Ricardo Carvalho Biography
Ricardo Alberto Silveira Carvalho (born May 18, 1978 in Amarante, near Porto), is a Portuguese football player. He shares his birthplace with his colleague in the Portuguese national team, Nuno Gomes. He plays as a central defender for Chelsea. He came to prominence during the 2003-2004 football season, during which he played for F.C. Porto.
He gathered many plaudits for his impressive performances in the Portuguese Superliga and UEFA Champions League, both of which Porto won. He was voted the best defender in the Champions League for 2003/2004. The committee that selected him cited his strength and exceptional ability to win the ball in the air. Carvalho was considered one of the best defenders of the Euro 2004 Championship, and formed a strong partnership with Jorge Andrade in the Portuguese defence. In the 2004 offseason, he was pursued by several top European clubs, and was finally signed by English big-spenders Chelsea for £19,850,000. At Stamford Bridge, Carvalho joined his former manager José Mourinho and former teammate Paulo Ferreira, both of whom were signed by Chelsea earlier in the offseason. He perfomed excedingly well in his first season with Chelsea and helped them win the Premier League. That season also score him score his first goal for Chelsea in a 3-1 victory over Norwich.
However, the start of 2005/2006 has not been as smooth for Carvalho, as he was publicly lambasted by Mourinho for comments relating to his lack of match time. He has since returned to favour, though, and been a near-regular in the side since September. He scored his second Chelsea F.C. goal in the 4-0 home win to Real Betis in the Champions League. Carvalho continued his scoring run in Europe by netting the second goal in Chelsea's 2-0 away victory over RSC Anderlecht of Belgium, scoring from a Hernàn Crespo flick on which he blasted into the roof of the net. At present, he has scored 3 goals in Chelsea colours.
Carvalho received the first red card (ejection) of his Chelsea career in January 2006, in Chelsea's 3-2 victory over Fulham F.C..
On 29th April 2006, he scored a goal in the Barclay's Premier League match against Manchester United to help Chelsea clinch the title for the second consecutive year