Ricardo Quaresma: The unlucky talent

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.