Ricardo Rocha (Portuguese footballer)

For other uses, see Ricardo Rocha (disambiguation).

Ricardo Rocha

Personal information
Full name	Ricardo Sérgio Rocha Azevedo
Date of birth	3 October 1978 (1978-10-03)
Place of birth	Santo Tirso, Portugal
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position	Defender
Club information
Current club	Portsmouth
Number	3
Youth career
1997–1998	ARC Areias
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1998–1999	Famalicão	28	(2)
1999–2000	Braga B	33	(2)
2000–2001	Braga	44	(2)
2002–2007	Benfica	115	(3)
2007–2009	Tottenham	14	(0)
2009–2010	Standard Liège	7	(0)
2010–	Portsmouth	59	(0)
National team
2002–2006	Portugal	6	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:38, 18 February 2012 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals).

Ricardo Sérgio Rocha Azevedo (born 3 October 1978) is a Portuguese footballer who plays for Portsmouth in the Football League Championship, as a defender.

Club career

Portugal

Rocha was born in Santo Tirso, Porto District. Having made a name for himself with perennial UEFA Cup qualification candidates Sporting de Braga, and making his first division debuts during 1999–2000, he moved to national giants Sport Lisboa e Benfica in December 2001, along with teammates Armando Sá and Tiago, and developed into a fierce stopper with good marking ability.

During his four 1/2 seasons with the Lisbon club, he made a total of 162 appearances and scored three goals, which included 33 matches in European competitions. He added 25 matches in the 2004–05 league campaign, as the Reds ended an 11-year drought and conquered the national championship.

On 28 March 2006, Rocha had a widely lauded performance in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals first leg against eventual champions FC Barcelona, marking Ronaldinho out of the game in a 0–0 home draw (0–2 aggregate loss).

Abroad

On 17 January 2007, stories hit the Portuguese and English media confirming that a move to Tottenham Hotspur was a possibility. The following day, Portuguese newspapers reported that the move was imminent following a meeting in Lisbon between Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy, former Tottenham player turned agent Ronny Rosenthal and the Benfica president, with a price of €5 million (£3.2m) plus two friendlies between the clubs, with Benfica receiving all profits from the gate receipts and television money, being arranged.

Rocha was signed by Tottenham for an undisclosed fee thought to be around £3.3 million on a three-and-half-year deal, on 23 January 2007. He played his first game on 27 January, in the 3–1 win over Southend United in the FA Cup fourth round, in place of captain Ledley King who was injured at the time. On 10 February he played his first Premier League match for the Spurs, against Sheffield United.

Rocha made just five league appearances for Tottenham in 2007–08, and none in all competitions in the following season. He was eventually released on 14 June 2009, after his contract expired.

On 31 August 2009, Rocha moved to Belgium with Standard Liège, on a one-year deal. However, his contract was terminated on the 30 January 2010. On 1 February, he returned to England, signing a two-year deal with Portsmouth, making his debut in a 5–0 defeat at Manchester United five days later.

Rocha was sent off in his next two Portsmouth games, against Sunderland on 9 February, and late-on in his return game against Burnley, on 27 February. Things improved for the defender when he put in a Man of the match performance in Portsmouth's FA Cup semi-final victory over former club Spurs.

In the 2010 summer, Portsmouth offered Rocha a new contract, on 4 September, he re-signed with the club, with the two-year deal being officially confirmed by the team six days later. He was sent off in two consecutive games, against Reading (0–2 loss) and Cardiff City (0–3 defeat), finishing the season with 29 league appearances as his team ranked in 16th position.

In his second season at Portsmouth Rocha, along with Dave Kitson, fell out of favor with Steve Cotterill, but the manager left for Nottingham Forest in mid-October 2011.

International career

After making his full debut for Portugal in 2002 against Scotland, Rocha returned for two UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers against Finland and Denmark, after a three-year absence, as he was not a regular starter at Benfica then.

Honours

• Benfica:
  • Portuguese League: 2004–05
  • Portuguese Cup: 2003–04; Runner-up 2004–05
  • Portuguese Supercup: 2004

• Portsmouth:
  • FA Cup: Runner-up 2009–10

External links

• Stats and profile at Zerozero
• Stats at ForaDeJogo (Portuguese)
• PortuGOAL profile
• Ricardo Rocha career stats at Soccerbase
• Ricardo Rocha at National-Football-Teams.com