Ricardo Jorge Vaz Tê (born October 1, 1986 in
LisbonLisbon is the capital and largest city of Portugal. It is also the seat of the district of Lisbon and the main city of the Lisbon region...
) is a
PortuguesePortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east...
footballer who currently plays as a winger for
Bolton WanderersBolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional football club based in Horwich, in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. They are currently in the Premier League....
in the Premier League.
Vaz Tê first came to
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in 2003, following a spell in the junior teams of
AlgarveThe Algarve from the Arabic word meaning "the west" is the southernmost region of mainland Portugal. It has an area of 5,412 square kilometres with approximately 410,000 permanent inhabitants, and incorporates 16 municipalities...
's S.C. Farense in his homeland. His performances on trial with Bolton Wanderers prompted them to sign him on a three-year youth academy contract.
However, such was the impression made at youth level that Vaz Tê found himself as part of the Bolton first-team squad in a short period, making his debut in their
FA CupThe Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football, run by and named after The Football Association. The name "FA Cup" usually refers to the English men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also held...
duels with
Tranmere RoversTranmere Rovers Football Club is an English football club located in the Prenton area of Birkenhead. The nicknames of the club are The Rovers or Super Whites....
in January 2004.
Just over two months later he made his Premier League debut in a 2–0 defeat at
MiddlesbroughMiddlesbrough Football Club , also known as The Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who will play in the Football League Championship for the 2009–10 season, following relegation from the Premier League. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August...
, and would gain his first full start in the game with
Manchester UnitedManchester United Football Club is an English football club, one of the most popular football clubs in the world, based at Old Trafford in Greater Manchester. The club was a founding member of the Premier League in 1992, and has played in the top division of English football since 1938, with the...
at
Old TraffordOld Trafford commonly refers to two sporting arenas:* Old Trafford, home of Manchester United F.C.* Old Trafford Cricket Ground, home of Lancashire County Cricket ClubOld Trafford can also refer to:...
, on
Boxing DayBoxing Day is a bank holiday or a public holiday in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and countries in the Commonwealth of Nations with a mainly Christian population...
2004.
In
2005-06The 2005-06 season of the FA Premier League began on 13 August 2005, and concluded on 7 May 2006. The season saw Chelsea F.C retain their title after defeating Manchester United 3–0 at Stamford Bridge towards the end of April...
, Vaz Tê was more involved with first-team action, starting 7 games and coming on as a
substituteA substitute is a player in association football who is brought on to the pitch during a match in exchange for an existing player. Substitutions are generally made to replace a player who has become tired or injured, or who is not performing well; there may also be tactical reasons such as bringing...
in another 22.
Ricardo Jorge Vaz Tê (born October 1, 1986 in
LisbonLisbon is the capital and largest city of Portugal. It is also the seat of the district of Lisbon and the main city of the Lisbon region...
) is a
PortuguesePortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east...
footballer who currently plays as a winger for
Bolton WanderersBolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional football club based in Horwich, in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. They are currently in the Premier League....
in the Premier League.
Club career
Vaz Tê first came to
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in 2003, following a spell in the junior teams of
AlgarveThe Algarve from the Arabic word meaning "the west" is the southernmost region of mainland Portugal. It has an area of 5,412 square kilometres with approximately 410,000 permanent inhabitants, and incorporates 16 municipalities...
's S.C. Farense in his homeland. His performances on trial with Bolton Wanderers prompted them to sign him on a three-year youth academy contract.
However, such was the impression made at youth level that Vaz Tê found himself as part of the Bolton first-team squad in a short period, making his debut in their
FA CupThe Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football, run by and named after The Football Association. The name "FA Cup" usually refers to the English men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also held...
duels with
Tranmere RoversTranmere Rovers Football Club is an English football club located in the Prenton area of Birkenhead. The nicknames of the club are The Rovers or Super Whites....
in January 2004.
Just over two months later he made his Premier League debut in a 2–0 defeat at
MiddlesbroughMiddlesbrough Football Club , also known as The Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who will play in the Football League Championship for the 2009–10 season, following relegation from the Premier League. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August...
, and would gain his first full start in the game with
Manchester UnitedManchester United Football Club is an English football club, one of the most popular football clubs in the world, based at Old Trafford in Greater Manchester. The club was a founding member of the Premier League in 1992, and has played in the top division of English football since 1938, with the...
at
Old TraffordOld Trafford commonly refers to two sporting arenas:* Old Trafford, home of Manchester United F.C.* Old Trafford Cricket Ground, home of Lancashire County Cricket ClubOld Trafford can also refer to:...
, on
Boxing DayBoxing Day is a bank holiday or a public holiday in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and countries in the Commonwealth of Nations with a mainly Christian population...
2004.
In
2005-06The 2005-06 season of the FA Premier League began on 13 August 2005, and concluded on 7 May 2006. The season saw Chelsea F.C retain their title after defeating Manchester United 3–0 at Stamford Bridge towards the end of April...
, Vaz Tê was more involved with first-team action, starting 7 games and coming on as a
substituteA substitute is a player in association football who is brought on to the pitch during a match in exchange for an existing player. Substitutions are generally made to replace a player who has become tired or injured, or who is not performing well; there may also be tactical reasons such as bringing...
in another 22. He scored a total of 6 overall goals in the season, one of which a late equalizer (after 1 minute on the pitch) on November 24, 2005, at
Vitória de GuimarãesVitória Sport Clube is a Portuguese sports club based in the cityof Guimarães, located 40 km northeast of Porto in Portugal. The club includes football , volleyball and basketball departments. The club is reported to have been established in 1922...
.
In March 2007, Vaz Tê joined
Hull CityHull City Association Football Club is an English football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, founded in 1904. In 2007–08 they achieved promotion to the top flight of English football for the first time in their history, by winning the Championship play-off final at Wembley...
on a month's loan from Bolton. During this spell he failed to score in the lower league and didn't do enough to impress the Hull management or supporters.
Vaz Tê had an unlucky beginning to 2007-08, damaging his
ligamentIn anatomy, the term ligament is used to denote three different types of structures:# Fibrous tissue that connects bones to other bones. They are sometimes called "articular ligaments", "fibrous ligaments", or "true ligaments"....
s on the opening day, in a 3–1 defeat to
Newcastle UnitedNewcastle United Football Club is an English football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, they play in the Football League Championship. And are renowned for having a very good fan base...
, and would appear sparingly throughout the season.
In August 2008, there was confusion regarding the player, when it was widely reported that Vaz Tê had signed for
Racing de SantanderReal Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D., sometimes abbreviated to Racing or Racing Santander, is a Spanish Primera División football club based in Santander which was founded in 1913. During the period of Francoist Spain, it was renamed as Real Santander in 1941 . The name was restored in 1977...
on loan as part of a swap deal that would see fellow striker Ebi Smolarek go the other way. However, although Smolarek did join Bolton, the Portuguese also remained at the club.
International career
In the summer of 2005, Vaz Tê took part in the annual
ToulonToulon is a city in southern France and a large military harbour on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base...
tournament scoring a
hat-trickA hat-trick in sports is associated with succeeding at anything three times, generally in three consecutive attempts. In North America it is often rendered as hat trick, with no hyphen. The Oxford English Dictionary lists it unhyphenated and gives a variety of examples published in the 19th and...
for Portugal U-20s, in their game with South Korea. He quickly became a regular fixture with
the U21 sideThe Portugal national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Portugal and is controlled by the Portuguese Football Federation . They are nicknamed "Esperanças." Esperança means hope, thus they are Portugal's hopes for the future...
.
External links