Rui Jorge


Rui Jorge de Sousa Dias Macedo de Oliveira, OIH, known as Rui Jorge, is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as a left back, and the current manager of the Portugal national under-21 team.
During a 15-year professional career he spent 14 seasons in Primeira Liga, mainly in representation of Porto and Sporting, playing 292 matches and scoring seven goals in the competition.
Rui Jorge appeared with Portugal at the 2002 World Cup and two European Championships.

Club career

Rui Jorge was born in Vila Nova de Gaia, Porto District. Having emerged through local FC Porto, he made his professional debuts with Rio Ave F.C. in the second division, returning to his first club in 1992 after one season. Never an undisputed starter with the former he did help the northern side to five Primeira Liga championships and three domestic cups.
In July 1998, Rui Jorge signed with Sporting CP, where he would remain for the following seven years, being first-choice during most of his stint and adding two more leagues to his trophy cabinet, with the double being conquered in 2002. In the 2005–06 campaign he played with another Lisbon team, C.F. Os Belenenses, subsequently retiring from the game – aged 33, with more than 400 official appearances – and joining his final club's youth coaching staff.
In May 2009, Rui Jorge was appointed Belenenses' head coach for the final two matches of the season, taking over Jaime Pacheco after a 0–5 home loss against S.C. Braga, with the club eventually ranking second from bottom. At the end of the campaign, he returned to the youth ranks.

International career

Rui Jorge played for the Portugal under-21 side which lost the 1994 UEFA European Championship final to Italy and the Olympic team who finished fourth at the 1996 Summer Olympics in the United States. He also had 45 caps at full level, two while at Porto and 43 when with Sporting, and scored once in a 7–1 away win over Andorra on 1 September 2001. His first game for the latter was a 0–0 draw with Norway on 20 April 1994, in a friendly match, and he represented his country at UEFA Euro 2000, the 2002 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2004.
Rui Jorge's participation at Euro 2004 on home soil was jeopardised when he tested positive in February that year for Budesonide, commercially known as Pulmicort. He said that the substance came from a medically recommended spray for his rhinitis. His suspension was lifted in May, with the fault placed on Sporting for not notifying authorities of his medical exemption; at the tournament, he was one of four players – three from defence – dropped by Luiz Felipe Scolari after the opening 2–1 loss to Greece, and did not return for the remainder of the competition, which Portugal lost in the final to the same team.
On 19 November 2010, Rui Jorge replaced Oceano at the helm of the Portuguese under-21s. He led them to the 2015 European Championships in the Czech Republic after ten wins in as many matches in the qualifying phase, and coached them to the second place in the finals after a penalty shootout loss to Sweden.
Rui Jorge coached the Portuguese at the 2016 Olympic tournament in Brazil, where they lost 4–0 to Germany in the quarter-finals. He was also in charge for the 2017 edition of the under-21 continental tournament, which ended in group stage exit. On 10 October 2017, six years after the last loss for that stage of the competition, he was on the bench as the team lost 1–3 in Bosnia and Herzegovina for the 2019 European Championship qualifiers.

Career statistics

Club

International goals

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Porto
Sporting
Portugal