During Portugal's victorious Euro 2016 campaign he was involved in every game. He scored the winner against Croatia in the last 16 and converted the decisive penalty against Poland in the quarter-finals.
At age 32, helping his country to its first major title was the high point of his career. But off the pitch he was making an even bigger impact.
That summer, for the first time ever, a player of Roma heritage had the entire country behind him. It led many to wonder whether a turning point had been reached.
"Can a football hero put an end to 500 years of racism?" asked Renascenca, one of Portugal's major radio stations.
Such was the way Quaresma and his roots were embraced by fans that, before the final against France, national newspaper Diario de Noticias came up with an article stating that "our gypsy is better than theirs". It was a reference to rival striker Andre-Pierre Gignac, another footballer of Roma origin.
After the tournament however, the mood changed once more.
"It obviously made us proud to have a member of our community excelling at the highest level, but at the same time it was a bit of a mix of emotions for us that is not easy to explain," says Vitor Marques, founder and current vice-president of the Portuguese Roma Union.
