Ruca (footballer, born 11 September 1990)


Rui Pedro Coimbra Chaves, known as Ruca, is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays who plays C.D. Feirense as a left back.

Club career

Born in Tondela, Viseu District, Ruca moved to S.C. Beira-Mar's youth system at the age of 16 from local Clube de Futebol Repesenses. After winning the second division juniors championship in 2009, he signed with Gil Vicente FC.
In his first season as a senior, Ruca was loaned to hometown's C.D. Tondela. He made his competitive debut against Amarante FC on 30 August 2009, in a match for the Taça de Portugal; he continued to be loaned in the following years, to Vilaverdense FC, GD Oliveira de Frades and again Tondela.
Ruca joined yet another club in the third division in the summer of 2013, SC Mirandela. He had been previously deployed as a left winger or attacking midfielder, but switched to left back at his new team.
On 1 July 2014, Ruca signed for C.D. Mafra as a free agent after his contract with Gil expired. Starting in all his league appearances, he contributed with seven goals to help the side win the championship and subsequently promote to the Segunda Liga.
Ruca agreed to a two-year deal with Vitória de Setúbal from the Primeira Liga, on 11 June 2015. He scored on his debut in the competition on 16 August, putting the hosts ahead 2–0 in an eventual 2–2 draw against Boavista FC.
On 30 August 2016, Ruca was linked to Cypriot club Apollon Limassol, but Vitória manager José Couceiro vetoed his departure due to lack of options in his position. On 30 December he left by mutual consent due to lack of playing time and, two days later, returned to Tondela.

Club statistics

Honours

Vilaverdense
Mafra