Recuei no jogo.

Recuei comes from the infinitive recuar, which means to move back, to retreat, to back off, or sometimes to reverse depending on context.

In Recuei no jogo, recuei is:

• 1st person singular: I
• pretérito perfeito simples: the simple past
• so it means I moved back / I backed off / I retreated

A quick mini-pattern:

• eu recuei = I retreated / I moved back
• tu recuaste = you retreated
• ele/ela recuou = he/she retreated

Portuguese often omits the subject pronoun when the verb ending already shows who is doing the action.

So:

• Recuei no jogo.
• Eu recuei no jogo.

Both are correct.

Because recuei clearly means I did it, eu is not necessary unless you want emphasis, contrast, or clarity.

For example:

• Eu recuei, mas ele avançou. = I moved back, but he moved forward.

It is the pretérito perfeito simples, which is the normal tense for a completed action in the past.

So recuei means that the action happened and is seen as complete:

• Recuei no jogo. = I moved back / I backed off in the game.

This is different from:

• recuava = I was moving back / I used to move back
  imperfect, more ongoing or habitual
• tenho recuado = I have been backing off
  a different structure with a different nuance

In this sentence, recuei is the most straightforward past form.

Because no is a contraction:

• em + o = no

So:

• no jogo = in the game

This contraction is mandatory in normal Portuguese.

Other common contractions:

• na = em + a
• nos = em + os
• nas = em + as

Examples:

• no carro = in the car
• na escola = at/in the school
• nos livros = in the books

Literally, no jogo means in the game.

Depending on context, jogo can refer to:

• a literal game
• a sports match
• a figurative situation involving strategy, competition, or power

So Recuei no jogo could mean different things depending on context, such as:

• I moved back in the game
• I fell back in the match
• I backed off in the contest/strategy situation

The grammar stays the same; the exact English phrasing depends on the situation.

It can be both.

Physical use:

• moving backwards
• stepping back
• retreating

Figurative use:

• backing down
• retreating from a position
• losing ground
• becoming less advanced

So in a sentence like Recuei no jogo, the meaning could be:

• physically moved back in a game
• lost position in the game
• backed down strategically

Portuguese uses recuar quite naturally in both literal and figurative senses.

In European Portuguese, recuei is pronounced approximately like:

• reh-koo-AY

The final part -ei sounds like a diphthong, roughly like ay in English say, though not exactly the same.

The stress falls on the last syllable:

• re-cu-EI

A learner tip:

• recuar → recuei
• the spelling changes, but you should still connect it to the same verb stem

This is just part of the normal conjugation pattern of -uar verbs like recuar in the simple past.

For eu, the form is:

• recuar → recuei

Similar pattern:

• continuar → continuei
• atuar → atuei

So the eu form of the simple past often shows -ei, and in some verbs there is also a spelling adjustment to keep pronunciation natural.

The important thing for learners is to memorize:

• eu recuei
• tu recuaste
• ele recuou

Yes, absolutely.

• Recuei no jogo.
• Eu recuei no jogo.

Both are grammatical.

The version without eu is very natural because Portuguese often drops subject pronouns. The version with eu sounds a bit more explicit and can be useful if:

• you want emphasis
• you are contrasting with someone else
• you want to avoid ambiguity

Yes, jogo is masculine.

You can tell in this sentence because:

• no = em + o
• o is the masculine singular definite article

So:

• o jogo = the game
• no jogo = in the game

If the noun were feminine, you would expect na instead.

Yes, it can sound a little incomplete on its own, depending on the situation.

Grammatically, it is perfectly correct. But in real conversation, listeners may want to know:

• what kind of game?
• in what sense did you recuar?
• physically, strategically, or emotionally?

For example, Portuguese speakers might more often say something fuller like:

• Recuei no jogo porque estava a perder.
• Recuei no jogo e deixei o adversário avançar.

So the sentence is fine, but like many short sentences, it becomes clearer with context.