Portugal Born in
Montijo,
Setúbal, Ricardo started his career at hometown club
Montijo, signing with
Boavista in 1995. After initially battling for first-choice status with
William Andem, he became first-choice, and appeared in 28 matches in the
Chequereds 2000–01 conquest of the
Primeira Liga championship, the club's only title in its history. Ricardo was one of the latter team's most influential players in their
2002–03 campaign in the
UEFA Cup, in a run that would only stop in the competition's semi-finals. On 9 May 2003, through a
penalty kick, he scored the only goal of the home win against
Beira-Mar. In the following off-season, Ricardo joined
Sporting CP for a fee of
€7 million and 20% from the value of any future transfer. An undisputed starter from his beginnings, he backstopped the side to
the final of the
2004–05 UEFA Cup, a 3–1 loss to
CSKA Moscow (the game was played at the
Estádio José Alvalade).
Betis in 2009 On 9 July 2007, Ricardo was linked with a transfer to
Real Betis and, two days later, he signed a four-year contract with the
La Liga club. His league debut took place against
Recreativo on 26 August, a 1–1 away draw; having started
the season as first-choice, he eventually lost the position to trainee
Casto, but would regain his status for two of the last three games as the
Andalusians avoided relegation. In
2008–09, as manager
Paco Chaparro, who arrived midway through the previous season, started on the bench, Ricardo lost the battle for first-choice, having to settle with
Copa del Rey matches, a situation which would revert midway through the campaign as Betis eventually suffered relegation.
The following year he was backup to
Iñaki Goitia, and made no appearances as his team finished fourth and were not promoted. Ricardo was not given any shirt number for
2010–11, being limited to training with the
Pepe Mel-led squad, and later released from his contract in January 2011 – it was due to expire in June of that year. and joined the team on 31 January 2011, signing until the end of
the season, and citing manager
Sven-Göran Eriksson as his motivation for making the move. He made his competitive debut on 12 February, in a 2–0 win over
Derby County at
Pride Park. On 21 May 2011, Leicester confirmed it would not renew Ricardo's contract, due to expire on 30 June. In mid-August, he signed for
Vitória de Setúbal, returning to his country after four years. Ricardo retired in 2014 after two years with
Olhanense. He remained on the
Algarve, settling in
Vilamoura and setting up R1 Real Estate. ==International career==