Ricardo Esteves
Ricardo Felipe dos Santos Esteves is a retired Portuguese footballer. On the right side of the pitch, he could play as either a defender or midfielder.
He played in 117 Primeira Liga games over the course of seven seasons, representing Vitória de Setúbal, Alverca, Benfica, Braga, Nacional, Paços de Ferreira and Marítimo in the competition. He also competed professionally in four other countries, mainly Italy.
Club career
Esteves was born in Lisbon. After arriving at S.L. Benfica at the age of 11 he moved constantly between the club's first and reserve teams, only appearing in ten games in the Primeira Liga, all in the same season. He was loaned once during his contract, and also had a brief spell with farm team F.C. Alverca.Released in January 2002, Esteves represented in quick succession S.C. Braga, C.D. Nacional and F.C. Paços de Ferreira. Afterwards, he began an abroad adventure, playing three years in Italy with Reggina Calcio and Vicenza Calcio in both major levels.
Esteves spent the 2007–08 campaign back in his country with C.S. Marítimo, after which he moved again, now to Greece and Asteras Tripolis. In January 2010 he was sold to FC Seoul, scoring in his debut against Daejeon Citizen.
In June, after four goals and as many assists, Esteves was released. Late in that month he returned to his country and former side Marítimo, which had qualified for the UEFA Europa League.