Rúben Dias

Rúben Dias
Personal information
Full name Rúben dos Santos Gato Alves Dias[1]
Date of birth (1997-05-14) 14 May 1997
Place of birth Amadora, Portugal
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Playing position Defender
Club information
Current team
 Benfica
Number 6
Youth career
2006–2008 Estrela da Amadora
2008–2015 Benfica
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015– Benfica B 55 (0)
2017– Benfica 31 (3)
National team‡
2013 Portugal U16 5 (1)
2013–2014 Portugal U17 18 (0)
2014–2016 Portugal U19 21 (2)
2016–2017 Portugal U20 15 (0)
2017– Portugal U21 4 (0)
2018– Portugal 5 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 7 October 2018
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 14 October 2018

Rúben dos Santos Gato Alves Dias (born 14 May 1997) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays for Benfica and the Portugal national team as a defender.

Club career

Born in Amadora, Dias started his career at local club Estrela da Amadora, before moving to Benfica's youth academy in 2008, where he played for the junior side until 2015. In the same year, on 30 September, he made his professional debut with Benfica B in a 2015–16 LigaPro match against Chaves.[2] On 7 March 2016, Rui Vitória called eighteen-year-old Dias for Benfica's Champions League Round of 16 second leg tie against Zenit after three of his four main centre-backs were unable to make the trip to Russia.[3] The following season he helped the B team finish fourth; the club's highest ever position obtained in the second division. He also helped the junior team reach the final of the 2016–17 UEFA Youth League.[4]

On 16 September 2017, he debuted for the first team in a Primeira Liga match against Boavista. After two months of impressive displays[5], including two games against Manchester United in the Champions League, he underwent surgery due to appendicitis, sidelining him for a month.[6] He scored his first goal for Benfica in a Taça da Liga encounter (2–2) against Vitória de Setúbal on 29 December 2017.[7] On 3 February 2018, he scored his first goal in the Primeira Liga against Rio Ave (5–1).[8] At the end of the season, he was voted Primeira Liga's best young player of the year.[9]

After heavy speculation linking Dias to a big money move to French side Lyon, he extended his contract with Benfica until 2023.[10]

International career

Dias represented the Under-17 side at the 2014 Under-17 Euro. Two years later, he captained the Under-19 squad at the 2016 Under-19 Euro. The following year he captained the Under-20 side at the 2017 U-20 World Cup. On 5 September 2017, he made his debut for the Under-21s in a 2019 Euro qualifying match against Wales.

Dias was called up to the senior side by Portugal manager Fernando Santos on 15 March 2018, ahead of international friendlies against Egypt and the Netherlands. However, four days later he was dropped from the squad after picking up right ankle sprain.[11] On 17 May 2018, Dias was named in Portugal's 23-man squad for the FIFA World Cup in Russia.[12][13] Eleven days later, he made his international debut in a friendly against Tunisia.[14] Despite being present at the World Cup, he did not feature in any of Portugal's four matches in the competition.[15]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 2 September 2018[16]
Club Season League Cup League Cup Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Benfica B 2015–16 Segunda Liga 250—250
2016–17 280—280
2017–18 10—10
Total 540—540
Benfica 2017–18 Primeira Liga 243103120304
2018–19 4000004080
Total 283103160384
Career total 821103120924

International

As of match played 14 October 2018[17]
Portugal
YearAppsGoals
201850
Total50

Honours

References

  1. 1 2 "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia: List of players" (PDF). FIFA. 10 June 2018. p. 23. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  2. ↑ "Chaves 1–1 Benfica B". zerozero. 30 September 2015.
  3. ↑ "Rui Vitória leva Rúben Dias na comitiva para a Champions". Diário de Notícias. 7 March 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  4. ↑ "Salzburg succeed Chelsea as Youth League winners". UEFA.com. 24 April 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  5. ↑ "Benfica boss talks up talents of young Man Utd target". TeamTalk. 31 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  6. ↑ "Ruben Dias underwent surgery and will be out of Benfica's squad". SLBenfica.pt. 17 November 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  7. ↑ "Rúben Dias cabeceou para a igualdade no Bonfim". Noticias Ao Minuto. 29 December 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  8. ↑ GOL: RUBEN DIAS 83' SL BENFICA 4-1 RIO AVE FC; SLBenfica.pt, 3 February 2018
  9. 1 2 "Liga: Rúben Dias vence prémio de jogador jovem do ano". Maisfutebol. 6 July 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  10. ↑ "Rúben Dias Renova até 2023". A Bola. 22 August 2018. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  11. ↑ "Benfica: Rúben Dias tem entorse, seleção decide dispensa". MaisFutebol. 19 March 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  12. ↑ http://www.goal.com/en-gb/amp/news/revealed-every-world-cup-2018-squad-23-man-preliminary-lists/oa0atsduflsv1nsf6oqk576rb
  13. ↑ https://www.sbs.com.au/news/portugal-world-cup-squad
  14. ↑ Portugal-Tunísia (equipas): Ruben Dias estreia-se na seleção A; maisfutebol.iol.pt, 28 May 2018
  15. ↑ Rúben Dias FIFA
  16. ↑ Rúben Dias at ForaDeJogo. Retrieved 11 July 2018. Edit this at Wikidata
  17. ↑ "Rúben Dias". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  18. ↑ "Gala Benfica Galardões Cosme Damião". S.L. Benfica (in Portuguese). 22 March 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  19. ↑ "XXIII Gala dos Globos de Ouro: Revelação do Ano". Caras. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
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