Rúben Dias

Rúben dos Santos Gato Alves Dias (born 14 May 1997), known as Rúben Dias (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈʁubn ˈdiɐʃ]) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Manchester City and the Portugal national team.

Rúben Dias
Dias with Benfica in 2019
Personal information
Full name Rúben dos Santos Gato Alves Dias[1]
Date of birth (1997-05-14) 14 May 1997[2]
Place of birth Amadora, Portugal
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[3]
Position(s) Centre-back[4]
Club information
Current team
 Manchester City
Number 3
Youth career
2006–2008 Estrela da Amadora
2008–2015 Benfica
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2017 Benfica B 55 (0)
2017–2020 Benfica 91 (9)
2020– Manchester City 19 (0)
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 24 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23:32, 3 February 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 18:40, 3 December 2020 (UTC)

Dias came through Benfica's youth academy. He began playing for Benfica B in 2015 and was promoted to the first-team in 2017, and was named the Primeira Liga's Young Player of the Year. The following season, Dias' performances helped Benfica win the league title in the 2018–19 season and later the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira during the 2019–20 season, while also being named in the Primeira Liga's Team of the Year, making over 100 appearances in the process. He signed for Premier League club Manchester City in September 2020 for a fee reported of €68 million (£61.64 million).

Dias is a former Portugal youth international, representing his country at under-16, under-17, under-19, under-20 and under-21 levels. He made his senior international debut in 2018, being chosen in Portugal's squads for the 2018 World Cup and 2019 UEFA Nations League Finals on home soil, winning the latter tournament, while also being named as the man of the match in the final.

Club career

Benfica B

Born in Amadora,[3] 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.[5] On 7 March 2016, Rui Vitória called eighteen-year-old Dias for Benfica's UEFA 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.[6] 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.[7]

Benfica

On 16 September 2017, Dias debuted for the first team in a Primeira Liga match against Boavista. After two months of impressive displays,[8] including two games against Manchester United in the Champions League, he underwent surgery due to appendicitis, sidelining him for a month.[9] He scored his first goal for Benfica in a Taça da Liga encounter (2–2) against Vitória de Setúbal on 29 December 2017.[10] On 3 February 2018, he scored his first goal in the Primeira Liga against Rio Ave (5–1).[11] At the end of the season, he was voted Primeira Liga's best young player of the year.[12]

After heavy speculation linking Dias to a big money move to French side Lyon, he extended his contract with Benfica until 2023.[13] On 2 November 2019, Dias played his 100th game for the club and scored the opening goal against Rio Ave in a 2-0 home victory.[14]

On 26 September 2020, Dias scored the opening goal against Moreirense in a 2–0 win.[15] After the game, manager Jorge Jesus admitted that it was probably his last game for the club.[16]

Manchester City

Dias signed for English Premier League club Manchester City on 29 September 2020 on a six-year contract, for a fee reported of €68 million (£61.64 million), with Benfica receiving an initial fee of €56.6 million (£51 million), plus Nicolás Otamendi being sent to Benfica in part-exchange for €15 million, which could rise to €71.6 million, including performance-related bonuses.[17][18] Dias made his league debut for City in a 1–1 away draw against Leeds United.[19]

Dias was named the Manchester City Player of the Month for November 2020, following a series of very strong defensive performances.[20]

International career

Dias represented the Under-17 side at the 2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship. Two years later, he captained the Under-19 squad at the 2016 UEFA European Under-19 Championship. 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 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification 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.[21] On 17 May 2018, Dias was named in Portugal's 23-man squad for the FIFA World Cup in Russia.[22][23] Eleven days later, he made his international debut in a friendly against Tunisia.[24] Despite being present at the World Cup, he did not feature in any of Portugal's four matches in the competition.[25]

Following the World Cup, Dias began establishing himself in the central defense, overtaking José Fonte's place alongside Pepe, featuring in all of Portugal's 2018–19 UEFA Nations League matches, helping Portugal reach the 2019 UEFA Nations League Final on home soil. On June 9, Portugal defeated Netherlands 1–0 in the tournament's final, with Dias being elected man of the match.[26]

On 17 November, Dias scored his first international goals during the 2020-21 UEFA Nations League, netting a brace in a 3–2 victory against Croatia.[27][28][29]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 3 February 2021.
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup[lower-alpha 1] League Cup[lower-alpha 2] Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Benfica B 2015–16[30] LigaPro 260————260
2016–17[30] LigaPro 280————280
2017–18[30] LigaPro 10————10
Total 550————550
Benfica 2017–18[30] Primeira Liga 24310312[lower-alpha 3]000304
2018–19[30] Primeira Liga 323503015[lower-alpha 4]1—554
2019–20[3][30] Primeira Liga 33250208[lower-alpha 5]11[lower-alpha 6]0493
2020–21[30] Primeira Liga 21——1[lower-alpha 3]0—31
Total 919110812621013712
Manchester City 2020–21[31] Premier League 19020204[lower-alpha 3]0—270
Career total 16591301013021021912
  1. Includes Taça de Portugal and FA Cup
  2. Includes Taça da Liga and EFL Cup
  3. Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League
  4. Nine appearances in UEFA Champions League, six appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
  5. Six appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
  6. Appearance in Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira

International
As of match played 17 November 2020.[32]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Portugal 201870
2019100
202072
Total242
As of match played 17 November 2020. Portugal score listed first, score column indicates score after each Dias goal.[32]
List of international goals scored by Rúben Dias
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition Ref.
117 November 2020Stadion Poljud, Split, Croatia24 Croatia1–13–22020–21 UEFA Nations League A[33]
23–2

Honours

Benfica

Portugal

Individual

References
  1. "FIFA World Cup Russia 2018: List of Players: Portugal" (PDF). FIFA. 15 July 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 December 2019.
  2. "Rúben Dias: Overview". ESPN. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  3. "Rúben Dias: Soccerway". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  4. "Rúben Dias: Profile". worldfootball.net. HEIM:SPIEL. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  5. "Chaves 1–1 Benfica B". zerozero. 30 September 2015.
  6. "Rui Vitória leva Rúben Dias na comitiva para a Champions". Diário de Notícias. 7 March 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  7. "Salzburg succeed Chelsea as Youth League winners". UEFA. 24 April 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  8. "Benfica boss talks up talents of young Man Utd target". TeamTalk. 31 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  9. "Ruben Dias underwent surgery and will be out of Benfica's squad". S.L. Benfica. 17 November 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  10. "Rúben Dias cabeceou para a igualdade no Bonfim". Notícias ao Minuto. 29 December 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  11. GOL: RUBEN DIAS 83' SL BENFICA 4–1 RIO AVE FC; SLBenfica.pt, 3 February 2018
  12. "Liga: Rúben Dias vence prémio de jogador jovem do ano". Maisfutebol. 6 July 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  13. "Rúben Dias Renova até 2023". A Bola. 22 August 2018. Archived from the original on 22 August 2018. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  14. "Rúben Dias e os 100 jogos pelo Benfica: "Nem nos meus melhores sonhos"" (in Portuguese). Sapo. 2 November 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  15. "Benfica 2 – 0 Moreirense" (in Portuguese). S.L. Benfica. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  16. Esteves Teixeira, Sofia (26 September 2020). "Jorge Jesus confirma saída de Rúben Dias: "Temos pena de vê-lo partir. E também tenho culpa"". Jornal de Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  17. "Benfica confirm sale and signing involving Man City - net sale of €56.6 million". SI.com. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  18. 161385360554578 (28 September 2020). "Man City's £62m signing confirmed by Benfica, with current player moving other way". talkSPORT. Retrieved 28 September 2020.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  19. "Rodrigo earns Leeds a draw against Man City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  20. Clayton, David. "Dias voted November Etihad Player of the Month". www.mancity.com. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  21. "Benfica: Rúben Dias tem entorse, seleção decide dispensa". Maisfutebol. 19 March 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  22. Revealed: Every World Cup 2018 squad – Final 23-man lists Goal
  23. Nearly half Portugal's Euro squad to miss World Cup SBS News
  24. Portugal-Tunísia (equipas): Ruben Dias estreia-se na seleção A; Maisfutebol, 28 May 2018
  25. Rúben Dias FIFA
  26. Law, Matt (5 July 2019). "Result: Goncalo Guedes scores winner as Portugal land UEFA Nations League title". Sports Mole. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  27. Krušelj, Dražen (18 November 2020). "Zaslužili smo ostanak! Naš gard bio je jasan odmah nakon što je Lovren zagalamio na Pašalića..." Sportske novosti (in Croatian). Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  28. Hina (17 November 2020). "Drama za Hrvate: Portugal slavio u Splitu, ali Vatreni ostaju u elitnom razredu". Večernji list (in Croatian). Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  29. Hrnčić, Fabijan (18 November 2020). "Luka čestitao Kovi: Bravo, brate". 24sata (in Croatian). Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  30. "Rúben Dias". ForaDeJogo.net. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  31. "Games played by Rúben Dias in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  32. "Dias, Rúben". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  33. "Croatia vs. Portugal 2–3: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  34. Fernandes, Mariana (18 May 2019). "Como o Benfica foi campeão nacional ao som de "Summer of '99" (e dois intrusos que parecem mais velhos do que são)". Observador (in Portuguese). Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  35. Benfica 5–0 Sporting CP Soccerway
  36. "Final da Youth League: Benfica-RB Salzburgo, 1-2". Record (in Portuguese). 24 April 2017. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  37. "UEFA Nations League Finals: Team of the Tournament". UEFA. 10 June 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  38. "Team of the Tournament" (PDF). UEFA.
  39. "Gala Benfica Galardões Cosme Damião" (in Portuguese). S.L. Benfica. 22 March 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  40. "Do melhor jogador ao golo do ano. Confira os vencedores do Kick-Off da Liga". Jornal de Notícias (in Portuguese). 28 August 2020. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  • Profile at the Manchester City F.C. website
  • Profile at the Portuguese Football Federation website (in Portuguese)
  • Rúben Dias – UEFA competition record 
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