From magician to eternal legend: Ricardinho says goodbye to futsal

Portuguese international winger Ricardinho announced this Friday, at the age of 39, the end of a futsal career full of titles and individual awards that place him in the gallery of the best ever in the sport.

"Today I come here to put an end to my professional sports career. This is the most difficult decision I've ever made as an athlete," Ricardinho said at a press conference at Cidade do Futebol in Oeiras, which was attended by the president of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), Pedro Proença, and featured a video sent by national coach Jorge Braz.

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— Portugal (@selecaoportugal) August 15, 2025

Voted the best futsal player in the world a record six times, in 2010 and between 2014 and 2018, by the specialized portal Futsal Planet, Ricardinho started at Miramar FC, made his name at Benfica and went on to play for Nagoya Oceans (Japan), CSKA Moscow (Russia), Inter Movistar (Spain), ACCS (Paris), Pendekar United (Indonesia), Riga FC (Latvia) and Ecocity Genzano (Italy), the last club of his career.

He won the 2021 World Cup and the 2018 European Championship while playing for the Portuguese national team, which he represented 188 times, and lifted three Champions Leagues, five Portuguese championships, four Portuguese Cups, five Super Cups, six Spanish Leagues, one French League, three Japanese Leagues, one Latvian League, among many other titles.