Rui Pedro dos Santos Patrício born February 15, 1988 in Marrazes is a Portuguese football goalkeeper who plays for Sporting Clube de Portugal.

Club career

Patrício played as a striker at a young age. Reportedly, a Sporting Lisbon scout was in the area and saw the youngster play in goal; the scout was very impressed and signed him to the famed Sporting youth academy.He made his debut in November 19, 2006, in a 1-0 away win against Marítimo in the 10th round of the Portuguese league where, subbing in for Portuguese international and Sporting first-choice Ricardo and in a heroic performance, he saved a penalty kick 15 minutes before the end of the game.In 2007-08, after Ricardo’s departure to Real Betis, Patrício beat competition from Sporting veteran Tiago and new signing Vladimir Stojkovic to become the undisputed starter. On November 27, 2007, he made his debut in UEFA Champions League, in a 2-1 valiant away loss against Manchester United.

International career

On January 29, 2008, national coach Luiz Felipe Scolari called Patrício for a 3-1 friendly defeat against Italy in Zürich, although he did not leave the bench.On May 12 Patrício was called up to the national squad for the forthcomming European Championship as the only uncapped player.