Ricardinho (futsal player, born 1985)

Ricardo Filipe da Silva Braga (born 3 September 1985), best known as Ricardinho, is a Portuguese professional futsal player who plays for Latvian club Riga Futsal Club. He is regarded by many as one of the best futsal players of all time, winning numerous titles and accolades for both club and country, such as the UEFA Futsal Champions League, UEFA European Futsal Championship, FIFA Futsal World Cup, the Best Player of the World awards, and many more. He operates mainly as a flank/winger, and commonly wears his iconic number "10".

Nicknamed O MÃÂ¡gico (The Magician), he was named Best Player of the World a record six times by Futsal Planet, 5 of which he won consecutively from 2014 to 2018 a record as well. He won his first in 2010. Ricardinho is the only player to have won the award more than four times, being the only Portuguese player to receive it. In 2020 he was awarded a spot in the FutsalFeed's Best Team of the Year Award, the first time this award was conceived.

At international club level, Ricardinho has won the UEFA Futsal Cup, now known as the UEFA Futsal Champions League, thrice, in 2009Ã¢ÂÂ10 with Benfica and in 2016Ã¢ÂÂ17 and 2017Ã¢ÂÂ18 with Inter FS. As a teenager he had already played and lost a final in 2003Ã¢ÂÂ04, for Benfica, against Boomerang InterviÃÂº. He also lost another final, while at Inter FS, in 2015Ã¢ÂÂ16, against Gazprom-Ugra. In European competitions with his country, he won the UEFA Futsal Euro 2018, in which he finished as top scorer and received the award for Best Player. He had already been named the Best Player in the 2007 edition and been joint-top scorer in the 2016 edition. He is now the all-time top scorer of the competition.

In 2021, right after his last FIFA Futsal World Cup match, Ricardinho was awarded with the Golden Ball for the best player throughout the tournament, adding another individual achievement to his World Cup Golden Shoe award for top scorer that he had been awarded with the previous edition in 2016. This distinction was strongly associated with his contributions to help Portugal win the 2021 World Cup. Ricardinho captained his Portuguese national team to the first two of their back-to-back-to-back international trophies during the late 2010s and early 2020s, the country's first major honors: the UEFA Futsal Euro 2018 and the 2021 FIFA Futsal World Cup.

Style of play

Ricardinho is lauded for his defensive quality, in addition to his offensive prowess. He has been regarded by some experts as the greatest futsal player of all time.