Rui Jorge

Rui Jorge

Personal information
Full name	Rui Jorge de Sousa Dias Macedo de Oliveira
Date of birth	(1973-03-27) 27 March 1973
Place of birth	Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal
Height
Position(s)	Left back
Team information
Current team	Portugal U21 (head coach)
Youth career
1981–1991	Porto
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1991–1998	Porto	85	(2)
1991–1992	→ Rio Ave (loan)	31	(2)
1998–2005	Sporting CP	192	(5)
2005–2006	Belenenses	15	(0)
Total		323	(9)
International career
1993–1994	Portugal U21	17	(0)
1994–2004	Portugal	45	(1)
Managerial career
2009	Belenenses
2010–	Portugal U21
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Rui Jorge de Sousa Dias Macedo de Oliveira (born 27 March 1973), known as Rui Jorge, is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as a left back, and the current head coach of the Portugal national under-21 team.

During a 15-year professional career he spent 14 seasons in Primeira Liga, mainly in representation of Porto and Sporting, playing 292 games and scoring seven goals in the competition.

Rui Jorge appeared with Portugal at the 2002 World Cup and two European Championships.

Club career

Rui Jorge was born in Vila Nova de Gaia, Porto District. Having emerged through local FC Porto, he made his professional debuts with Rio Ave F.C. in the second division, returning to his first club in 1992 after one season. Never an undisputed starter with Porto (only appearing in more than 20 games twice during his six-year spell) he did help the northern side to five national championships and three domestic cups.

In July 1998 Jorge signed with Sporting Clube de Portugal, where he would remain for the following seven years, being first-choice during most of his stint and adding two more leagues to his trophy cabinet, with the double being conquered in 2002. In the 2005–06 campaign he played with another Lisbon team, C.F. Os Belenenses, subsequently retiring from the game – aged 33, with more than 400 official appearances – and joining his final club's youth coaching staff.

In May 2009 Rui Jorge was appointed Belenenses' head coach for the final two matches of the season, taking over Jaime Pacheco after a 0–5 home loss against S.C. Braga, with the club eventually ranking second from bottom (being later reinstated). At the end of the campaign, he returned to the youth ranks.

International career

Rui Jorge played for the Portuguese under-21 side which lost the 1994 UEFA European Championship final to Italy (1–2) and the Olympic team who finished fourth at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. He also had 45 caps at full level, two for Porto and 43 for Sporting. His first game was a 0–0 draw with Norway on 20 April 1994, in a friendly match, and he represented his country at UEFA Euro 2000, the 2002 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2004.

In the 2010 summer Jorge replaced Oceano at the helm of the Portuguese under-21s. He led the country to the 2015 European Championships in the Czech Republic after ten wins in as many matches in the qualifying phase, and coached it to the second place in the finals after a penalty shootout loss to Sweden.

Rui Jorge: International goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	1 September 2001	Camp d'Esports (Lleida), Lleida, Spain	Andorra	1–5	1–7	2002 World Cup qualification

Club statistics

Club performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Portugal			League		Taça de Portugal		Taça da Liga		Europe		Total
1991–92	Rio Ave	Liga de Honra	31	2
1992–93	Porto	Primeira Liga	8	0
1993–94			23	0
1994–95			15	0
1995–96			22	2
1996–97			11	0
1997–98			6	0
1998–99	Sporting	Primeira Liga	26	2
1999–00			34	2
2000–01			32	0
2001–02			30	0
2002–03			22	1
2003–04			29	0
2004–05			19	0
2005–06	Belenenses	Primeira Liga	15	0
Total	Portugal		323	9
Career total			323	9

Honours

Player

Porto

• Primeira Liga: 1992–93, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98
• Taça de Portugal: 1993–94, 1997–98
• Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 1993, 1994, 1996; Runner-up 1992, 1995, 1997

Sporting

• Primeira Liga: 1999–2000, 2001–02
• Taça de Portugal: 2001–02; Runner-up 1999–2000
• Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 2000, 2002
• UEFA Cup: Runner-up 2004–05

Manager

• UEFA European Under-21 Championship: Runner-up 2015

External links

• Rui Jorge at footballzz.co.uk
• Rui Jorge profile at ForaDeJogo
• Rui Jorge at National-Football-Teams.com
• WorldSoccer stats