Ricardo Batista

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Ricardo Batista bigraphy, stories - Portuguese footballer

Ricardo Batista : biography

19 November 1986 –

Ricardo Jorge Cecília Batista (born 19 November 1986) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper.

International career

Batista participated with Portugal at the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship in the Netherlands, backing up F.C. Porto’s Paulo Ribeiro. He made his debut in the category on 14 November 2006, in a 3–0 friendly win against Serbia.

Club career

Fulham

Born in Setúbal, Batista started his career with hometown’s Vitória Futebol Clube. In late 2004, aged only 18, he was signed by English club Fulham. His only official appearance for the Premier League side was in September of that year against Lincoln City for the season’s League Cup: the Cottagers won the game 5–4, but the player’s performance was error-prone, gifting the visitors several goals; he spent the better part of his first season as a senior on loan to Milton Keynes Dons, in League Two.

In the same predicament, Batista then had two spells at League One outfit Wycombe Wanderers,; BBC Sport, 2 January 2007 renewing his contract with Fulham on 12 July 2007.; BBC Sport, 12 July 2007 He was released in the 2008 summer.

Portugal

On 16 July 2008, Batista signed with Sporting Clube de Portugal for a fee of €158,000. He was only third-choice during his two-season spell with the Lisbon club, his input consisting of the match against F.C. Paços de Ferreira for the 2008–09 Portuguese League Cup (5–1 home win).

Batista was loaned to S.C. Olhanense for the 2010–11 season, initially backing up Marcelo Moretto and playing in the domestic cups. After the Brazilian left for a team in Poland he became first-choice, as the Algarve team eventually retained its top division status; his first match in the competition occurred on 19 December 2010, in a 0–0 home draw against C.D. Nacional.

On 25 July 2011 Batista was banned for two years for doping, after testing positive in a game against Académica de Coimbra held in January.; Goal.com, 25 July 2011; Record, 25 July 2011