Paulo Ferreira

Paulo Renato Rebocho Ferreira, commonly known as Paulo Ferreira, (Pronunciation 1979) is a Portuguese association football player. Ferreira is predominantly a right-back, but has also played at left-back and in central defence for Chelsea F.C., his current team.




An unspectacular but consistent performer, Paulo Ferreira was once described by Jose Mourinho as “a player who will never be man of the match but will always score 7/10 for his individual display.”

He started his career in the Liga de Honra for GD Estoril Praia. He then moved to Vitória F.C. at the start of the 2001-02 in Portuguese football.


Due to his excellent performances in the Portuguese Liga, he moved to F.C. Porto in the summer of 2002, signed by then-coach José Mourinho. Ferreira was previously a right-side midfielder until he met Mourinho at Porto.

In the following season, he won the League and Cup double domestically but the capture of the UEFA Cup over Celtic F.C. in Seville was the highlight of an exceptional season. The next season brought another Portuguese Liga title but more importantly he played every minute of 2004 UEFA Champions League Final.


After playing for FC Porto for two years he joined Chelsea F.C. for £13.2 million at the beginning of the FA Premier League 2004-05 season. At Stamford Bridge, Ferreira was reunited with his former manager José Mourinho and former teammate Ricardo Carvalho, both of whom were also signed by Chelsea in the offseason.

Ferreira impressed greatly in his debut season, playing 29 Premier League matches before injury ruled him out for the remainder of the campaign. He continued his fine form into the following campaign, during which he scored his first Chelsea goal in the 3-1 victory over Colchester United F.C. in the FA Cup fourth round.

Despite becoming a regular on his manager's team sheet, Ferreira suffered from a lack of confidence in the 2006/07 season, which eventually saw him lose his place to first Khalid Boulahrouz and then to midfielder Geremi. The emergence of young French midfielder Lassana Diarra further prevented Ferreira from featuring in first-team affairs as Mourinho saw it fit to play the French international in the full-back position. However he did play the full 120 minutes of Chelsea's 1-0 FA Cup win over Manchester United.

Ferreira was the second choice right back for Chelsea during the 2007/08 season behind Michael Essien and Juliano Belletti. When played Ferreira was his usual consistent self, putting in unspectacular, workman like performances.

Ferreira signed a new 5-year deal with Chelsea on February 18, 2008 keeping him at the club until 2013.

He agreed a squad number swap from 20 to 19 for the 2008-09 season following Anderson Luis de Souza's arrival.
However on the Football deadline day, reports have suggested that Ferreira is to join Chelsea's London Rivals West Ham United either on a season long loan deal or a permanent deal.


Ferreira was called up for the Portugal national under-21 football team and accumulated 27 caps.

He was called up to the national team for Portugal's UEFA Euro 2004 campaign and started their opening game against Greece, but a series of mistakes in the game saw him dropped for Miguel Monteiro for the rest of the tournament. He did, however, come on in Portugal's defeat in the final following an injury to Miguel Monteiro.

Paulo made two appearances for Portugal in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. In the semi-final against France national football team, which Portugal lost 0-1, Paulo came on in the second half for the injured Miguel Monteiro. Paulo then started the third place playoff against the host country Germany national football team, which the Germans won 3-1.

Ferreira faces competition from José Bosingwa and Miguel Monteiro for the Portugal national football team right-back slot and is often played at left-back since the retirement of Nuno Valente.

Ferreira was named in the Portguese Squad for the Euro 2008 Championships. Portugal were knocked out in the quarter finals and Ferreira was a starter in all of their 4 matches, playing at left back.



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