Ramires Santos do Nascimento, known as Ramires, is a Brazilian former professional footballer.
37 Facts About Ramires
2.
Ramires normally played as a box-to-box midfielder role because of his energy in supporting defensive and attacking play.
3.
In 2009, Ramires moved to Portugal and signed for Benfica.
4.
Ramires spent one season with Benfica in which he helped them to the Primeira Liga title and Taca da Liga.
5.
Ramires then joined English club Chelsea in the summer of 2010 and won every major domestic and European competition with them.
6.
Ramires is a former Brazilian international, making his debut on 6 June 2009 in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Uruguay.
7.
Ramires was in the teams which won the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and a gold medal at the 2008 Olympics.
8.
Ramires was referred to by the fans and media during his time there as the "Queniano Azul", or "Blue Kenyan", due to Cruzeiro's blue kit and his endurance, which was considered reminiscent of Kenyan runners, who are famous for winning many Brazilian running marathons.
9.
Ramires starred as an important player for Benfica throughout the season, as the Portuguese club won their 32nd league title after a five-year wait.
10.
Ramires was handed the number 7 shirt, previously worn by Ukrainian international Andriy Shevchenko.
11.
Ramires scored alongside fellow Brazilian David Luiz and made a superb individual effort, dribbling past three City defenders and scoring past Joe Hart in the top-left corner, which earned him "Goal of the Season" honours for Chelsea.
12.
Ramires has the nickname "Ray Mears" for the way he goes venturing into the oppositions half and the similarity it has with his name.
13.
Ramires then scored a goal against Everton, sliding the ball in from a Juan Mata cross.
14.
On 1 November 2011, Ramires scored his first UEFA Champions League goal for Chelsea, against Genk.
15.
On 5 March 2012, Ramires signed a new five-year contract which would have kept him at Chelsea until 2017.
16.
Ramires, already booked during the first leg, received a yellow card in the second leg at Camp Nou, which would rule him out of the final.
17.
Ramires ended a personally successful season by being nominated for the Chelsea Player of the Year award, but lost to midfielder Juan Mata.
18.
However, Ramires did win the Players' Player of the Year Award and Goal of the Year award for his chip against Barcelona, his second successive win, while scoring 12 goals, 9 assists and accumulating 4,081 minutes of playing time in 47 official appearances.
19.
In Chelsea's second-to-last Premier League game of the season, away to Aston Villa, Ramires picked up two yellow cards in the first half and was sent off.
20.
Ramires was named in the starting 11 for Chelsea's match against Crystal Palace on 3 May 2015, but was taken ill before kick-off with kidney illness.
21.
The league victory meant that, along with his teammates Gary Cahill, John Terry, Branislav Ivanovic and Mikel John Obi, Ramires had won every major domestic and European trophy during his time at Chelsea.
22.
On 29 October 2015, Ramires signed a four-year contract extension with Chelsea.
23.
However, after Guus Hiddink replaced Jose Mourinho as head coach of the club, Ramires found himself reserved to the substitutes' bench, even though he was in the starting line-up 15 of 23 times.
24.
Ramires made his debut on 23 February 2016 against Binh Duong in the AFC Champions League.
25.
Ramires was released from his contract on 17 May 2019, a year after making his last appearance for the club.
26.
On 13 June 2019, Ramires returned to Brazil and signed a four-year contract with reigning Brasileirao champions Palmeiras.
27.
On 21 July 2008, Ramires was named as the replacement for Robinho on the Brazil under-23 team for the 2008 Summer Olympics at Beijing.
28.
Ramires appeared four times at the Olympics, as Brazil went on to earn the third-placed bronze medal.
29.
On 21 May 2009, Ramires was called up for the first time to the Brazil national team for 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification and the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup.
30.
Ramires played his first match for the senior national team on 6 June 2009, a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification game against Uruguay, in which he came as a substitute for Elano.
31.
Ramires scored his first International goal on 7 June 2010 against Tanzania leading up to the World Cup finals in South Africa.
32.
Dunga, the then-Brazilian head coach, blamed their quarter-final loss to the Netherlands on the absence of Ramires, who was serving suspension.
33.
Ramires was named in a 23-man squad for the 2011 Copa America tournament held in Argentina.
34.
On 2 June, Ramires was named in Brazil's squad for the 2014 World Cup, held in Brazil.
35.
Ramires was a central or right-sided midfielder who was known in particular for his pace, acceleration, agility, tenacity, hard work ethic, and stamina.
36.
Ramires was primarily played in a defensive role in the centre, but had been employed on the right flank, due to his high work rate, which was particularly useful when his team played on the counter-attack; indeed, his ability to make late attacking runs into the penalty area from deeper areas occasionally saw him deployed in more advanced midfield roles.
37.
In spite of his slender build, Ramires was a strong tackler, and had been called a "box-to-box midfielder", due to his overall speed, energy, consistency, ability to read the game and high work rate, which enabled him to support his teams at both ends of the pitch by breaking down opposition plays and subsequently starting an attack after winning back possession.