Ricardo Quaresma: The unlucky talent

When 17-year-old Ricardo Quaresma made his debut donning the traditional green and white of Sporting CP, many touted him to become ‘The next big thing’ in Portuguese football. Few even believed that he would replace the legendary Luis Figo in the Portuguese national team. Yet, a career that looked very promising, ended up becoming one of the biggest disappointments of the footballing world.

Quaresma joined the Sporting CP B side in 2000, at the age of 17 and was an instant hit. His consistent performances for the Sporting CP B side impressed then first team manager, Laszlo Boloni, who then decided to give Quaresma a chance to prove himself at a bigger stage. Quaresma went on to play 27 games in his first season with the first team and found the back of the net thrice. He also played a key role in helping his team win the Portuguese League as well as the League cup. Sporting then failed to replicate their spectacular performances in the following season, as a result of which an unsatisfied Quaresma handed over a transfer request.

A lot of European clubs were interested in acquiring the services of the talented Portuguese and in the end Barcelona succeeded in signing him for a fee of 6 million pounds in 2003. His time with the Catalans wasn’t quite as it was expected to be as he failed to regain his form from Sporting. He started only 10 games for the Catalans, with as many substitute appearances and scoring only once. His stay with the Spanish giants came to a quick end when he injured his right foot and also fell out with then manager Frank Rijkaard.

The rebellious winger handed out a transfer request, again in 2004 and this time around he decided to return to Portugal and join F.C.Porto, who had been crowned Portuguese Liga champion and had also won the treble for the first time in the 2003-04 season under the guidance of then manager Jose Mourinho. The move seemed to favour Quaresma, with the winger scoring on debut against Valencia in the UEFA Super Cup tie and also against arch rivals Benfica in the Portuguese Super Cup. Quaresma started improving over the season and gradually rediscovered his old self.

Quaresma had begun to take the Portuguese league by storm. He was the last player full backs wanted to face. The incredibly agile winger dribbled the ball so well that the defenders found it really hard read him and keep pace with him. Quaresma’s skills with the ball saw him being compared to his Portuguese compatriot Cristiano Ronaldo, who was establishing himself with Manchester United in England at that time. Yet, Quaresma’s performances in the blue and white jersey of Porto earned him mixed responses.

He was often criticized of being selfish and not playing the ball to his teammates who were in a better position to score than he was. Nevertheless, Quaresma established himself as a fan favorite at Porto. During his 4 year spell at Estadio do Dragao, Quaresma won 3 Portuguese League titles, 2 Portuguese Super Cup and 1 Intercontinental cup and Portuguese Cup each.

In the summer of 2008, Quaresma sealed a move to Inter Milan for a reported fee of 18.6 million pounds. Quaresma failed to impress again in foreign land and was at the receiving end of a pile of criticism from the fans and his teammates alike, mainly because of his tendency to elaborate simple moves and his selfishness in front of the goal.

Quaresma fell down the pecking order at Inter and was loaned out to Chelsea during the winter transfer window of 2009-10 season. The move to Stamford Bridge did help in restoring some self confidence in the Portuguese. He had a decent spell with The Blues but didn’t get much first team action, given the star-studded squad and the absence of a system that deployed wingers.

Ricardo Quaresma returned to San Siro, this time, determined to make an impact and impress manager Jose Mourinho, who decided to offer his fellow countryman one more chance to prove his worth. Unfortunately, lady luck didn’t quite shine on Quaresma this time as well and he continued to give unsatisfactory performances as a result of which Inter decided to offload him next season to Turkish side Besiktas.

Quaresma had a decent start to his Besiktas career, scoring 11 times in his first season. Many believed the move to Besiktas will be the final destination for him and expected him to revive his career there on. But after a spat with fellow team mate Nihat Kahveci and an altercation with manager Carlos Carvalhal, Quaresma was suspended by the club.

In December 2012, Besiktas terminated Quaresma’s contract, 6 months before it was due to run out. Quaresma decided not only to switch clubs, but to move to another continent altogether, signing for UAE club Al- Ahli in the 2012-13 winter transfer window.

For a player who could have achieved stardom, who was talented enough to grace the squad of any top European club’s squad, Ricardo Quaresma, certainly didn’t live up to the expectations other had of him. His ego and rebellious behaviour earned him nothing but a place in the bad books of managers and his team mates.

Even though he is 29, usually a footballer’s peak years, the possibility of Quaresma setting his career right and living up to his early potential is very less.