Ricardo Oliveira

Football player infobox
playername = Ricardo Oliveira


dateofbirth = birth date and age|1980|5|6
cityofbirth = São Paulo
countryofbirth = Brazil
height = height|meter=1.83
currentclub = Real Zaragoza
clubnumber = 9
nickname = Oli
position = Striker
years = 2000–2002
2002–2003
2003–2004
2004–2006
2006
2006–2008
2007–2008
2008-
clubs = Portuguesa
Santos
Valencia
Real Betis
→ São Paulo (loan)
A.C. Milan
→ Real Zaragoza (loan)
Real Zaragoza
caps(goals) = 046 0(23)
034 0(22)
021 00(8)
046 0(26)
012 00(6)
026 00(3)
037 0(17)
000 00(0)
nationalyears = 2004–
nationalteam = Brazil
nationalcaps(goals) = 011 00(3)
pcupdate = 18 May 2008
ntupdate = 28 March 2007

Ricardo Oliveira (born May 6, 1980 in São Paulo) is a Brazilian footballer who currently plays as a striker for Real Zaragoza.

Club

Portuguesa

Oliveira began his career at Portuguesa scoring 23 goals in 46 appearances for the club before moving on to Santos Futebol Clube.

Santos

Oliveira scored 4 goals in 14 league appearances during his brief stint at Santos before moving on to Valencia football club. Oliviera played 34 matches for Santos overall, scoring 22 goals, many of which came in the Copa Libertadores.

Valencia

Oliveira joined Valencia CF on 31 July, 2003. [cite news|url=http://www.uefa.com/competitions/uefacup/news/kind=1/newsid=86934.html|title=Valencia sign South American duo|date=2003-07-31|accessdate=2008-05-27|publisher=UEFA.com] Under the guidance of Rafael Benítez, Oliveira scored 8 La Liga goals in 21 games, including a fantastic long range effort against Barcelona. After only one season, along with UEFA Cup and La Liga medals, he moved on to Real Betis.

Real Betis

Oliveira moved to Real Betis in 2004 for a reported fee of €4 million. [cite news|url=http://www.uefa.com/footballeurope/news/kind=2/newsid=211206.html|title=Oliveira bound for Betis|date=2004-07-30|accessdate=2008-05-27|publisher=UEFA.com] He scored 22 La Liga goals in 37 appearances, and also won the Copa del Rey final against Osasuna, scoring the first goal as Betis's 2-1 win. Oliveira scored his first official Champions League goal against R.S.C. Anderlecht, following two goals, including a fantastic solo effort against Monaco in the Champions League third qualifying round. Due to injury Oliveira made only 9 La Liga appearances in his second season at Betis although he did scored 4 goals.Due to knee ligament damage sustained against Chelsea in a UEFA Champions League, Oliveira moved on loan to São Paulo in 2006 in a bid to gain a place in Brazil's World Cup 2006 squad. Prolonged recovery time meant Oliveira never made it but he did continue to compete for São Paulo in the league at the Copa Libertadores until 10 August 2006.

ão Paulo

Following his loan spell to São Paulo, Oliveira returned to Real Betis on 21 August, nine days later than he was requested which caused controversy among the Betis faithful and its board. The delay was caused by an unplanned schedule change made by Conmebol, which postponed the Copa Libertadores final match in one week, and his contract was due on the day after the previous final match date. Oliveira wanted to play on the decisive match and tried to reach an agreement with Betis, even with a special allowance from FIFA, but the Spanish team would not cooperate and he was not able to play on the biggest match of his career. Since his time with Betis, he has been fined multiple times. First, for the breach of his contract. Then, for returning to Betis late (after he played for the Brazil international team), and the last one for having a medical test with AC Milan without authorization.

A.C. Milan

Milan lost Andriy Shevchenko after 2006 Italian football scandal, in search of replacement, Milan finally spotted Oliveira who missed the 2006 FIFA World Cup.Oliveira signed a five year contract for A.C. Milan on 31 August 2006, with Johann Vogel moved to opposite position as part of the deal. The two clubs negotiated nearly a week due to dispute between the transfer fee. The agreed price reported be €17.5million. [cite news|url=http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11847_2388628,00.html|title=Oliveira makes Milan move|date=2006-08-31|accessdate=2008-05-27|publisher=Skysports]

Oliveira made his debut in the second half of Milan's 2006-07 opening-day match with Lazio, heading past keeper Angelo Peruzzi from the goalline. However, he netted only twice more after that for the remainder of the season, finishing with a disappointing three goals in 22 Serie A appearances, in addition to two goals during Milan's Coppa Italia campaign. He had spent most of the season under the stress of the October 2006 kidnapping of his sister, Maria Lourdes, who was released unharmed on March 12, 2007.

Real Zaragoza

On July 14 2007, Ricardo Oliveira moved back to Spain and joined Real Zaragoza on loan. He would play for the club in the 2007/08 season and Real Zaragoza would have an option to purchase him for an agreed price when the loan period finished. he started very impressively scoring in each of his first two league matches.

He went on to score 21 goals in all competitions, including an impressive 17 in the league. However, even despite scoring twice on the last day of the season, he could not help the Aragon side escape relegation to the Spanish Second Division.

On May 25, 2008 Real Zaragoza bought Oliveira from AC Milan for €10 million. [ [http://goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=710427 Goal.com - Real Zaragoza - Real Zaragoza Make Oliveira Theirs ] ]

National team

Oliveira made his debut for the Brazil national team against the Catalan XI on 25 May 2004, actually scoring in the match as Brazil won 5-1. However, that match was not considered an official friendly match by FIFA. He was subsequently included in Brazil's squad for Copa América 2004 and won his first cap on 8 July 2004 against Paraguay. During the event, he also scored his first goal for Brazil in a quarter-final match against Mexico on 18 July 2004. Brazil then went on to win the cup.

Since then, Oliveira became a regular in the Brazil team as a cover for Ronaldo, Adriano and Robinho. He was also included in the squad for the 2005 Confederations Cup. He was expected to be a part of Brazil's 2006 FIFA World Cup squad until he suffered knee ligament damage on 1 November 2005. He recovered early but failed to win a place on the squad. After a 1-year absence from the national team, Brazil's new coach Dunga recalled him for a friendly match against Switzerland on 15 November 2006.

Honours

International Level

*Copa America - 2004 - With Brazil.
*Confederation Cup - 2005 - With Brazil.

Club Level

*La Liga - 2004 - With Valencia
*UEFA Cup - 2004 - With Valencia
*Copa del Rey - 2005 - With Real Betis
*UEFA Champions League - 2007 - With A.C. Milan

Personal

*Best striker during the Copa Libertadores in 2003.

References

External links

* [http://www.acmilan.com/ Official Website Of A.C. Milan]
* [http://www.uefa.com/Competitions/UCL/talkfootball/chat/newsId=323764.html UEFA.com Talk Football Interview]
* [http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/fo/profiles/10000000000000000000011275.html Yahoo! Sport Statistics]
* [http://www.acmilan.com/NewsDetail.aspx?idNews=28721 Official Announcement Of Signing At A.C. Milan.com]
* [http://www.footballdatabase.com/index.php?page=player&Id=1354&pn=Ricardo_Oliveira Ricardo Oliveira profile at footballdatabase.com]