Ricardo Rocha (footballer, born 1978)

Ricardo Sérgio Rocha Azevedo (born 3 October 1978), known as Rocha, is a Portuguese former footballer who played mainly as a central defender.

For other uses, see Ricardo Rocha (disambiguation).
This name uses Portuguese naming customs: the first or maternal family name is Rocha and the second or paternal family name is Azevedo.

Ricardo Rocha
Personal information
Full name Ricardo Sérgio Rocha Azevedo
Date of birth (1978-10-03) 3 October 1978
Place of birth Santo Tirso, Portugal
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
1990–1995 ARC Areias
1995–1996 Famalicão
1996–1997 Vitória Guimarães
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1997–1999 Famalicão 54 (2)
1999–2000 Braga B 35 (2)
2000–2001 Braga 44 (2)
2002–2007 Benfica 115 (3)
2007–2009 Tottenham Hotspur 14 (0)
2009–2010 Standard Liège 7 (0)
2010–2013 Portsmouth 93 (0)
Total 362 (9)
National team
2001–2002 Portugal B 2 (0)
2002–2006 Portugal 6 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

After starting out professionally with Braga he signed for Benfica in late 2001, going on to appear in 157 competitive matches with the latter club. He spent the vast majority of his remaining career in England with Tottenham Hotspur and Portsmouth, for a total of three Premier League seasons.

Club career

Portugal

Rocha was born in Santo Tirso, Porto District. Having made a name for himself with perennial UEFA Cup qualification candidates S.C. Braga and making his Primeira Liga debut during the 1999–2000 season, he moved to S.L. Benfica in December 2001 along with teammates Armando Sá and Tiago (in Rocha's case the move was made official in June of the following year), and eventually developed into a fierce stopper with good marking ability.

During his four and a half seasons with the Lisbon club, Rocha made a total of 157 appearances and scored three goals, which included 33 games in European competitions. He added 25 in the 2004–05 league campaign, as it ended an 11-year drought and conquered the national championship.

On 28 March 2006, Rocha had a widely lauded performance in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals first leg against eventual champions FC Barcelona, marking Ronaldinho out of the game in a 0–0 home draw and 2–0 aggregate loss.[1]

Tottenham Hotspur

On 17 January 2007, stories hit the Portuguese and English media confirming that a move to Tottenham Hotspur was a possibility. The following day, Portuguese newspapers reported that the move was imminent following a meeting in Lisbon between Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy, former player turned agent Ronny Rosenthal and the Benfica president, with a price of €5 million (£3.2m) plus two friendlies between the clubs, with Benfica receiving all profits from the gate receipts and television money, being arranged.

Rocha was signed by Tottenham for an undisclosed fee thought to be around £3.3 million on a three-and-half-year deal, on 23 January 2007.[2] He played his first game four days later in the 3–1 win over Southend United in the fourth round of the FA Cup, in place of captain Ledley King who was injured at the time;[3] on 10 February he made his first Premier League appearance, against Sheffield United (90 minutes played, 1–2 away loss).[4]

Rocha played just five games in 2007–08, and none whatsoever in all competitions in the following season.[5] He was eventually released on 14 June 2009, after his contract expired.[6]

Portsmouth

On 31 August 2009, Rocha moved to Belgium with Standard Liège on a one-year deal.[7] However, his contract was terminated on 30 January 2010; on 1 February he returned to England, signing for two years with Portsmouth[8] and making his debut in a 5–0 defeat away to Manchester United five days later.[9]

Rocha was sent off in his next two games, against Sunderland on 9 February[10] and late on in his return game against Burnley, on the 27th.[11] Things improved for the defender when he put in a Player of the match performance in his team's FA Cup semi-final victory over former club Tottenham.[12]

In summer 2010, Portsmouth offered Rocha a new contract,[13] and on 4 September he re-signed with the club,[14] with the two-year deal being officially confirmed six days later.[15] He was sent off in two consecutive games, against Reading (2–0 loss)[16] and Cardiff City (3–0 defeat),[17] finishing the season with 29 league appearances as his team ranked in 16th position.

In his second year, both Rocha and Dave Kitson fell out of favor with Steve Cotterill, but the manager left for Nottingham Forest in mid-October 2011.[18] He was awarded the team's Player of the Season award, but they were relegated to Football League One;[19] at the end of the campaign, and upon the expiry of his contract, he was released.[20]

In September 2012, Rocha went on trial at Ipswich Town,[21] but nothing came of it. On 6 October, Leeds United announced that the 34-year-old had been trialling with the club for a period of ten days.[22] On 19 November, however, he re-signed for Portsmouth on an initial one-month contract,[23] extending his link for another one month in January.[24]

Rocha's future with Pompey appeared to be in doubt, after he claimed that he had no contract offer from the club.[25] Additionally, manager Guy Whittingham stated that he refused to rule out giving the player a new deal.[26]

Despite the end of his contract, Rocha expressed desire to make a return to Portsmouth, but left in July 2013 after both parties were unable to reach an agreement.[27][28] Chairman Iain McInnes explained his return had scuppered, due to wanting a role for "off-the-field role on top of a playing deal by becoming the club's director of football."[29]

International career

After making his debut for Portugal on 20 November 2002 against Scotland,[30] Rocha returned for a friendly with Denmark and a UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier against Finland after a three-year absence, as he was not a regular starter at Benfica then.[31]

Career statistics

Club
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[32][33]
Club Season League Cup League Cup Other[34] Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Braga 2000–01 1900000–190
2001–02 2520000–252
Total 442000000442
Benfica 2002–03 2700000–270
2003–04 2504000100390
2004–05 250200070340
2005–06 260400090390
2006–07 123100050183
Total 1153110003101573
Tottenham Hotspur 2006–07 90301000130
2007–08 5000000050
2008–09 0000000000
Total 140301000180
Standard Liège 2009–10 7020–40130
Portsmouth 2009–10 1002000–120
2010–11 2900000–290
2011–12 3301010–350
2012–13 2100000–210
Total 930301000970
Career total 2715190203503275

International
Appearances and goals by national team and year[35]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Portugal 200210
200310
200640
Total60

Honours

Club

Benfica

Portsmouth

Individual

References
  1. Tavares, Nuno (5 April 2006). "Ronaldinho's shadow back again". UEFA. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
  2. "Spurs snap up Portugal star Rocha". BBC Sport. 23 January 2007. Retrieved 1 April 2007.
  3. Sanghera, Mandeep (27 January 2007). "Tottenham 3–1 Southend". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  4. Lyon, Sam (10 February 2007). "Sheff Utd 2–1 Tottenham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  5. "Spurs defender wants to leave". Epping Forest Guardian. 14 May 2008. Archived from the original on 1 August 2012. Retrieved 14 May 2008.
  6. "Rocha exits Spurs". Sky Sports. 1 June 2009. Retrieved 1 June 2009.
  7. "Standard snap up free agent Rocha". UEFA. 1 September 2009. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
  8. "Portsmouth sign defender Ricardo Rocha on free transfer". BBC Sport. 3 February 2010. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  9. Hughes, Ian (6 February 2010). "Man United 5–0 Portsmouth". BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
  10. Ornstein, David (9 February 2010). "Portsmouth 1–1 Sunderland". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 February 2010.
  11. Lyon, Sam (27 February 2010). "Burnley 1–2 Portsmouth". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
  12. "Portuguese man-of-war Rocha dedicates victory to fans". The News. 12 April 2010. Retrieved 12 April 2010.
  13. "Portsmouth move to re-sign Portuguese defender Rocha". Tribal Football. 3 September 2010. Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  14. "Lawrence, Kitson & Rocha can kick start our season". Vital Football. 4 September 2010. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
  15. "Pompey sign Kanu and Rocha". Portsmouth F.C. 10 September 2010. Archived from the original on 13 September 2010. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
  16. "Reading 2–0 Portsmouth". BBC Sport. 2 April 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  17. "Cardiff secured a comfortable victory over 10-man Portsmouth to return to second spot in the Championship and maintain their promotion push". BBC Sport. 16 April 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  18. "Steve Cotterill exit has united Portsmouth, says Dave Kitson". BBC Sport. 19 October 2011. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  19. Allen, Neil (26 April 2012). "Ricardo Rocha named Pompey Player of the Year". The News. Retrieved 7 September 2013.
  20. "Trio exit Fratton Park". Portsmouth F.C. 21 May 2012. Archived from the original on 24 May 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2014.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  21. "Former Tottenham defender Ricardo Rocha on trial with Ipswich". Sky Sports. 25 September 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  22. "Running the rule over Ricardo". Leeds United F.C. 6 October 2012. Archived from the original on 8 October 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2012.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  23. "Rocha rejoins Pompey". Portsmouth F.C. 19 November 2012. Archived from the original on 28 November 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2012.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  24. Wilson, Steve (21 January 2013). "Rocha agrees to stay at Pompey". The News. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  25. Cross, Jordan (2 May 2013). "No stateside move for Rocha". The News. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  26. Allen, Neil (16 May 2013). "Guy: We're not ruling out Sodje or Rocha". The News. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  27. Allen, Neil (24 July 2013). "Rocha commits to Pompey as Guy waits on budget". The News. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  28. "Rocha not returning". Portsmouth F.C. 30 July 2013. Archived from the original on 26 July 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2014.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  29. Allen, Neil (8 August 2013). "Pompey chief lifts lid on failed Rocha return". The News. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  30. "Sílvio é o 14.º a estrear-se com Agostinho Oliveira" [Sílvio is debutant number 14 with Agostinho Oliveira]. Record (in Portuguese). 7 September 2010. Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  31. "Portugal answer Martins' prayers". UEFA. 22 August 2006. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  32. "Ricardo Rocha". Soccerway. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  33. "Ricardo Rocha". Footballdatabase. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  34. Including Football League Trophy, UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup
  35. "Ricardo Rocha". European Football. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  36. McNulty, Phil (15 May 2010). "Chelsea 1–0 Portsmouth". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
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