Ruiz scored his first goal on 23 December 2003 against Ramonense, netting twice against Fernando Patterson.[4] In Alajuelense, he was nicknamed La Comadreja (The Weasel), for his facial profile.[citation needed] He was on the team when it won regional titles such as the UNCAF Cup and the CONCACAF Champions' Cup.
On 15 July 2009, the Dutch club FC Twente announced that they had signed Ruiz for a fee of around €5 million, and agreed to receive a percentage of a subsequent transfer. He signed a four-year deal with the Eredivisie side.[6]
Ruiz made his debut for the new club by scoring the second goal of the match, with an assist from another newcomer, Miroslav Stoch, in an away defeat of Sparta Rotterdam.[7][8] His goal against NAC Breda on 12 December 2009 marked the tenth consecutive match in which he had scored.[9] On 27 March 2010, Ruiz made one of the quickest hat-tricks ever[10] against Sparta, with goals in the 46th, 49th and 50th minutes.[11]
On 2 May 2010, FC Twente were crowned champions of Eredivisie for the first time in their history, with a 2–0 win at NAC Breda; Ruiz scored the first goal of the match during the 23rd minute of play. He finished the season as top scorer for Twente with 24 goals in Eredivisie play.
In August 2011, Ruiz was being watched by scouts from Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur; however, on 18 August 2011 Ruiz claimed that Fulham was in talks with him. He stated to a local source "Fulham is a serious option for me. "That is also a Premier League side and it is a fantastic league. "Fulham already contacted my agent. If Fulham does become serious, we will definitely talk."
On 31 August 2011, the last day of the Premier League summer transfer window, Fulham announced signing Ruiz for an undisclosed fee.[12] His début was on Sunday, 11 September 2011 at home to Blackburn Rovers[13] and he scored his first goal for Fulham in a 3–1 home defeat against Everton on 23 October 2011.[14][15]
In the fixture against Bolton at the Reebok Stadium on 7 April 2012, Ruiz broke a bone in his foot, leading to a stretcher taking him off and him needing an operation, which sidelined him for 10 weeks.[16]
On 18 August 2012, Ruiz started Fulham's first Premier League game of the season, a 5–0 win against Norwich and assisted Mladen Petrić in scoring his second goal in his debut match.[17] He finished the 2012–13 season making 31 first-team appearances and scoring five goals.[18]
He made his debut on 19 January 2014 in a 1–0 loss to Ajax[20] and scored his first goal for the club on 14 February with a 63rd-minute winner against Heracles Almelo.[21]
On 1 October 2015, Ruiz scored his first goal for Sporting against Beşiktaş in the group stage of the UEFA Europa League.[24] His first goal in the Primeira Liga came in a 3–0 Lisbon derby defeat of Benfica at the Estádio da Luz on 25 October.[25] In another derby, on 5 March 2016, he missed an open goal, and Benfica won the match 1–0 at Estádio José Alvalade, knocking out Sporting to second place in the league.[26]
Santos
On 11 July 2018, free agent Ruiz signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Santos FC.[27] He made his debut for the club on 8 August, replacing Diego Pituca at half-time in a 1–1 away draw against Ceará.
After only 12 league matches during his first season, Ruiz failed to appear a single minute during his second, under Jorge Sampaoli. On 13 July 2020, after again failing to play under Jesualdo Ferreira, he terminated his contract with the club after alleging "wage breaches and moral damage".[28]
Return to Alajuelense
On 23 July 2020, Ruiz announced his return to Alajuelense.[29] In December 2022, he officially retired from the professional game, and marked the occasion by participating in a friendly between Alajuelense and his former club Twente.[30][31]
He has represented the Ticos at the 2005, 2011 and 2015CONCACAF Gold Cups, captaining the team at the latter tournament. His first international goal came against Honduras in the 2005 tournament.
In June 2014, Ruiz was named in Costa Rica's squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.[33] In the team's opening match, he captainedLos Ticos to a 3–1 defeat of Uruguay in Fortaleza.[34] On 20 June, Ruiz scored the only goal as Costa Rica upset four-time champion Italy 1–0 to qualify for the round of 16,[35] where he again scored his team's goal as they drew 1–1 with Greece. Ruiz later successfully converted his kick as Costa Rica prevailed 5–3 in the penalty shootout.[36] At the quarter-final stage, Ruiz was one of two Costa Ricans to have their kicks saved by Tim Krul in a 4–3 penalty shootout loss to the Netherlands.[37]
In May 2018, he was named in Costa Rica's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[38] In the last group-stage match against Switzerland, he scored a last-minute equalizing goal from a penalty spot in 2–2 draw; however, the goal was credited as an own goal by Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer.[39]
In November 2022, Ruiz was named to the 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup,[40] his final tournament for Costa Rica as he retired after the tournament.[41]
Career statistics
Club
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Ruiz has two brothers; one of them, Yendrick, is also a football player. Both Bryan and Yendrick were teammates in Alajuelense for a period of two weeks before Bryan signed for Gent. It was not until 14 August 2013, when both played together for the first time, in a friendly that Costa Rica played against Dominican Republic.[57][58]
Ruiz worked as a columnist for Costa Rican sports newspaper Al Día from 2011 until the journal's ceasing in 2014.[59]
^"¡Vuelvo donde todo comenzó!" [I came back to where it all started!] (in Spanish). Bryan Ruiz's official twitter account. 23 July 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
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