.

In 1999, the footballer was welcomed back to his parent club, where he spent the following three seasons. Those seasons turned to be not very fortunate, as Ricardo made only 19 appearances. In 2002, Silva was loaned out by Vitória Guimarães. He scored 3 goals in 27 matches for the temporary team.

In 2003, Ricardo penned a contract with Boavista. He had made 19 appearances for the squad before he joined Beira-Mar. But very soon the defender came back to his previous club. Silva didn’t become the head coach’s first choice, but he managed to make a fabulous display, featuring in 61 matches and scoring 5 goals. His skillful game was noticed by various clubs. In 2008, the club lost its place in the top division, as there was a scandal connected with the wheeler-dealer finance.

In 2008, the defender joined Shinnik from Yaroslavl, Russia. He made a fabulous season with the team, appearing 29 times and netting 6 goals. When the spell came to an end Ricardo got numerous proposals from Russia and Ukraine.

But he decided to come back to his motherland. In 2010, he penned a contract with Vitória de Setúbal. At the age of 38 Silva signed a new deal with Boavista.

In 1996 Silva was called up 4 times to represent the Portugal U-21 team. He scored one goal for the national youth squad.