Rui Silva (footballer, born 1994)

For other people named Rui Silva, see Rui Silva (disambiguation).

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Dantasand the second or paternal family name is Silva.

Rui Silva

Personal information
Full name	Rui Tiago Dantas da Silva [1]
Date of birth	(1994-02-07) 7 February 1994 (age 30) [1]
Place of birth	Águas Santas, Portugal
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) [1]
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team	Betis
Number	1
Youth career
2006–2012	Maia
2012–2013	Nacional
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2013−2017	Nacional	50	(0)
2017−2021	Granada	111	(0)
2021–	Betis	87	(0)
International career‡
2013	Portugal U19	3	(0)
2014	Portugal U20	2	(0)
2014	Portugal U21	1	(0)
2021–	Portugal	1	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:00, 3 November 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22:04, 12 October 2024 (UTC)

Rui Tiago Dantas da Silva (born 7 February 1994) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Real Betis and the Portugal national team.

Club career

Nacional

Born in Águas Santas, Maia, Porto District, Silva began his development at local F.C. Maia before completing it at C.D. Nacional, whom he joined in 2012. He made his professional debut on 26 January 2014 in a dead rubber Taça da Liga group match at Leixões SC, keeping a clean sheet in a 2–0 victory. ^[2] His Primeira Liga debut came on 11 May in the final fixture away against Gil Vicente FC, giving away and conceding the penalty from which Diogo Viana scored the only goal. ^[3]

Silva eventually became first choice for the Manuel Machado-led team, overtaking Brazilian Eduardo Gottardi. ^[4]

Granada

On 27 January 2017, Silva signed a four-and-a-half-year contract at Spanish La Liga club Granada CF, as a replacement for Levante UD-bound Oier Olazábal. ^[5] Costing €1.5 million, he was completely unused in his first season in which the Andalusians were relegated to the Segunda División, as Guillermo Ochoa was unchallenged. ^[6]

Silva remained second choice, this time to Javi Varas, and debuted on 6 September 2017 in the second round of the Copa del Rey, a 3–0 away defeat to Real Zaragoza. ^[7] He made four league appearances, the first being a 1–0 loss at Rayo Vallecano on 2 December while the veteran Spaniard was grieving the death of a family member. ^[6]

Under new manager Diego Martínez, Silva became the starter and missed just two games as the Nazaríes finished second to CA Osasuna and won promotion in the 2018–19 campaign. He was given the Ricardo Zamora Trophy for best-performing goalkeeper in the league, ^[8] and was also voted best in his position. ^[9]

In 2020–21, Silva represented Granada in their debut European campaign, reaching the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa League. He then chose to allow his contract to expire. ^[10]

Betis

On 11 June 2021, Silva joined Real Betis on a five-year deal, ^[11] effective as of 1 July. ^[12] He started ahead of Claudio Bravo on his debut, a 1–1 draw away to RCD Mallorca on 14 August. ^[13] Having competed with the Chilean throughout his first season, he raised the possibility of leaving in April 2022; ^[14] in the same month, he sat on the bench as the team won the Spanish Cup final. ^[15]

International career

Silva won his sole cap for the Portugal under-21 side on 13 November 2014, playing the full 90 minutes in a 3–1 away friendly defeat against England. ^{[16] [17]} In August 2020, he had his first senior call-up for UEFA Nations League matches against Croatia and Sweden the following month. ^[18]

On 20 May 2021, Silva was selected by manager Fernando Santos for his UEFA Euro 2020 squad. ^[19] He made his debut on 9 June in the last exhibition game before the tournament, playing the entire 4–0 win over Israel in Lisbon. ^[20]

In October 2022, Silva was named in a preliminary 55-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. ^[21]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 3 November 2024 ^{[22] [23]}

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup		League cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Nacional	2013–14	Primeira Liga	1	0	0	0	1	0	—		—		1	0
	2014–15	Primeira Liga	9	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	—		11	0
	2015–16	Primeira Liga	22	0	1	0	0	0	—		—		23	0
	2016–17	Primeira Liga	18	0	1	0	0	0	—		—		19	0
	Total		50	0	2	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	55	0
Granada	2016–17	La Liga	0	0	0	0	—		—		—		0	0
	2017–18	Segunda División	4	0	1	0	—		—		—		5	0
	2018–19	Segunda División	40	0	0	0	—		—		—		40	0
	2019–20	La Liga	35	0	2	0	—		—		—		37	0
	2020–21	La Liga	32	0	0	0	—		14 [lower-alpha 1]	0	—		46	0
	Total		111	0	3	0	—		14	0	—		128	0
Betis	2021–22	La Liga	22	0	3	0	—		7 [lower-alpha 1]	0	—		32	0
	2022–23	La Liga	26	0	0	0	—		2 [lower-alpha 1]	0	0	0	28	0
	2023–24	La Liga	28	0	3	0	—		6 [lower-alpha 2]	0	—		37	0
	2024–25	La Liga	11	0	0	0	—		3 [lower-alpha 3]	0	—		14	0
	Total		87	0	6	0	—		18	0	0	0	111	0
Career total			248	0	11	0	3	0	32	0	0	0	294	0

1. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
2. Four appearances in UEFA Europa League, two appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
3. Appearances in UEFA Conference League

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year ^[24]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Portugal	2021	1	0
Total		1	0

Honours

Betis

• Copa del Rey: 2021–22 ^[15]

Individual

• Segunda División: Best Goalkeeper 2018–19 ^[9]
• Ricardo Zamora Trophy: 2018–19 Segunda División ^[8]

References

1. "Rui Silva" (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
2. "Nacional vence Leixões para cumprir calendário" [Nacional defeat Leixões to complete fixtures]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 26 January 2014. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
3. Ferreira, Bruno José (11 May 2014). "Gil Vicente-Nacional, 1–0 (crónica)" [Gil Vicente-Nacional, 1–0 (match report)] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
4. Pestana, Emanuel (30 October 2016). "Rui Silva justifica elogios de Manuel Machado" [Rui Silva justifies compliments of Manuel Machado]. Record (in Portuguese). Retrieved 22 February 2017.
5. Azcoytia, Jorge (27 January 2017). "Rui Silva ficha por el Granada" [Rui Silva signs for Granada]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 February 2017.
6. Lamelas, Rafael (14 April 2018). "La invisibilidad de Rui Silva" [Rui Silva's invisibility]. Ideal (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 November 2019.
7. Gaudioso, Sonia (6 September 2017). "El Zaragoza también ilusiona en Copa" [Zaragoza also get them dreaming in Cup]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 November 2019.
8. Pinto, José Pedro (1 August 2019). "Rui Silva, a muralha lusa do Granada. "Passei por momentos complicados"" [Rui Silva, Granada's Lusitanian wall. "I went through some complicated moments"] (in Portuguese). Rádio Renascença . Retrieved 1 November 2019.
9. "Rui Silva distinguido como o melhor guarda-redes da II Liga espanhola" [Rui Silva voted best goalkeeper of the Spanish II League] (in Portuguese). SAPO. 12 June 2019. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
10. "Rui Silva dice que es "un orgullo y un honor" haber militado en el Granada" [Rui Silva says that it is "a pride and an honour" to have represented Granada]. Sport (in Spanish). 29 May 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
11. "Rui Silva, new Real Betis player". Real Betis. 11 June 2021. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
12. Murillo, Óscar (12 January 2021). "Rui Silva y el Betis: disensiones, bandazos y medias verdades" [Rui Silva and Betis: dissensions, plot twists and half-truths]. Estadio Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 June 2021.
13. "En Chile ven a Bravo como el guardameta titular del Betis" [In Chile they see Bravo as Betis' starting goalkeeper]. ABC (in Spanish). 16 August 2021. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
14. Rodríguez Villegas, Vicente (17 April 2022). "¿Pista libre para Claudio Bravo? Rui Silva planea dejar Real Betis para "dar un salto más"" [Clear road ahead for Claudio Bravo? Rui Silva plans to leave Real Betis to "take a leap forward"] (in Spanish). Deportes 13. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
15. "Real Betis 1–1 Valencia (5–4 on pens): Real Betis win Copa del Rey final on penalties". BBC Sport. 23 April 2022. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
16. Percy, John (13 November 2014). "England Under-21 3 Portugal Under 21 1: Danny Ings seizes chance to impress Gareth Southgate ahead of Euro 2015". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 22 September 2020.
17. "Testes na seleção Sub-21 sacrificaram o resultado" [Tests in Under-21 national team sacrificed the result] (in Portuguese). Rádio e Televisão de Portugal. 14 November 2014. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
18. "Rui Silva e Trincão em estreia absoluta nos convocados" [Rui Silva and Trincão called up for the very first time]. A Bola (in Portuguese). 24 August 2020. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
19. "Convocados de Portugal para o EURO 2020" [Portugal squad for EURO 2020] (in Portuguese). UEFA. 20 May 2021. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
20. Cole, Richard (9 June 2021). "Portugal cruise past Israel in final EURO 2020 preparation". PortuGOAL. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
21. "A lista de pré-convocados da Seleção para o Mundial'2022: conheça todos os nomes" [The pre-selected for the 2022 World Cup: know all the names]. Record (in Portuguese). 23 October 2022. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
22. Rui Silva at ForaDeJogo (archived)
23. "Rui Silva". Soccerway. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
24. "Rui Silva". EU-Football.info. Retrieved 9 June 2021.

External links

• Rui Silva at ForaDeJogo (archived)
• Portuguese League profile (in Portuguese)
• Rui Silva at BDFutbol
• Rui Silva at National-Football-Teams.com