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Date of Birth: Monday, September 26, 1983
Birth Place: Portugal
Height: 173cm
Position: Midfielder
Former Clubs/Teams: Internazionale, Porto, Barcelona, Sporting Lisbon

Biography

Ricardo Quaresma is a midfielder for Portugal. Quaresma has long been compared to Cristiano Ronaldo because the pair play in a similar position, as attacking wing players, and both have the ability to beat their man. However, whilst Ronaldo has risen to World Player of the Year, Quaresma has still yet to prove himself at the highest level.

Childhood

Ricardo Quaresma was born on 26th September 1983 in Lisbon, Portugal. He had always supported Sporting Lisbon as a child, so was thrilled to be taken into their academy at the age of 14. He worked his way up the youth teams, proving himself adept at embarrassing defenders and working on his trade-mark outside-of-the-foot crosses. Ricardo signed his first professional contract at the age of 17.

Early Career

Quaresma came through the youth ranks, and spent his first season as a pro in the reserves. By the start of the 01/02 season he was in the first-team, and played a key role in helping Sporting Lisbon to win the league. He established himself on the right side of midfield, with an equally tricky youngster playing on the opposite flank – Cristiano Ronaldo joined the first-team set-up in 2002.

In spite of their combined fire-power, Sporting could only make the third spot in the league. Ronaldo departed for Manchester United, with Sir Alex Ferguson saying later that he wasn’t entirely sure which of the wingers was the better player. Quaresma arguably made the better move – to an exciting Barcelona side for £6m.

Sadly, Ricardo’s time in Spain didn’t seem to work out – he played for just one season, scoring one goal in twenty games, and refused to return to Barcelona for a second season. His performances at Euro 2004 warranted a big club to come in for him, but with a questionable attitude, Quaresma ended up back in Portugal, with Porto.

With Jose Mourinho only just out of the manager’s hot-seat after victory in the Champions League, and many other top players making big-money moves, Quaresma’s first season back in his homeland was always going to be a transitional one. Porto finished as runners-up, whilst the team started to gel. Ricardo was at the heart of the team’s attacking play, and went on to help Porto to three consecutive SuperLiga titles.

Throughout this period, Quaresma was linked consistently to Liverpool or Chelsea, but it was Inter Milan who managed to grab his signature in the summer of 2008 – for a cool £18m. Quaresma started off his Inter career with a man-of-the-match performance in a pre-season friendly, but soon fell out of favour with manager Jose Mourinho, who openly criticized the Portuguese international’s work-rate.

Current Club

With appearance-chances at Internazionale limited, Quaresma jumped at the chance to join Chelsea in the January 2009 transfer window, and should be a success in the Premier League – his game of pace, power and sublime passing is made for the Premiership.

International

Ricardo Quaresma made his international first-team debut in June 2003, though he had previously represented his country in the U-17 European Championship winning side in 2000. His form leading up to Euro 2004 would have seen him make the squad, but an injury in May ruled him out for the summer.

Back at Porto, Quaresma impressed the local media with his array of tricks and his willingness to work for the team. In spite of his abilities – and the important goals he scored in qualification - coach Felipe Scolari left Ricardo at home for the 2006 World Cup. Quaresma played a bit-part in Euro 2008, but will see his chances improve with the appointment of Carlos Queiroz.