Name:
Nascimento Ramires
Nationality: Brazilian
Date of
Birth: 24/03/1987
Height:
180 cm
Weight:
73.0 kg
Previous Clubs: Benfica
Position: Midfielder
Chelsea career
Ramires Santos do Nascimento joined Chelsea in
the summer of 2010 on a four-year contract after one season with Benfica.
A Chelsea debut arrived in a 2-0 win against
Stoke in late August, Ramires appearing for the final few minutes in place of
Michael Essien, before a first start at West Ham and full games against
Blackpool in the Premier League and Newcastle in the Carling Cup.
In total there were 22 starts in his first
campaign, with the Brazilian providing a committed presence during the side's
winless two months between November and December, and winning a late penalty at
White Hart Lane that gave us the chance to beat Spurs.
A first Chelsea goal arrived in the 4-0
demolition of Bolton Wanderers in late January, and the mobbing he received
showed how popular the player is at Stamford Bridge.
In late March he scored his second Chelsea goal,
dancing between two Manchester City defenders before firing high into the top
corner. It was a strike deemed worthy of the club's Goal of the Season award by
supporters.
Ramires missed our pre-season tour of Asia in
2011 due to Copa America duty, but returned to England in sparkling form, and
proved a key component in Andre
Villas-Boas's Chelsea at the start of the 2011/12 campaign, figuring as a
regular on the right of a midfield three, and contributing greater drive going
forward. Two early season goals against Swansea suggested a bright campaign
ahead.
The Brazilian remained an important part of the
midfield throughout the autumn and winter, before a medial ligament injury to
his right knee in the FA Cup win at QPR threatened to keep him out for a month.
However, he only missed three games before coming
back and played consistently well upon his return. His goalscoring tended to
come in spurts, with two four-in-six purple patches, including the second in
our crucial 3-0 win over Valencia in early December.
Under Roberto Di Matteo, he has tended to feature
as the right winger in a front three, providing more energy and defensive
support down that flank, and he made a massive impact as the season drew to a
close, developing a reputation as a big-game player.
Ramires scored the crucial third goal at Wembley
as we beat Tottenham 5-1 in the FA Cup semi-final, before netting a sublime
chip in the Camp Nou during our 2-2 draw in the Champions League semi-final, a
game which also saw him pick up a booking which ruled him out of the Final.
It was Wembley joy for the likeable Brazilian
once again when he opened the scoring in the FA Cup Final, racing on to a Juan
Mata pass before driving past Pepe Reina, and while he played no part in our
Champions League Final success, he had undoubtedly done as much as anybody to
bask in the victory.
Illness ruled Ramires out of our opening game of
the 2012/13 campaign at Wigan, but he returned to the starting line-up three
days later for the 4-2 win against Reading.
After ending the 2011/12 campaign playing wide on
the right, this season has seen Ramires deployed more often than not in a more
familiar defensive midfield role alongside John Mikel Obi.
It's a role he has carried out with aplomb,
particularly in the wins against both Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, although
he is still liable to chip in with crucial strikes from deep, as testified with
successive goals against Manchester United, both in the Premier League and
Capital One Cup.
Pre-Chelsea
Ramires spent one season with Benfica in which he
helped them storm to the Liga Sagres title, five points clear of Braga in
second place.
During that campaign, the 23-year-old midfielder
made 26 league appearances, scoring four times including a last-minute winner
against Vitoria Guimaraes on his debut.
Rio-born Ramires signed for Benfica from
Cruzeiro, on the day he earned his first call-up to the full Brazil squad for
the 2009 Confederations Cup, a tournament they easily won, and he went on to
help them qualify for the World Cup.
Comfortable in either the centre or the right of midfield,
he spent just over two seasons in Belo Horizonte with Cruzeiro, whom he joined
from Joinville in 2007, and became a state champion appearing in 61 league
matches and scoring 10 times.
International career
Ramires made his Brazil debut in the summer of
2009 and was an ever-present as they lifted the Confederations Cup in South
Africa.
Picked in Dunga's 23-man squad for the World Cup
a year later, he appeared in four of their five matches but was suspended for
the 2-1 defeat to Holland in the quarter-finals after accumulating two yellow
cards. His only start was against Chile in the first knockout round.
After competing for Brazil at the 2011 Copa
America, he endured a lengthy spell in the international wilderness, before
being recalled to the national squad for a friendly in August, 2012.
One month later, he scored in Brazil's 8-0
friendly win over China.
Ramires was also a member of the Brazil squad
which took part at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
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