Where are they now?: Joao Ricardo

The World Cup seems like it was decades ago despite Sepp Blatter’s feeble attempts to keep it alive. In reality, it was almost two months to this day when the final whistle blew and the world learned to hate Italy again.

One player that no one could possibly have hated was Angola goalkeeper Joao Ricardo. Perhaps you remember him almost single handedly keeping the Palancas Negras in matches with his saves. The dude pitched a shutout against Mexico and despite his less than stellar pedigree he was probably one of the top five keepers in the World Cup.

Well, guess what? He is still without a team. Hard to believe, but the player who was clubless before the World Cup is still clubless. He was offered a contract the Iranian team Zob Ahan FC during the recent transfer window, but the deal fell through and Joao Ricardo continues to stay in shape by training with lower level teams in Portugal.

Surely there is a team out there that could use a keeper with World Cup experience. Heck, any number of the teams we’ve selected for our Fan of the Match support could probably use him. We’ve got no financial interest in seeing Ricardo sign somewhere, but we’re starting to think maybe we should volunteer to be his agent. A guy with his talent shouldn’t be messing around with amateur teams when he could be playing for teams that clearly need a new goalkeeper.

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Category: Africa, World Football