.jpg) Rolando playing forAnderlecht | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Rolando Jorge Pires da Fonseca[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1985-08-31)31 August 1985 (age 40)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | São Vicente, Cape Verde[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Centre-back | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1999–2003 | Campomaiorense | ||||||||||||||||
| 2003–2004 | Belenenses | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2004–2008 | Belenenses | 97 | (7) | ||||||||||||||
| 2008–2015 | Porto | 112 | (7) | ||||||||||||||
| 2013 | →Napoli (loan) | 7 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2013–2014 | →Inter Milan (loan) | 29 | (4) | ||||||||||||||
| 2015 | →Anderlecht (loan) | 4 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2015–2019 | Marseille | 90 | (6) | ||||||||||||||
| 2020–2022 | Braga | 13 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 352 | (24) | |||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2006–2007 | Portugal U21 | 7 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2009–2018 | Portugal | 21 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
Rolando Jorge Pires da Fonseca (born 31 August 1985), known simply asRolando, is a Portuguese former professionalfootballer who played as acentral defender.
He played 222Primeira Liga games forBelenenses,Porto andBraga, winning several honours including the league,Taça de Portugal andEuropa Leaguetreble with the second club in 2011. Abroad, he played on loan forNapoli andInter Milan in Italy andAnderlecht in Belgium, and spent four years in France withMarseille.
Rolando was part of thePortugal squads at the2010 FIFA World Cup andUEFA Euro 2012, reaching the semi-finals in the latter tournament and earning 21caps.
Rolando was born inSão Vicente, Cape Verde. After beginning his career in the youth ranks of lowlyS.C. Campomaiorense, he finished his development withLisbon'sC.F. Os Belenenses, which he joined at the age of 18. In hisPrimeira Liga debut, on 28 August 2004, he played 90 minutes and scored a goal in a 3–0 home win againstC.S. Marítimo.[2]
Rolando went on to become an essential defensive figure onwards, appearing in all 30 games in the2007–08 season as the team finished in eighth place.
On 15 April 2008,FC Porto confirmed that Rolando had agreed to part ways with Belenenses and join them on a four-year contract.[3][4] In hisfirst season he quickly beat competition from veteranPedro Emanuel, partneringBruno Alves in the centre[5] and netting three times[6][7][8] in 28 matches as thenortherners won the league andthe domestic cup. In the summer of 2009, the club acquired an additional 10% of his economic rights and the player also extended his link until 30 June 2014.[9]
In2010–11, Rolando rarely missed a game for Porto who won another national championship. On 17 February 2011 he opened the score atSevilla FC through a header, in an eventual 2–1 win in theround of 32 of theUEFA Europa League,[10] whichended in conquest.[11]
Rolando started2011–12 in scoring fashion, netting both goals in thePortuguese Supercup, a2–1 victory overVitória S.C. inAveiro.[12] On 30 January 2013, completely ostracised by managerVítor Pereira as practically all Portuguese players, he was transferred toSSC Napoli of theSerie A, being loaned until June.[13]
On 10 August 2013,Inter Milan confirmed the signing of Rolando in aseason-long loan, for €600,000.[14][15] He scored his first goal for the side on 27 October, contributing to a 4–2 home defeat ofHellas Verona FC.[16]
In February 2015, after spending the first half of thenew campaign ousted from the squad due to a run-in with the board of directors after he refused to join the team's pre-season,[17][18] Rolando was loaned toR.S.C. Anderlecht until June.[19]
On 1 September 2015, Rolando was signed byOlympique de Marseille.[20] His playtime was initially cut short, as the replacement to head coachMarcelo Bielsa,Míchel, saw little use in him, and was eventually transfer listed byFranck Passi after hisfirst season in France.[21]
However, Rolando returned to the squad under the newly appointedRudi Garcia,[22] becoming an integral part of the team's defense[23] and notably contributing to a 0–0 away draw to title holdersParis Saint-Germain FC.[24] On 3 May 2018, broughtfrom the bench forMorgan Sanson inextra time, he scored in the dying minutes of theEuropa League semi-finals againstFC Red Bull Salzburg for a 2–1 away loss and 3–2 aggregate win.[25]
Rolando returned to his country of adoption on 27 February 2020, with the 34-year-oldfree agent joiningS.C. Braga – coached by his former Belenenses teammateRuben Amorim – on a two-and-a-half-year contract.[26] He finished2020–21 as a cup winner, scoring the opening goal of a 5–0 home win overS.C.U. Torreense in thelast 16.[27]
Braga sought to offload Rolando before the2021–22 season, but he turned down all available offers due to his high wage demands. He was completely frozen out by managerCarlos Carvalhal for the last year of his contract, despite long-term injuries toDavid Carmo andNuno Sequeira in the backline.[28]
Rolando left theEstádio Municipal de Braga in July 2022, with only 16 competitive appearances to his credit.[29]
%2c_Rolando_(R)_%25E2%2580%2593_Portugal_vs._Argentina%2c_9th_February_2011.jpg)
Although born inCape Verde, Rolando moved to Portugal aged 14 and became a naturalised citizen in 2006. He immediately started playing for thenation's under-21s, for whom he appeared at the2006[30] and2007 UEFA European Championships.[31]
On 11 February 2009, Rolando was first called up tothe full side, playing 90 minutes in afriendly match withFinland inFaro (1–0 win).[32] He was selected for the2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa,[33] but did not leave the bench.
AtUEFA Euro 2012, Rolando made three appearances for the semi-finalists, all as a late substitute.[34][35][36] After a four-year international absence, he returned to the international fold for a friendly againstEgypt in March 2018.[37] He was named in a preliminary 35-man squad forthe year's World Cup weeks later,[38] but did not make the final cut.[39]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Belenenses | 2004–05 | Primeira Liga | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 16 | 2 | ||
| 2005–06 | 25 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 25 | 3 | ||||
| 2006–07 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 26 | 0 | ||||
| 2007–08 | 30 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 32 | 2 | |||
| Total | 97 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 99 | 7 | ||
| Porto | 2008–09 | Primeira Liga | 28 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 4 |
| 2009–10 | 28 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 6 | ||
| 2010–11 | 29 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 51 | 3 | ||
| 2011–12 | 26 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 37 | 3 | ||
| 2012–13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Total | 112 | 7 | 19 | 3 | 40 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 174 | 16 | ||
| Napoli (loan) | 2012–13 | Serie A | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 9 | 0 | |
| Inter Milan (loan) | 2013–14 | Serie A | 29 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 29 | 4 | ||
| Anderlecht (loan) | 2014–15 | Belgian Pro League | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Marseille | 2015–16 | Ligue 1 | 19 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | 29 | 1 | |
| 2016–17 | 30 | 4 | 5 | 0 | — | — | 35 | 4 | ||||
| 2017–18 | 31 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 1 | — | 46 | 2 | |||
| 2018–19 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 13 | 0 | |||
| Total | 90 | 6 | 15 | 0 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 123 | 7 | ||
| Career total | 339 | 24 | 36 | 3 | 64 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 444 | 34 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portugal | 2009 | 6 | 0 |
| 2010 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2011 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2012 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2014 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 21 | 0 | |
.jpg)
Porto
Anderlecht
Marseille
Braga
Portugal squads | |||||||
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