Ricardo Luiz Gomes Mendes (born 2 April 1980), known as Ricardo Luiz or just Ricardo, is a Brazilian retired footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.

Ricardo Luiz
Personal information
Full name Ricardo Luiz Gomes Mendes
Date of birth (1980-04-02) 2 April 1980 (age 44)
Place of birth Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Youth career
América Mineiro
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2006 América Mineiro 78 (2)
2007 Novo Hamburgo 15 (0)
2008 Legião
2009 Volta Redonda 3 (0)
2010 Guarani-MG
2010 Fluminense-MG
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career edit

Born in Belo Horizonte, Ricardo made his senior debut with hometown side América Mineiro in 2001, winning the Campeonato Mineiro.[1] He then suffered relegation from the Série A later in the year, and later became a backup option until leaving in 2006.

Ricardo subsequently played for Novo Hamburgo, Legião, Volta Redonda, Guarani-MG and Fluminense-MG before retiring in 2010, aged just 30.

Post-playing career edit

In 2011, Ricardo returned to his first club América as a youth football coordinator. He later worked under the same role at Cruzeiro for five years, before being announced as the director of the youth categories at Cuiabá on 19 April 2021.[2]

On 3 March 2022, Ricardo was named the youth football coordinator of Santos.[3]

Honours edit

América Mineiro

References edit

  1. ^ "Campeões de 2001 analisam chances do América de voltar a conquistar o título" [Champions of 2001 analyze chances of América to win the title] (in Brazilian Portuguese). Super Esportes. 4 May 2012. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  2. ^ "Ex-supervisor do Cruzeiro assume a diretoria de base do Cuiabá" [Former Cruzeiro supervisor takes over the youth director role at Cuiabá] (in Brazilian Portuguese). Super Esportes. 19 April 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  3. ^ "Santos FC tem novo coordenador para as categorias de base" [Santos FC have a new coordinator for the youth categories] (in Brazilian Portuguese). Santos FC. 3 March 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022.