“I’m very proud of everything I’ve done as a player at all the clubs I’ve been to. This [a carreira] is coming to an end. It is certain that these will be my last games. I feel very happy with the journey I’ve taken and the recognition I have, not only in Rio Ave, but nationally. It’s a source of pride that many people identify with Ukra as a player and person”, said the striker.
Ukra, who today received the Career Award at Rio Ave’s 85th anniversary gala, guaranteed that “there will be no anxiety for the last two games of the championship [frente a Portimenense e Benfica]” and promised to “enjoy every moment until the end”.
“I look at my career and say that it is successful. Not because of the titles I won, but because in all the clubs I have been to, I have always achieved the objectives set. Therefore, I just have to be happy and proud”, he shared.
Regarding the future, Ukra revealed that he “will be on television”, but that he will remain linked to football, confiding an invitation to be an ambassador for the Portuguese Professional Football League (LPFP). “I won’t be on the pitch, but I will be nearby to follow what was a big part of my life”, he added.
The player joked that “it will be more difficult for the locker room to stay away from Ukra than for Ukra to stay away from the locker room”, but assured that “new challenges will appear”.
“This joy and disposition that I have will not end my career as a professional footballer. It will just be transferred elsewhere. But I will be a friend to everyone who was part of this journey”, he concluded.
Ukra will end his career as a footballer at the age of 36, after spells at Famalicão, the club he graduated from, FC Porto, Padroense, Varzim, Olhanense, Sporting de Braga, CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria), Al Fateh (Saudi Arabia), Santa Clara and Rio Ave.
The winger made his debut in the I Liga with Olhanense, in 2009/10, when he was on loan from FC Porto. In the following season, in 2010/11, he was part of the main squad of the blue and whites, playing eight games, before heading to Sporting de Braga in the middle of that year.
