Best of Ricardinho: the all-time Futsal EURO top scorer
Saturday 10 February 2018
Article summary
Seven goals in Ljubljana made Portugal winger Ricardinho the all-time top UEFA Futsal EURO finals top scorer: we look at the numbers and the skills behind the man that lifted the trophy, 'O Mágico',
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Article body
On 6 February 2016, Ricardinho scored a magical goal in Portugal's 3-1 UEFA Futsal EURO 2016 defeat by Serbia that gave the tournament and the sport attention far beyond its usual audience
Exactly two years on, the Inter FS winger struck four against Azerbaijan to not only take Portugal into the semi-finals with an 8-1 win, but also made Ricardinho the all-time top scorer in UEFA Futsal EURO finals tournaments with 21 goals, one ahead of the late, great Konstantin Eremenko of Russia.
It is just the latest career milestone for a player who helped Benfica to the UEFA Futsal Cup final in 2004 aged 18, subsequently winning the competition with both the Eagles and Inter.
At national-team level Ricardinho has hit three or more on five occasions in Futsal EURO and FIFA Futsal World Cups. He has no shortage of personal honours from international tournaments and has now played in and won his first major final as Portugal beat Spain after extra time, Ricardinho scoring the earliest-ever goal in a EURO decider inside the opening minute to take his overall tally to 22. We look at the numbers behind his success (and some of those great goals).
The numbers
National team
UEFA Futsal EURO finals appearances/goals: 21/22
UEFA Futsal EURO all-time appearances/goals: 33/32
UEFA Futsal EURO top scorer: 2016 (joint), 2018
FIFA Futsal World Cup finals appearances/goals: 12/19
FIFA Futsal World Cup all-time appearances/goals: 30/33
FIFA Futsal World Cup top scorer: 2016
Portugal caps/goals: 158/135
UEFA Futsal EURO winner: 2018
Club
UEFA Futsal Cup winner: 2010 (Benfica), 2017 (Inter)
Portuguese league winner: 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012 (Benfica)
Japanese league winner: 2011, 2013 (Nagoya Oceans)
Spanish league winner: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 (Inter)
Individual
Futsal Planet best player in the world: 2010, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
UEFA Futsal EURO all-time top scorers
Finals:
Ricardinho (Portugal) 22
Konstantin Eremenko (Russia) 20
Eder Lima (Russia) 17
Including qualifying:
Konstantin Eremenko (Russia) 44
Serhiy Koridze (Ukraine) 39
Florin Matei (Romania) 36
Igor Moskvychov (Ukraine), Ricardinho (Portugal) 32
Watch: more of the best of Ricardinho
The rabona against Romania
⚽ Goal of the day ⚽
— UEFA Futsal (@UEFAFutsal) January 31, 2018
Magical ✔ Stunning ✔ Awesome ✔
🇵🇹 @ricardinho10ofi + rabona = 😮👌😎@selecaoportugal #FutsalEURO pic.twitter.com/Ko6y5sVXeM
Career compilation
😎 Ricardinho + #FutsalEURO = 🔥🔥🔥
— UEFA Futsal (@UEFAFutsal) February 4, 2018
🇵🇹 @selecaoportugal 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/GrwQNXaWcJ
A little skill show ...
🇵🇹 Ricardinho =🔥🔥🔥#FutsalEURO ⚽👌 pic.twitter.com/soQUq9w1kB
— UEFA Futsal (@UEFAFutsal) January 31, 2018