Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Rui Fernando da Gracia Gomes | ||
Date of birth | 28 May 1985 | ||
Place of birth | Bembibre, Spain | ||
Height | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) | ||
Position(s) | Centre-back | ||
Team information | |||
Current team | Colmenar Viejo | ||
Number | 5 | ||
Youth career | |||
Bembibre | |||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2004–2005 | Bembibre | ||
2005–2006 | Elche B | ||
2006–2007 | Elche Ilicitano | ||
2007–2009 | Real Ávila | 73 | (7) |
2009–2011 | Palencia | 57 | (3) |
2011–2012 | Logroñés | 11 | (0) |
2012–2013 | Enosis Neon Paralimni | 30 | (0) |
2013–2014 | Real Ávila | 28 | (0) |
2014–2018 | Hibernians | 54 | (1) |
2018–2019 | Villarrubia | 38 | (1) |
2019–2022 | Gimnástica Segoviana | 67 | (3) |
2022–2023 | Collado Villalba | 19 | (0) |
2023– | Colmenar Viejo | 13 | (0) |
International career‡ | |||
2010–2021 | Equatorial Guinea | 38 | (1) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 2 June 2024. [1] ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 7 September 2021 |
Rui Fernando da Gracia Gomes (born 28 May 1985), simply known as Rui, is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Preferente Madrid club Colmenar Viejo. Born and raised in Spain to Cape Verdean parents, he has been capped for the Equatorial Guinea national team.
Rui was born in Bembibre, Castile and León to Cape Verdean parents from São Nicolau, [2] who had emigrated to Portugal in the mid-1970s and then to Spain. [3]
Rui is a product of CA Bembibre. He has developed most of his club career in his homecountry Spain, also playing in Cyprus and Malta, where he was a two-time Maltese Premier League champion with Hibernians FC.
Rui represented Cape Verde in the 2003 and 2009 editions of Mundialito, [4] [5] a Spanish-based tournament where the participant teams are entirely composed by amateur footballers from the different foreign diasporas in Spain and do not use to be linked to their respective official national teams. He was never contacted by the Cape Verdean Football Federation to play for the official Cape Verde national team. [3] He also played for the Spanish autonomous team of Castile and León. [6] [7]
While playing for Spanish club CF Palencia, [8] Rui was invited by Equatorial Guinean international midfielder Benjamín Zarandona, who was then his teammate, to become a naturalised citizen of Equatorial Guinea in order to play for its national team. [9]
In July 2010, Rui received his first call for the Equatoguinean senior team and to play a friendly match against Morocco on 11 August 2010. However, he didn't attend due to injury.
Rui's first incursion with Equatorial Guinea on 12 October 2010, when he participated in a friendly lost against Botswana by 0–2 in Malabo. [9]
Rui was part of the squad for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, being a first-choice defender for the Nzalang Nacional.
Goal | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | 15 November 2015 | Estadio de Bata, Bata, Equatorial Guinea | Morocco | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
Equatorial Guinea officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea is a country on the west coast of Central Africa, with an area of 28,000 square kilometres (11,000 sq mi). Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location near both the Equator and in the African region of Guinea. As of 2021, the country had a population of 1,468,777, over 85% of whom are members of the Fang people, the country's dominant ethnic group. The Bubi people, indigenous to Bioko, are the second largest group at approximately 6.5% of the population.
The Cape Verde national football team represents Cape Verde in men's international football, and is controlled by the Cape Verdean Football Federation. The team has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup, but has qualified for four Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, in 2013, 2015, 2021 and 2023. The team achieved their best result in 2023 after making it past the first round of the knockout stage.
The Equatorial Guinea national football team represents Equatorial Guinea in men's international football and is controlled by the Equatoguinean Football Federation, a member of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
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It is very long to explain (his call with Equatorial Guinea, despite his ancestry is from Cape Verde). Benjamin moved everything. They have naturalised me as an Equatorial Guinean and I am delighted to have debuted with their national team.