Marques: Rui Manuel (Rui)

2007- 2010 (Leeds Player Details) (Player Details)

Central Defender

Born: Luanda, Angola: 03-09-1977

Debut: v Oldham Athletic (h): 23-08-2005

5’11” 12st (2007)

Rui Manuel Marques, an Angolan footballer defender from Luanda, moved to Portugal as a child. He began his professional football career in Germany, where his first club was FC Baden and he made twenty-seven appearances in 1998-99. He then moved to SSV Ulm 1846, the following season and made thirty-two appearances in the 1999-2000 season but then moved to Hertha Berlin, where he only managed one game. He then moved to VfB Stuttgart where he played for four seasons. Again he found it hard to break into the higher class football on a regular basis, but featured in forty-seven games with the Bundesliga team. In the 2004-05 season he moved to CS Marítimo of Madeira, Portugal, but here again he struggled in his new surroundings, only managing six games. Marques was subsequently released by Marítimo after just one season and in the 2005-06 season he moved to Leeds on a Bosman transfer. However, he made just one appearance for Leeds in the 2005-06 season in the Carling Cup against Oldham, in which he was clearly very nervous and uncomfortable playing at right-back. Marques did not feature again for Leeds that season and towards the end of it he went to Hull City on a short-term loan which was cut short due to injury after just one game. The 2006-07 campaign again saw Marques over-looked by manager Kevin Blackwell, and again by the new Leeds boss Dennis Wise, who made it clear Marques would not feature under his leadership and was told he was free to leave the club, along with a number of other squad and fringe players. However, Marques never once complained about his isolation from the first team and worked hard to try and prove himself, being included in a number of different match-day squad listings and on a couple of occasions making the subs bench. Marques' hard-work and persistance was rewarded when he was called up to the first team squad for Leeds' 2-1 win over Coventry City on January 1, 2007, where he turned in a very solid performance at centre back. This performance saw Marques being rewarded with a long run in the starting line-up at Elland Road. Marques stated that he would prefer to concentrate on Leeds' relegation battle than signing a new deal. He was an instant hit with the fans, who dubbed him a 'Sex machine'. Unfortunately, Leeds were relegated to League One, but Marques showed his commitment to the club and signed a new deal on the 7th August 2007. Marques became a regular in the first team and scored his first goal for Leeds on 18th August 2007 in the dying minutes of the match which saw the 4-1 drubbing of Southend United. Marques scored his second goal for Leeds in the 3-0 victory over Northampton Town on 5th January 2008 and then linked up with Angola in the African Cup of Nations. Marques had no plans to leave Elland Road at the end of his one-year deal. Both the defender and his family had settled quickly in Leeds. He had been ever-present during Leeds' first season in League One but his involvement with Angola in the African Nations Cup stopped that. The centre-back, made just one outing for United before Wise took charge in October 2006, but he was on his way to passing his fiftieth club appearance before the end of the 2007-08 season. On his return from his International duties, he was made Captain for the month of March 2008 as Alan Thompson, Jonathan Douglas and Andy Hughes were out injured. Marques then picked up an injury and was replaced by Paul Huntington in Leeds' starting line-up. Huntington hit a rich vein of form and Marques was out of the side for the rest of the season, apart from the odd substitute appearances. on 20 May 2008 he signed a new two year contract with Leeds, and while he was often the first choice, his international duties and injuries meant that he was never an ever-present. Marques was first choice in partnership with Patrick Kisnorbo at the heart of the Leeds defence for the start of the 2009-10 season. However, he lost his position when he suffered an achilles injury whilst on international duty in September 2009 and the signing of Leigh Bromby. With Paul Huntington already sent on loan, but with the return to fitness of Captain Richard Naylor, the signing of Leigh Bromby and the continued presence of Lubimir Michalik it appeared that Marques would have to leave Leeds on loan to play regular first team football. He was selected by Angola to play in the Africa Cup of Nations in January 2010. In December he had played in a warm up friendly against Estonia. He played against Gambia, Mali, Malawi, and Algeria and also played in the Quarter-Final against Ghana, which saw Angola eliminated 1-0. He had earned nineteen caps for Angola up to the end of July 2010. He had picked up an injury while on international duty and Leeds brought in Neill Collins as extra cover in defence, with the result that he never even featured on the bench after recovering from the injury. He was released by Leeds at the end of the 2009-10 season when his contract was not renewed.