Ricardo Esgaio

Ricardo de Sousa Esgaio (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʁiˈkaɾðu ɨʒˈɣaju]; born 16 May 1993) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays for Sporting CP as a right-back.

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Sousa and the second or paternal family name is Esgaio.
Ricardo Esgaio
Esgaio playing for Sporting CP in 2015
Personal information
Full name Ricardo de Sousa Esgaio[1]
Date of birth (1993-05-16) 16 May 1993[1]
Place of birth Nazaré, Portugal[1]
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[1]
Position(s) Right-back
Team information
Current team
 Sporting CP
Number 47
Youth career
2001–2005 Nazarenos
2005–2012 Sporting CP
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2017 Sporting CP 22 (0)
2012–2017 Sporting CP B 87 (34)
2015 → Académica (loan) 15 (0)
2017–2021 Braga 117 (6)
2021– Sporting CP 60 (1)
International career
2008–2009 Portugal U16 9 (3)
2009–2010 Portugal U17 17 (5)
2010 Portugal U18 2 (0)
2010–2012 Portugal U19 29 (5)
2012–2013 Portugal U20 16 (1)
2013–2015 Portugal U21 18 (3)
2016 Portugal U23 5 (0)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Portugal
UEFA European Under-21 Championship
Runner-up2015 Czech Republic
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21:29, 8 October 2023 (UTC)

He made over 200 Primeira Liga appearances with Sporting CP (two spells), Braga and on loan at Académica de Coimbra, winning several cup honours with the first two.

Esgaio earned 96 caps for Portugal across all levels, and was selected for the 2016 Olympic tournament.

Club career

Sporting CP

Born in Nazaré, Leiria District, Esgaio joined Sporting CP's youth system at the age of 12, having signed from local Grupo Desportivo os Nazarenos. On 14 December 2011 he was called for a UEFA Europa League group stage game away against S.S. Lazio, alongside youth graduates Betinho, Tiago Ilori, João Carlos and João Mário, as the Lions had already secured the first place in their group; he remained an unused substitute in the 2–0 loss.[2]

On 11 August 2012, Esgaio made his senior debut with the reserves in the second division, playing 80 minutes in a 1–0 defeat at U.D. Oliveirense.[3] He scored his first goal with the side the following matchday, the only in the home fixture against Vitória S.C. B;[4] in his early career, he was mainly deployed as a right winger.[5][6]

Esgaio made his first official appearance with Sporting's main squad on 7 December 2012, starting against Videoton FC in the last round of the Europa League group stage as the team were already eliminated from knockout stage contention, and featuring the entire 2–1 home win.[7] He made his Primeira Liga debut on 5 January of the following year, playing the last minute of a 0–1 home loss to F.C. Paços de Ferreira.[8] On 6 November 2013, back in the reserves, he netted a hat-trick in a 4–0 defeat of G.D. Chaves.[9]

On 27 January 2015, both Esgaio and Sporting teammate Salim Cissé were loaned to fellow top-tier club Académica de Coimbra until the end of the season.[10]

Braga

On 17 June 2017, after only 44 competitive matches for Sporting in five years,[11] Esgaio signed a five-year contract with S.C. Braga as Rodrigo Battaglia moved in the opposite direction.[12] In his third match for his new team, away to C.D. Aves on 20 August, he came on as a last-minute substitute and scored his first goal in the top flight to seal a 2–0 victory.[13]

Esgaio played seven games in the side's victorious run in the Taça de Portugal, including the full 90 minutes in the final against S.L. Benfica (2–0).[14] In the last 16, he contributed one goal to the 5–0 rout of S.C.U. Torreense on 13 January 2021.[15]

Return to Sporting

On 3 July 2021, Esgaio returned to Sporting on a five-year deal, for a €5.5 million fee with a €45 million buyout clause.[16] He scored his first competitive goal for the club on 30 April 2023, in the 2–1 league win over F.C. Famalicão.[17]

International career

Esgaio won 91 caps for Portugal at youth level. He was first choice for the under-21s at the 2015 UEFA European Championship, helping to a runner-up finish in the Czech Republic.[18][19][20][21][22] He was the captain of the Olympic team at the 2016 tournament in Brazil.[23]

Personal life

Esgaio's younger brother, Tiago, is also a professional footballer who plays mainly as a right-back.[24][6]

Career statistics
As of match played 26 October 2023[25]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Sporting CP 2011–12 Primeira Liga 00000000—00
2012–13 Primeira Liga 3000201[lower-alpha 1]0—60
2013–14 Primeira Liga 00001000—10
2014–15 Primeira Liga 3020401[lower-alpha 2]0—100
2015–16 Primeira Liga 8010103[lower-alpha 1]00 0130
2016–17 Primeira Liga 8020301[lower-alpha 2]0—140
Total 2205011060—440
Sporting CP B 2012–13 Liga Pro 2717————2717
2013–14 Liga Pro 3916————3916
2014–15 Liga Pro 80————80
2015–16 Liga Pro 20————20
2016–17 Liga Pro 111————111
Total 8734————8734
Académica (loan) 2014–15 Primeira Liga 1500010——160
Braga 2017–18 Primeira Liga 304204012[lower-alpha 1]0—484
2018–19 Primeira Liga 25030402[lower-alpha 1]0—340
2019–20 Primeira Liga 301205012[lower-alpha 1]0—491
2020–21 Primeira Liga 32171306[lower-alpha 1]1—483
Total 1176141160321—1798
Sporting CP 2021–22 Primeira Liga 27050308[lower-alpha 2]01[lower-alpha 3]0440
2022–23 Primeira Liga 25100409[lower-alpha 4]0—381
2023–24 Primeira Liga 8010002[lower-alpha 1]000110
Total 601607019010931
Career total 301412513505711041943
  1. Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
  2. Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League
  3. Appearance in Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira
  4. Three appearances in UEFA Champions League, six appearances in UEFA Europa League

Honours

Sporting CP

Braga

Portugal U21

Individual

References
  1. "Ricardo Esgaio" (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  2. Menicucci, Paolo (14 December 2011). "Clinical Lazio through after Sporting triumph". UEFA. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  3. "Oliveirense-Sporting B, 1–0: Golo de Barry derrota jovens leões" [Oliveirense-Sporting B, 1–0: Barry goal defeats young lions]. Record (in Portuguese). 11 August 2012. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
  4. "Sporting B-V. Guimarães B, 1–0: Esgaio dá triunfo aos leões" [Sporting B-V. Guimarães B, 1–0: Esgaio gives lions win]. Record (in Portuguese). 18 August 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  5. "Esgaio estreia-se no Sporting" [Sporting debut for Esgaio]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 18 December 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  6. Silva, Tiago Filipe (30 November 2015). "Tiago Esgaio prefere o irmão a extremo: "Ficou com medo de arriscar"" [Tiago Esgaio prefers brother as winger: "He's now afraid of taking chances"] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  7. "Sporting sign off with Videoton success". UEFA. 7 December 2012. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
  8. "Paços pile more misery on Sporting". PortuGOAL. 5 January 2013. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  9. "Sporting B-Chaves, 4–0: Hat-trick de Ricardo Esgaio" [Sporting B 4–0 Chaves: Ricardo Esgaio hat-trick]. Record (in Portuguese). 6 November 2013. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  10. "Sporting empresta Ricardo Esgaio e Cissé à Académica" [Sporting loan Ricardo Esgaio and Cissé to Académica] (in Portuguese). TSF. 27 January 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  11. "Ricardo Esgaio quer em Braga os minutos que não teve no Sporting" [Ricardo Esgaio wants in Braga minutes he did not have at Sporting] (in Portuguese). Rádio Renascença. 19 June 2017. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  12. Almeida, Isaura (17 June 2017). "Ricardo Esgaio assinou pelo Sp. Braga, depois de 12 anos como leão" [Ricardo Esgaio signed for Sp. Braga, after 12 years as a lion]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  13. "Veja o grande golo de Ricardo Esgaio frente ao Aves" [Watch Ricardo Esgaio's great goal against Aves]. Jornal de Notícias (in Portuguese). 20 August 2017. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  14. Ribeiro, Patrick (23 May 2021). "Braga beat nine-man Benfica to lift Portuguese Cup". PortuGOAL. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  15. Ferreira, Bruno José (13 January 2021). "Taça: Sp. Braga-Torreense, 5–0 (crónica)" [Cup: Sp. Braga-Torreense, 5–0 (report)] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  16. "Ricardo Esgaio está de volta ao Sporting" [Ricardo Esgaio back to Sporting]. Público (in Portuguese). 3 July 2021. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  17. Teles, Gonçalo (30 April 2023). "Sporting vence Famalicão no dia em que Esgaio ficou a saber o que é marcar pelos leões" [Sporting beat Famalicão on the day Esgaio found out what it's like to score for the lions] (in Portuguese). TSF. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  18. Jurejko, Jonathan (18 June 2015). "England U21 0–1 Portugal U21". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  19. Ashby, Kevin (21 June 2015). "Improved Italy fail to break Portugal down". UEFA. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  20. Ashby, Kevin (24 June 2015). "Last-gasp Sweden join Portugal in U21 EURO semis". UEFA. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  21. Hart, Simon (27 June 2015). "Five-goal Portugal stun Germany in semi-finals". UEFA. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  22. Kell, Tom (30 June 2015). "Spot-on Sweden beat Portugal to win U21 EURO". UEFA. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  23. "Capitão de Portugal agradece apoio dos brasileiros contra a Argentina" [Portugal captain thanks Brazilians for support against Argentina] (in Portuguese). Globo Esporte. 5 August 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  24. Gouveia Pereira, Miguel (9 October 2019). ""Foi graças ao meu irmão que comecei a ganhar paixão pelo futebol"" ["It was thanks to my brother I started falling in love with football"]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  25. Ricardo Esgaio at Soccerway
  26. Barros, Carlos José (7 January 2015). "Sporting QB nas "meias" da Taça" [PFC Sporting in Cup "semis"] (in Portuguese). Rádio e Televisão de Portugal. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  27. Ribeiro, Patrick (29 January 2022). "Sporting defend their Taça da Liga title in second-half turnaround versus Benfica". PortuGOAL. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  28. "Sporting CP win Supertaça with victory over SC Braga". Sporting CP. 31 July 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  29. Cole, Richard (25 January 2020). "Late Ricardo Horta strike wins the Taça da Liga for Braga". PortuGOAL. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  30. Esteves Teixeira, Sofia (28 August 2020). "Do melhor jogador ao golo do ano. Confira os vencedores do Kick-Off da Liga" [From the best player to the goal of the year. Check out the League's Kick-Off winners]. Jornal de Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 20 September 2023.
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