Ramires

Personal information
Full name	Ramires Santos do Nascimento
Date of birth	(1987-03-24) 24 March 1987 (age 25)
Place of birth	Barra do Piraí, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) [1]
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Chelsea
Number	7
Youth career
-2005	Royal Sport Club[2]
2005–2006	Joinville
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2006–2007	Joinville	14	(3)
2007–2009	Cruzeiro	61	(12)
2009–2010	Benfica	26	(4)
2010–	Chelsea	59	(7)
National team‡
2008	Brazil U23	8	(0)
2009–	Brazil	27	(2)
Honours Competitor for  Brazil Men's Football Bronze 2008 Beijing Team Competition
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:25, 16 May 2012 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 23 July 2011

Ramires Santos do Nascimento (born 24 March 1987 in Barra do Piraí, Rio de Janeiro), commonly known as Ramires, is a Brazilian footballer who plays for Chelsea and the Brazilian national team. A midfielder, he is comfortable in either the centre or the right of midfield. He has also been deployed as a defensive midfielder playing a box-to-box midfielder role because of his energy in supporting defensive and offensive play.

Ramires began his career playing for Royal Sport Club. In 2005, he signed for Joinville, before joining Cruzeiro, whom he spent just over two seasons with appearing in 61 league matches and scoring 10 times. In 2009, Ramires moved to Portugal and signed for SL Benfica from Cruzeiro. He spent one season with Benfica in which he helped them to the Liga Sagres title, five points clear of second place Braga. He then joined English club Chelsea in the summer of 2010 on a four-year contract. He made his Chelsea debut in a 2-0 win against Stoke in late August 2010 and scored his first goal in a 4-0 victory against Bolton.^[3]

Ramires is a Brazilian international. He made his Brazil debut on 6 June 2009, in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification game against Uruguay. He represented the Brazilian national team for 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification and the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup. Ramires represented his country at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China and won a Bronze medal.

Club career[link]

Cruzeiro[link]

In January 2008, Ramires agreed to a five-year deal with Cruzeiro in a permanent move from Joinville for a fee of $300,000 following a loan period, giving Cruzeiro 70% of the players' economic rights. Joinville kept 30% in the event of any transfers in the future.^[4] He was referred to by the fans and media during his time there as the "Queniano Azul", or "Blue Kenyan", due to Cruzeiro's blue kit and his endurance, which was considered reminiscent of Kenyan runners, who are famous for winning many Brazilian running marathons.^[5]

Benfica[link]

On 21 May 2009, Ramires joined Portuguese club Sport Lisboa e Benfica for €7.5 million on a five-year contract with a minimum fee release of €30 million.^[6][7] Ramires starred as an important player for Benfica throughout the season as the Portuguese giants won the league title after a five-year wait. Ramires in his first and only season with Benfica also won the Taça da Liga beating FC Porto 3-0. In June 2010, Benfica sold 50% of the economic rights to Ramires to Jazzy Limited for €6 million.^[8]

Chelsea[link]

On 4 August 2010, Benfica announced they had agreed a deal with English Premier League champions Chelsea and his third-party owner for €22 million.^[9][10][11] Ramires completed his move to Chelsea on 13 August 2010, on a four-year contract. He was handed the number 7 shirt, previously worn by Ukrainian international Andriy Shevchenko.^[12]

2010-11 season[link]

He made his debut on 28 August 2010 against Stoke City, coming on as a substitute in the 84th minute, replacing Michael Essien; Chelsea won the game 2–0.^[13] On 11 September 2010, he made his full Premier League debut, starting against West Ham United at Upton Park, playing the full 90 minutes in a 3–1 win.^[14] He started in Chelsea's 2–0 win over Arsenal on 3 October 2010, winning possession and then putting Ashley Cole through to cross to Didier Drogba for Chelsea's first goal.^[15]

He started in Chelsea's 1–0 win over Bolton Wanderers on 29 December 2010, where his performance was praised and was known to have his best game with Chelsea to date, where he made several runs forward and strong tackles winning the balls several times in the midfield. On Chelsea's return fixture at Bolton, Ramires scored his first goal as a Chelsea player in a 4–0 victory at Reebok Stadium. On 15 January 2011, he played the full 90 minutes against Blackburn Rovers in a 2–0 win at Stamford Bridge. On 1 March 2011, he started and played the full 90 minutes in the 2-1 league win over Manchester United at Stamford Bridge.

On 20 March 2011, Ramires scored his second Premier League goal in a 2-0 win over Manchester City at Stamford Bridge, he scored alongside fellow Brazilian David Luiz and made a superb individual effort dribbling past three City defenders and scoring past Joe Hart in the top-left corner, which gained him goal of the season for Chelsea. Recent performances have garnered him a fan favourite amongst Chelsea fans, and the nickname "Rambo," due to his tendency to destroy the opposition one by one. On 12 April, he received a second yellow card for a challenge on Nani against Manchester United in the Champions League quarter-final at Old Trafford. On 8 May, Ramires came on as a second-half substitute for Mikel John Obi against Manchester United at Old Trafford in a 2–1 defeat, which effectively gave their rivals the title. At the end of the 2010–11 season, he made 41 appearances and scored two goals for Chelsea in all competitions.

2011–12 season[link]

Ramires celebrates the Champions League title with David Luiz

On 24 September 2011, Ramires scored two goals in a 4-1 victory over Swansea City. ^[16][17][18] He then scored a goal against Everton, sliding it in from a Juan Mata cross. He suffered a knee injury shortly after, however, but the game ended 3–1 in Chelsea's favour. This appearance was his 50th for the club.^[19] On 1 November 2011, Ramires scored his first Champions League goal for Chelsea against Racing Genk.

Ramires scored his fifth goal of the season in a decisive Champions League encounter against Spanish side Valencia. The final score was 3–0 in favour of Chelsea.^[20] He scored his sixth goal of the season against Wolverhampton Wanderers in a 2-1 away win, lifting the ball from a tight position into the top left corner of the goalpost leaving Wolves' goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey beaten.^{[citation needed]} On 8 January 2012, Ramires scored his seventh and eighth goals of the 2011–12 season against Portsmouth, beating his personal record of goals in a season. On 28 January, Ramires was stretchered off in the fourth round tie of the FA Cup against Queens Park Rangers. Two hours later, former Chelsea coach André Villas-Boas revealed that the Brazilian would be out for three to four weeks.

On 5 March 2012, Ramires signed a new five-year contract, keeping him at Chelsea until 2017.^[21] Ramires also scored against Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup Semi final, helping his team beat their rivals 5-1 on the day, and progressing to the finals in which they are due to play Liverpool.

On 18 April, Ramires took a pass from Frank Lampard and setup Didier Drogba's extra time goal in the Chelsea's 1–0 victory over Barcelona in the first leg of the Champion's League semi-finals at Stamford Bridge.^[22] Ramires, already booked during the first leg, received a yellow card in the second leg at Nou Camp which would rule him out of the final. In a performance compared to Roy Keane (who scored to inspire his team to a comeback victory in the 1999 Champions League semis despite being suspended for the final with accumulated bookings), Ramires scored a fantastic lobbed shot over Víctor Valdés to help send Chelsea through to the final of the UEFA Champions League (assisted by Lampard, won the award for Chelsea goal of the season) as his goal leveled the aggregate score at 2-2 while putting Chelsea ahead on away goals.^[23] Chelsea teammate Fernando Torres added another goal in stoppage time to give Chelsea a 3-2 victory on aggregate and spot in the final with Bayern Munich in the final on 19 May.^[24][25]

On 5th May, Ramires took a pass from Juan Mata and scored at Pepe Reina's near post against Liverpool F.C in the FA Cup Final, helping Chelsea to a 2-1 victory with the help of a second strike from Didier Drogba.^[26] Ramires later scored his 5th Premier League goal against Liverpool at Anfield, however Chelsea went on to lose the game 4-1.

He ended a personally successful season by being nominated for the Chelsea Player of the Year award, but lost out to Juan Mata, though he did win the Players' Player of the year Award and Goal of the Season award for his chip against Barcelona. This successful seasons has attracted interest from Real Madrid but a transfer is unlikely after Chelsea won the champions league.

International career[link]

Ramires (right) celebrates Neymar's goal for Brazil against Scotland at the Emirates Stadium in March 2011 with Andre Santos

Ramires (right) playing for the Brazil against Scotland, defending a free-kick, making up the wall

On 21 July 2008, Ramires was named the replacement for Robinho on the Brazil U-23 team for the 2008 Summer Olympics at Beijing. He appeared four times at the Olympics, as Brazil went on to achieve bronze medal.

On 21 May 2009, he was called up for the first time to the Brazilian national team for 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification and the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup.^[27]

He played his first game for the national team on 6 June 2009, a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification game against Uruguay, in which he came as a substitute for Elano.^[28]

Ramires scored his first International goal on 7 June 2010, against Tanzania leading up to the World Cup finals in South Africa. He scored again later on in the game setting the score to 5–1. In the Round of 16 at the 2010 FIFA World Cup Finals he made a run past three Chilean defenders to set up Robinho for the third goal in a 3-0 victory. Dunga, then Brazilian coach, blamed their quarter-final loss to the Netherlands on the absence Ramires, who was serving suspension. Ramires was named in a 23-man squad for the 2011 Copa America Tournament held in Argentina. He currently wears the number 8 jersey for the national team and as of July 2011, has earned 26 caps and scored 2 goals for them.

Style of play[link]

Ramires is a right-sided midfielder who is known for his pace, acceleration, dribbling ability, hard work ethic, and stamina.

Honours[link]

Club[link]

Cruzeiro

• Campeonato Mineiro (2): 2008, 2009

Benfica

• Portuguese Liga: 2009–10
• Taça da Liga: 2009–10

Chelsea

• FA Cup: 2012
• UEFA Champions League: 2011–12

International[link]

Brazil

• FIFA Confederations Cup: 2009

Individual[link]

• Chelsea Goal of the Season vs. Manchester City, 20 March 2011.
• Chelsea Goal of the Season vs. Barcelona, 24 April 2012.
• Chelsea Players' Player of the Year 2011-2012

Career statistics[link]

As of match played 8th January 2012

International statistics[link]

As of 20 April 2012^[29]

National team Club Season Apps Goals Brazil Cruzeiro 2009 7 0 Benfica 2009–10 9 2 Chelsea 2010–11 10 0 Chelsea 2011–12 1 0 Total 27 2

International appearances and goals # Date Venue Opponent Result Goal Competition Season 2008–09 1. 6 June 2009 Montevideo, Uruguay  Uruguay 4–0 0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification 2. 10 June 2009 Recife, Brazil  Paraguay 2–1 0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification 3. 15 June 2009 Bloemfontein, South Africa  Egypt 4–3 0 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup 4. 18 June 2009 Pretoria, South Africa  United States 3–0 0 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup 5. 21 June 2009 Pretoria, South Africa  Italy 3–0 0 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup 6. 25 June 2009 Johannesburg, South Africa  South Africa 1–0 0 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup 7. 28 June 2009 Johannesburg, South Africa  United States 3–2 0 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup Season 2009–10 8. 5 September 2009 Rosario, Argentina  Argentina 3–1 0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification 9. 11 October 2009 La Paz, Bolivia  Bolivia 1–2 0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification 10. 14 October 2009 Campo Grande, Brazil  Venezuela 0–0 0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification 11. 2 March 2010 London, England  Republic of Ireland 2–0 0 Friendly 12. 7 June 2010 Dar es Salaam, Tanzania  Tanzania 5–1 2 Friendly 13. 15 June 2010 Johannesburg, South Africa  North Korea 2–1 0 2010 FIFA World Cup 14. 20 June 2010 Johannesburg, South Africa  Côte d'Ivoire 3–1 0 2010 FIFA World Cup 15. 25 June 2010 Durban, South Africa  Portugal 0–0 0 2010 FIFA World Cup 16. 28 June 2010 Johannesburg, South Africa  Chile 3–0 0 2010 FIFA World Cup Season 2010–11 17. 10 August 2010 New Jersey, USA  United States 2–0 0 Friendly . 7 September 2010 Sant Joan Despí, Spain FC Barcelona B 3–0 0 Unofficial friendly 18. 7 October 2010 Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates  Iran 3–0 0 Friendly 19. 11 October 2010 Derby, England  Ukraine 2–0 0 Friendly 20. 17 November 2010 Doha, Qatar  Argentina 0–1 0 Friendly 21. 27 March 2011 London, England  Scotland 2–0 0 Friendly 22. 4 June 2011 Goiânia, Brazil  Netherlands 0–0 0 Friendly 23. 3 July 2011 La Plata, Argentina  Venezuela 0–0 0 Copa América 2011 24. 9 July 2011 Córdoba, Argentina  Paraguay 2–2 0 Copa América 2011 25. 13 July 2011 Córdoba, Argentina  Ecuador 4–2 0 Copa América 2011 26. 17 July 2011 La Plata, Argentina  Paraguay 0–0 0 Copa América 2011 Season 2011–12 27. 10 August 2011 Stuttgart, Germany  Germany 2–3 0 Friendly

References[link]

External links[link]

• Ramires career stats at Soccerbase
• Guardian Stats Centre
• ESPN profile
• BBC Sport profile
• Ramires – FIFA competition record
• Player profile on Chelsea.com

Brazil squads v t e Brazil squad – 2008 Olympic Bronze Medalists 1 Diego Alves 2 Rafinha 3 Alex Silva 4 Thiago Silva 5 Hernanes 6 Marcelo 7 Anderson 8 Lucas 9 Pato 10 Ronaldinho (c) 11 Ramires 12 Renan 13 Ilsinho 14 Breno 15 Diego 16 Thiago Neves 17 Rafael Sóbis 18 Jô Coach: Dunga v t e Brazil squad – 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup Winners (3rd Title) 1 Júlio César 2 Maicon 3 Lúcio (c) 4 Juan 5 Felipe Melo 6 Kléber 7 Elano 8 Gilberto Silva 9 Luís Fabiano 10 Kaká 11 Robinho 12 Victor 13 Daniel Alves 14 Luisão 15 Miranda 16 André Santos 17 Josué 18 Ramires 19 Júlio Baptista 20 Kléberson 21 Pato 22 Nilmar 23 Gomes Coach: Dunga v t e Brazil squad – 2010 FIFA World Cup 1 Júlio César 2 Maicon 3 Lúcio (c) 4 Juan 5 Felipe Melo 6 Michel Bastos 7 Elano 8 Gilberto Silva 9 Luís Fabiano 10 Kaká 11 Robinho 12 Gomes 13 Daniel Alves 14 Luisão 15 Thiago Silva 16 Gilberto 17 Josué 18 Ramires 19 Júlio Baptista 20 Kléberson 21 Nilmar 22 Doni 23 Grafite Coach: Dunga v t e Brazil squad – 2011 Copa América 1 Júlio César 2 Daniel Alves 3 Lúcio (c) 4 Thiago Silva 5 Lucas Leiva 6 André Santos 7 Robinho 8 Ramires 9 Pato 10 Ganso 11 Neymar 12 Victor 13 Maicon 14 Luisão 15 Sandro 16 Elano 17 Elias 18 Lucas 19 Fred 20 Jádson 21 Adriano 22 Jefferson 23 David Luiz Coach: Mano Menezes