One of the most decorated goalkeepers of all time,[1][2] his career was intimately connected with FC Porto, which he started representing still in his teens, helping it to 26 titles and eventually remaining with the club in an ambassadorial role.

[3] In early 1989, he renounced to appear at the FIFA World Youth Championship, as he had relegated Pole Józef Młynarczyk to the bench and his club was still chasing the Primeira Liga title, which eventually eluded them (second place).

[9] Additionally, when Louis van Gaal took over at Barcelona from Bobby Robson, he was dropped from the team in favour of the manager's compatriot Ruud Hesp,[10] being subsequently loaned in mid-season back to Porto, filling the position some said he had "haunted" since his departure.

[17][18] It would not be until the following campaign when he regained full fitness again, and he would have one of the most impressive years of his career, winning the UEFA Champions League and his seventh league trophy – in the former competition, he played all games and minutes as Porto beat AS Monaco FC in the final (3–0)[18] and, consequently, he was selected as the "UEFA Club Best Goalkeeper of the Year",[19] being the first Portuguese goalkeeper to win this individual title.

[20] Later, in 2007, in a FIFA.com interview, Baía said: "(...) It's kind of strange because I was voted as being the best goalkeeper in Europe in the 2003/04 season and a few days before the squad for UEFA EURO 2004 was announced I'd won the Portuguese championship and the UEFA Champions League and even then I wasn't called up";[3] at the end of the season he was named in the list for "IFFHS' World's Best Goalkeeper of the Year 2004", finishing eighth in the voting while Ricardo ranked 19th.

Luiz Felipe Scolari was hired as his replacement and Baía, a stalwart for the past ten years with a record of caps in his position, was ditched.

[28] In 2004, Baía founded a charity with his wife Alexandra Rodrigues de Almeida, which would bear his own name and would be dedicated to helping underprivileged children and troubled teens.