Bryan Ruiz

Bryan Jafet Ruiz González (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈbɾaʝan ˈrwis]; born 18 August 1985) is a Costa Rican former professional footballer. A left-footed attacking midfielder, he also played as a second striker.

Not to be confused with Brian Ruiz.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Ruiz and the second or maternal family name is González.
Bryan Ruiz
Ruiz with Costa Rica at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Full name Bryan Jafet Ruiz González[1]
Date of birth (1985-08-18) 18 August 1985
Place of birth San José, Costa Rica
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[2]
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2006 Alajuelense 86 (24)
2006–2009 Gent 79 (26)
2009–2011 Twente 65 (35)
2011–2015 Fulham 97 (12)
2014 → PSV (loan) 14 (5)
2015–2018 Sporting CP 86 (12)
2018–2020 Santos 12 (0)
2020–2022 Alajuelense 63 (7)
Total 502 (121)
International career‡
2005–2022 Costa Rica 147 (29)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20:16, 15 September 2022 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:15, 23 November 2022 (UTC)

Ruiz is the only Central American footballer to have played in the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League, and the CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores.[3]

Club career

Alajuelense

Ruiz began his professional career at 18, making his debut for Liga Deportiva Alajuelense on 30 November 2003 against Municipal Pérez Zeledón,[4] in Costa Rica's top division. He formed a trio with 2 strikers, Rolando Fonseca and Froylán Ledezma, where he built a reputation as a goalscorer and a play maker.

Ruiz scored his first goal on 23 December 2003 against Ramonense, netting twice against Fernando Patterson.[4] In Alajuelense, he was nicknamed La Comadreja (The Weasel), for his facial profile. He was on the team when it won regional titles such as the UNCAF Cup and the CONCACAF Champions' Cup.

Gent

In the summer of 2006, Ruiz was signed by Gent in a four-year deal along with Randall Azofeifa from Deportivo Saprissa and Roy Myrie from Liga Deportiva Alajuelense. He scored his first hat-trick playing on 8 December 2007 against Lokeren. In that season in the Belgian League, he was the captain and top scorer for the team.[5]

Twente
Ruiz with FC Twente in 2010

On 15 July 2009, the Dutch club FC Twente announced that they had signed Ruiz for a fee of around €5 million, and agreed to receive a percentage of a subsequent transfer. He signed a four-year deal with the Eredivisie side.[6]

Ruiz made his debut for the new club by scoring the second goal of the match, with an assist from another newcomer, Miroslav Stoch, in an away defeat of Sparta Rotterdam.[7][8] His goal against NAC Breda on 12 December 2009 marked the tenth consecutive match in which he had scored.[9] On 27 March 2010, Ruiz made one of the quickest hat-tricks ever[10] against Sparta, with goals in the 46th, 49th and 50th minutes.[11]

On 2 May 2010, FC Twente were crowned champions of Eredivisie for the first time in their history, with a 2–0 win at NAC Breda; Ruiz scored the first goal of the match during the 23rd minute of play. He finished the season as top scorer for Twente with 24 goals in Eredivisie play.

In August 2011, Ruiz was being watched by scouts from Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur; however, on 18 August 2011 Ruiz claimed that Fulham was in talks with him. He stated to a local source "Fulham is a serious option for me. "That is also a Premier League side and it is a fantastic league. "Fulham already contacted my agent. If Fulham does become serious, we will definitely talk."

Fulham
Ruiz playing for Fulham in 2012

On 31 August 2011, the last day of the Premier League summer transfer window, Fulham announced signing Ruiz for an undisclosed fee.[12] His début was on Sunday, 11 September 2011 at home to Blackburn Rovers[13] and he scored his first goal for Fulham in a 3–1 home defeat against Everton on 23 October 2011.[14][15]

In the fixture against Bolton at the Reebok Stadium on 7 April 2012, Ruiz broke a bone in his foot, leading to a stretcher taking him off and him needing an operation, which sidelined him for 10 weeks.[16]

On 18 August 2012, Ruiz started Fulham's first Premier League game of the season, a 5–0 win against Norwich and assisted Mladen Petrić in scoring his second goal in his debut match.[17] He finished the 2012–13 season making 31 first-team appearances and scoring five goals.[18]

PSV Eindhoven (loan)

Ruiz joined Eredivisie club PSV Eindhoven on 15 January 2014, on loan until the end of the season.[19]

He made his debut on 19 January 2014 in a 1–0 loss to Ajax[20] and scored his first goal for the club on 14 February with a 63rd-minute winner against Heracles Almelo.[21]

Sporting CP

On 7 July 2015, Ruiz joined Sporting CP on a three-year contract.[22] He made his debut for the club in the 2015 Supertaça match against Lisbon rivals S.L. Benfica, which Sporting won 1–0.[23]

On 1 October 2015, Ruiz scored his first goal for Sporting against Beşiktaş in the group stage of the UEFA Europa League.[24] His first goal in the Primeira Liga came in a 3–0 Lisbon derby defeat of Benfica at the Estádio da Luz on 25 October.[25] In another derby, on 5 March 2016, he missed an open goal, and Benfica won the match 1–0 at Estádio José Alvalade, knocking out Sporting to second place in the league.[26]

Santos

On 11 July 2018, free agent Ruiz signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Santos FC.[27] He made his debut for the club on 8 August, replacing Diego Pituca at half-time in a 1–1 away draw against Ceará.

After only 12 league matches during his first season, Ruiz failed to appear a single minute during his second, under Jorge Sampaoli. On 13 July 2020, after again failing to play under Jesualdo Ferreira, he terminated his contract with the club after alleging "wage breaches and moral damage".[28]

Return to Alajuelense

On 23 July 2020, Ruiz announced his return to Alajuelense.[29] In December 2022, he officially retired from the professional game, and marked the occasion by participating in a friendly between Alajuelense and his former club Twente.[30][31]

International career
Ruiz was formerly the captain for the Costa Rica national football team

Ruiz made his debut for Costa Rica against China on 19 June 2005.[32]

He has represented the Ticos at the 2005, 2011 and 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cups, captaining the team at the latter tournament. His first international goal came against Honduras in the 2005 tournament.

Ruiz scored six times during the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign, as Costa Rica was knocked out by Uruguay in the intercontinental play-off. In the 2014 qualifiers, he scored three goals to lead the team to the tournament finals in Brazil.

In June 2014, Ruiz was named in Costa Rica's squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.[33] In the team's opening match, he captained Los Ticos to a 3–1 defeat of Uruguay in Fortaleza.[34] On 20 June, Ruiz scored the only goal as Costa Rica upset four-time champion Italy 1–0 to qualify for the round of 16,[35] where he again scored his team's goal as they drew 1–1 with Greece. Ruiz later successfully converted his kick as Costa Rica prevailed 5–3 in the penalty shootout.[36] At the quarter-final stage, Ruiz was one of two Costa Ricans to have their kicks saved by Tim Krul in a 4–3 penalty shootout loss to the Netherlands.[37]

In May 2018, he was named in Costa Rica's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[38] In the last group-stage match against Switzerland, he scored a last-minute equalizing goal from a penalty spot in 2–2 draw; however, the goal was credited as an own goal by Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer.[39]

In November 2022, Ruiz was named to the 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup,[40] his final tournament for Costa Rica as he retired after the tournament.[41]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 2 November 2022
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Alajuelense 2003–04[42] Costa Rican Primera División 203——10[lower-alpha 1]5—308
2004–05[43] 3113————3113
2005–06[43][42] 358——11[lower-alpha 2]6—4614
2020–21[43] 407——5[lower-alpha 3]1—458
2021–22[43] 422——2[lower-alpha 4]01[lower-alpha 5]0452
2022–23[43] 132——5[lower-alpha 4]0—182
Total 18135——33121021547
Gent 2006–07[43] Belgian First Division 16320—1[lower-alpha 6]0—193
2007–08[43] 311173—1[lower-alpha 6]0—3914
2008–09[43] 321242—2[lower-alpha 7]0—3814
Total 7926135—40—9631
Twente 2009–10[43] Eredivisie 342422—12[lower-alpha 8]2—4828
2010–11[43] 27931—9[lower-alpha 9]01[lower-alpha 10]04010
2011–12[43] 42——3[lower-alpha 11]21[lower-alpha 10]185
Total 653553—244219643
Fulham 2011–12[44] Premier League 2722010——302
2012–13[45] 2952010——325
2013–14[46] 121—20——141
2014–15[47] Championship 2941021——325
Total 97125061——10813
PSV Eindhoven (loan) 2013–14[43] Eredivisie 145————145
Sporting CP 2015–16[43] Primeira Liga 34821118[lower-alpha 12]31[lower-alpha 13]04613
2016–17[43] 32220206[lower-alpha 11]1—423
2017–18[43] 20230406[lower-alpha 7]0—332
Total 861271712041012123
Santos 2018[43] Série A 120——2[lower-alpha 14]0—140
2019[43] 0000——0000
Total 12000002000140
Career total 534125309132832041664157
  1. Six appearances and four goals in UNCAF Interclub Cup, four appearances and one goal in CONCACAF Champions Cup
  2. Seven appearances and six goals in UNCAF Interclub Cup, four appearances in CONCACAF Champions Cup
  3. Four appearances and one goal in CONCACAF League, one appearance in CONCACAF Champions Cup
  4. Appearance(s) in CONCACAF League
  5. Appearance in Supercopa de Costa Rica
  6. Appearance(s) in UEFA Intertoto Cup
  7. Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
  8. Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, ten appearances and two goals in UEFA Europa League
  9. Five appearances in UEFA Champions League, four appearances in UEFA Europa League
  10. Appearance in Johan Cruyff Shield
  11. Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League
  12. Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, six appearances and two goals in UEFA Europa League
  13. Appearance in Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira
  14. Appearance(s) in Copa Libertadores

International
As of match played 23 November 2022[48]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Costa Rica 200571
200620
200762
200884
2009102
201060
201170
201230
2013113
2014125
2015133
2016102
2017131
2018102
201971
202000
2021132
202291
Total14729
Scores and results list Costa Rica's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ruiz goal.[48]
List of international goals scored by Bryan Ruiz
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
116 July 2005Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, United States Honduras2–32–32005 CONCACAF Gold Cup
224 March 2007Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá, San José, Costa Rica New Zealand3–04–0Friendly
32 June 2007Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá, San José, Costa Rica Chile2–02–0Friendly
421 June 2008Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá, San José, Costa Rica Grenada2–03–02010 FIFA World Cup qualification
56 September 2008Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá, San José, Costa Rica Suriname7–07–02010 FIFA World Cup qualification
610 September 2008Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince, Haiti Haiti1–03–22010 FIFA World Cup qualification
72–1
814 October 2009Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, Washington, United States United States1–02–22010 FIFA World Cup qualification
92–0
106 February 2013Estadio Rommel Fernández, Panama City, Panama Panama2–22–22014 FIFA World Cup qualification
1118 June 2013Estadio Nacional, San José, Costa Rica Panama2–02–02014 FIFA World Cup qualification
1215 October 2013Estadio Nacional, San José, Costa Rica Mexico1–02–12014 FIFA World Cup qualification
132 June 2014Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, United States Japan1–01–3Friendly
1420 June 2014Arena Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil Italy1–01–02014 FIFA World Cup
1529 June 2014Arena Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil Greece1–01–1 (5–3 pen.)2014 FIFA World Cup
1613 September 2014Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles United States Guatemala1–12–12014 Copa Centroamericana
1713 November 2014Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, Uruguay Uruguay2–13–3Friendly
1811 July 2015BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston, United States El Salvador1–01–12015 CONCACAF Gold Cup
198 September 2015Estadio Nacional, San José, Costa Rica Uruguay1–01–0Friendly
2017 November 2015Estadio Rommel Fernández, Panama City, Panama Panama1–02–12018 FIFA World Cup qualification
2129 March 2016Estadio Nacional, San José, Costa Rica Jamaica2–03–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
229 October 2016Krasnodar Stadium, Krasnodar, Russia Russia2–04–3Friendly
2313 June 2017Estadio Nacional, San José, Costa Rica Trinidad and Tobago2–12–12018 FIFA World Cup qualification
2411 June 2018King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels, Belgium Belgium1–01–4Friendly
2511 October 2018Estadio Universitario, San Nicolás de los Garza, Mexico Mexico2–12–3Friendly
2629 June 2019NRG Stadium, Houston, United States Mexico1–11–1 (4–5 pen.)2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup
2720 July 2021Exploria Stadium, Orlando, United States Jamaica1–01–02021 CONCACAF Gold Cup
2810 October 2021Estadio Nacional, San José, Costa Rica El Salvador1–12–12022 FIFA World Cup qualification
2927 January 2022Estadio Nacional, San José, Costa Rica Panama1–01–02022 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Alajuelense

Twente

Sporting CP

Costa Rica

Individual

Personal life

Ruiz has two brothers; one of them, Yendrick, is also a football player. Both Bryan and Yendrick were teammates in Alajuelense for a period of two weeks before Bryan signed for Gent. It was not until 14 August 2013, when both played together for the first time, in a friendly that Costa Rica played against Dominican Republic.[56][57]

Ruiz worked as a columnist for Costa Rican sports newspaper Al Día from 2011 until the journal's ceasing in 2014.[58]

See also

References
  1. "Premier League Clubs submit Squad Lists" (PDF). Premier League. 2 September 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 July 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  2. "2018 FIFA World Cup: List of players" (PDF). FIFA. 24 June 2018. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  3. "Top 5: Los mejores costarricenses en la historia de Champions League". ESPN.com.mx (in Spanish). 27 October 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  4. Vida de Bryan Ruiz (Profile) Archived 2 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine – Nación (in Spanish)
  5. http://everardoherrera.com/default.asp?s=nv&n=131-Campeón_holandés_AZ_Alkmaar_también_quiere_a_Ruíz
  6. "Bryan Ruiz signs for FC Twente". FC Twente. 15 July 2009. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  7. VI – Sparta Rotterdam – Fc Twente (01-08-2009) Archived 10 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  8. "VI – Bryan Ruiz Gonzales". Vi.nl.
  9. "FC Twente na rust langs NAC Breda". NOS. 12 December 2009. Archived from the original on 15 December 2009. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
  10. According to some sources this was Jan Seelen (Ajax) who made the hat-trick within 2 minutes against SHS (2–9) (1958/1959).
  11. "Bryan Ruiz hat-trick keeps Twente on course for title". 28 March 2010. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
  12. "Ruiz Joins Fulham". Fulham FC. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  13. "Fulham 1–1 Blackburn". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 September 2011.
  14. "Fulham 1–3". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
  15. "Bryan Ruiz profile". Fulham F.C. Archived from the original on 9 January 2015. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  16. "Fulham striker Bryan Ruiz has surgery on broken foot". BBC Sport. 10 April 2012.
  17. "Fulham 5–0 Norwich". BBC Sport. 18 August 2012.
  18. "Bryan Ruiz". Soccerbase. 19 May 2013.
  19. "Bryan Ruiz: Fulham forward joins PSV Eindhoven on loan". BBC Sport. 15 January 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  20. "PSV - PSV slip to a 1-0 defeat in Amsterdam". Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
  21. "Eredivisie: PSV climb to fifth with victory over Heracles Almelo".
  22. "Bryan Ruiz: Sporting Lisbon sign Fulham forward on three-year deal". BBC Sport. 7 July 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  23. "Sporting bate Benfica e entra a ganhar na nova época". SAPO Desporto (in Portuguese). 9 August 2015.
  24. "Bryan Ruiz anota primer gol con el Sporting Lisboa". CR Hoy (in Spanish). 1 October 2015.
  25. "Benfica 0–3 Sporting". SAPO Desporto (in Portuguese). 25 October 2015.
  26. "Ruiz misses open goal as Benfica beat Sporting to go top". Reuters. 5 March 2016. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  27. "Costa Rica captain Ruiz leaves troubled Sporting for Santos". The Star. 12 July 2018. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  28. "Bryan Ruiz rescinde contrato com o Santos após "descumprimento de salário e dano moral"" [Bryan Ruiz rescinds contract with Santos after "wage breaches and moral damage"] (in Brazilian Portuguese). Globo Esporte. 13 July 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  29. "¡Vuelvo donde todo comenzó!" [I came back to where it all started!] (in Spanish). Bryan Ruiz's official twitter account. 23 July 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  30. "In Beeld - Bryan Ruiz neemt op magische avond in Costa Rica afscheid van het voetbal". 19 December 2022.
  31. Mall, Harry (19 December 2022). "Former Fulham man announces retirement from the game aged 37". London World.
  32. "Bryan RUIZ". FIFA. Archived from the original on 16 June 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  33. "Costa Rica World Cup 2014 squad". The Telegraph. 2 June 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  34. "Uruguay 1–3 Costa Rica". BBC. 14 June 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  35. "Italy 0–1 Costa Rica". BBC. 20 June 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  36. "Costa Rica 1–1 Greece". BBC. 29 June 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  37. "Netherlands 0–0 Costa Rica". FIFA. Archived from the original on 7 July 2014. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  38. "Costa Rica national team World Cup squad: Oscar Ramirez names 23-man roster featuring Keylor Navas, six MLS players | Goal.com".
  39. "Swiss keeper nets crazy own goal defending Costa Rican penalty".
  40. "Suarez names Costa Rica squad for Qatar 2022". FIFA.
  41. Fernandez, Ileana (2 December 2022). "Costa Rican soccer player Bryan Ruiz officially retires from National Team". The Tico Times | Costa Rica News | Travel | Real Estate. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
  42. "Estadísticas" [Stats] (in Spanish). Bryan Ruiz. Archived from the original on 8 February 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  43. Bryan Ruiz at Soccerway. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  44. "Games played by Bryan Ruiz in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  45. "Games played by Bryan Ruiz in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  46. "Games played by Bryan Ruiz in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  47. "Games played by Bryan Ruiz in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  48. "Bryan Ruiz". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  49. Araya, José (20 December 2020). "Bryan Ruiz, el hijo prodigo que retornó para ser campeón | Teletica". www.teletica.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  50. "Bryan Ruiz and Alex Morgan Named 2016 CONCACAF Players of the Year". CONCACAF. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  51. "Navas, Wambach named 2014 CONCACAF Players of the Year". concacaf.com. 23 December 2014. Archived from the original on 28 February 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
  52. "Javier Hernandez and Carli Lloyd Named 2015 CONCACAF Players of the Year". CONCACAF.com. 22 January 2016. Archived from the original on 19 August 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  53. "2017 CONCACAF Award Winners Announced". CONCACAF. 19 December 2017. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  54. "IFFHS MAN TEAM - CAF - OF THE DECADE 2011-2020". IFFHS. 28 January 2021.
  55. "IFFHS".
  56. Goldberg, David (13 August 2013). "Bryan Ruiz y Yendrick Ruiz al fin cumplen su sueño de niños: jugar juntos". La Nación. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  57. "Dominican Republic vs. Costa Rica 0–4". Soccerway. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  58. Ruiz, Bryan (11 October 2014). "Un libro de vivencias y puntos de vista". Al Día. Grupo Nación. Archived from the original on 11 September 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
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