Eric de Oliveira Pereira (born 5 December 1985), known as Eric, is a Brazilian-Romanian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

. After starting out his career in native Brazil, he went on to amass numerous stints in Romania, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, Japan and Qatar. He achieved most success in Romania, representing in the country

Gaz Metan Mediaș GAZ or Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod (russian: ГАЗ or Го́рьковский автомоби́льный заво́д, , Gorky Automobile Plant) is a Russian automotive manufacturer located in Nizhny Novgorod, formerly known as Gorky (Го� ...

Pandurii Târgu Jiu The uprising of 1821 was a social and political rebellion in Wallachia, which was at the time a tributary state of the Ottoman Empire. It originated as a movement against the Phanariote administration, with backing from the more conservative bo ...

, Viitorul Constanța and

Voluntari Voluntari () is a town in Ilfov County, Muntenia, Romania. It is located at a distance of 1 km from the northern border of Bucharest (on the DN2 road towards Urziceni) and is thus frequently viewed as a suburb of Bucharest. The population i ...

. With 66 goals in the

Liga I The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...

, Eric has been the top foreign goalscorer of the Romanian championship since 2020. Previously, he was named the Foreign Player of the Year twice, in 2010 and 2013.

Career

Early career / Gaz Metan Mediaș

Eric de Oliveira started his professional career in Brazil at

Metropolitano Metropolitano S.A. was a privately owned consortium formed in 1994 to take over concessions granted by the Argentine government as part of railway privatisation during the presidency of Carlos Menem for the operation of commuter rail services i ...

. He was loaned by Metropolitano to

in the 2007–08

Liga II The Liga 2, most often spelled as Liga II, is the second level of the Romanian football league system. The league changed its name from Divizia B just before the start of the 2006–07 Liga II, 2006–07. It is currently Sponsor (commercial), sp ...

season, a season in which he scored 10 goals helping the team to gain promotion to

. After that season, Gaz Metan bought him from Metropolitano. In his first Liga I season, he played in 25 games and scored 3 goals. In the following campaign, he played in 30 games and scored 8 goals. In the 2010–11 season, he played in 31 games and scored 15 goals, helping the team finish in the 7th place in Liga I, a place that gained Gaz Metan's first ever qualification to the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

, due to Politehnica Timișoara, who finished 2nd in the league table, being relegated by the

Romanian Football Federation Romanian Football Federation (), also known by its acronym FRF, is the sports governing body, governing body of association football, football in Romania. They are headquartered in the capital city of Bucharest and affiliated to FIFA and UEFA sinc ...

for not fulfilling the licence conditions to play in European competitions or Liga I. He was awarded the

Liga I Foreign Footballer of the Year The Foreign Player of the Year in Romania ( ro, Jucătorul străin al anului) is an association football award presented to players in Romania, which recognises the most outstanding foreign player in the country each calendar year. It was started ...

individual trophy in 2010. In the 2011–12 campaign, he made his debut in European competitions playing both legs against

KuPS Kuopion Palloseura (or KuPS) is a Finnish football club, based in the ninth most populated city of Finland, Kuopio. KuPS plays in Finland's Premier League, Veikkausliiga. KuPS has won the Finnish championship six times, the Finnish Cup 4 times ...

. Shortly after moved to Ukraine after signing with

Karpaty Lviv Football Club Karpaty Lviv ( ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Lviv. History Early years (1963–68) The team of Karpaty was founded on 18 January, 1963. In 1961 Silmash Lviv won the championship of Lviv Oblast but lost its p ...

. He played 6 games there and returned to Gaz Metan after that season. In the 2012–13 season, he was named Gaz Metan's captain and played in 22 games and scored four goals.

Pandurii Târgu Jiu / Al-Ahli

In July 2013, Eric de Oliveira signed a three-year contract with

, the Liga I runner-up, following his former coach from Gaz Metan,

Cristian Pustai Cristian Dumitru Pustai (born 12 October 1967) is a Romanian football manager and former striker. Club career Cristian Pustai played as a striker for Gaz Metan Mediaş, Unirea Alba Iulia and Chimica Târnăveni. He is credited for scoring 1 ...

. With Pandurii, he advanced to the group stage of Europa League, participating in 8 matches. On 13 September 2013, Eric scored the winning goal in the 2-1 victory against

Dinamo București A dynamo is a magnetic device originally used as an electric generator. Dynamo or Dinamo may also refer to: Places * Dinamo (Moscow Metro), a station of the Moscow Metro, Moscow, Russia * Dinamo (Yekaterinburg Metro), a station of the Yekaterinbu ...

. The following week, he scored the only goal of Pandurii in the 1-1 draw against

CFR Cluj Fotbal Club CFR 1907 Cluj, commonly known as CFR Cluj ( or ), is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, which competes in the Liga I. It was founded in 1907 as ''Kolozsvári Vas ...

. In January 2014, Eric transferred to Al-Ahli from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, a team contending in the

Saudi Professional League The Saudi Pro League (SPL for short) ( ar, دوري المحترفين السعودي, link=no, ''Dawriyy al-Muḥtarifayni as-Suʿūdī''), known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL for short) for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of associat ...

and runner up for last year's

Asian Champions League The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...

. In January 2015, he returned to Pandurii Târgu Jiu.

Late career

On 30 June 2015,

Matsumoto Yamaga or Simply Matsumoto Yamaga FC (松本山雅, ''Matsumoto Yamaga Efu Shī'') is the Japanese football (soccer) club based in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture. The club currently play in the J3 League after relegation from J2 League at the end of the ...

announced the signing of Eric de Oliveira from Romanian club Pandurii Târgu Jiu. On 8 July 2017, Eric signed a one-year contract with Liga I club Viitorul Constanța. On 12 January 2019, Eric de Oliveira signed a one-and-a-half-year contract with Viitorul Constanța. On 14 January 2020, Eric left Viitorul Constanța and signed a one-and-a-half-year contract with Liga I side

. On 8 January 2021, Eric was released from the club after having his contract mutually terminated. On 19 February 2021, Eric de Oliveira signed a six-month contract with Gaz Metan Mediaș.

Personal life

In July 2011, Eric and Romanian

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

player Cosmina Dancu had their first son, whom they named Deric. Eric married Cosmina two years later. Their second son, Anthony, was born in 2015. Eric's cousin, Vitinho, was also a professional footballer and played for Gaz Metan Mediaș.

Honours

Al-Ahli *

King Cup The King Cup (sometimes spelled King's), officially known as The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques' Cup ( ar, كأس خادم الحرمين الشريفين), is the Saudi Arabian football knockout cup competition, run by the Saudi Arabian Foot ...

runner-up:

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Pandurii Târgu Jiu *

Cupa Ligii The Cupa Ligii ( en, League Cup) was Romania's secondary club football tournament. Like the Cupa României, it was played on a knockout (single elimination) basis. History It is unclear when the competition was first created, as there are no ...

runner-up: 2014–15 Viitorul Constanța *

Cupa României The Cupa României ( en, Romanian Cup) is a Association football, football cup competition for List of football clubs in Romania, Romanian teams which has been held annually since 1933–34 Cupa României, 1933–34, except during World War II. I ...

: 2018–19 *

Supercupa României The Supercupa României ( en, Romanian Supercup) is a Romanian football championship contested by the winners of the Liga I and the Cupa României. It is usually played at the Arena Națională in Bucharest. The competition started off in 1994, ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Individual *''

Gazeta Sporturilor ''Gazeta Sporturilor'' ( en, The Sports Gazette) is a daily Romanian newspaper, and the country's largest and most read sports-related publication. It is owned by Ringier Sportal S.R.L—a joint venture of Ringier Romania S.R.L. and the Bulgarian ...

'' Foreign Player of the Year in Romania: 2010, 2013 Records *Foreign top goalscorer in

: 66 goals

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oliveira, Eric de 1985 births Living people People from Nova Iguaçu Brazilian footballers Association football midfielders Liga I players Liga II players Ukrainian Premier League players Saudi Professional League players J1 League players Qatar Stars League players Qatari Second Division players Clube Atlético Metropolitano players CS Gaz Metan Mediaș players FC Karpaty Lviv players CS Pandurii Târgu Jiu players Al-Ahli Saudi FC players Matsumoto Yamaga FC players Najran SC players FC Viitorul Constanța players Al-Markhiya SC players FC Voluntari players Brazilian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Romania Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Romania Expatriate footballers in Ukraine Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate footballers in Japan Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Japan Expatriate footballers in Qatar Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Romanian people of Afro-Brazilian descent Naturalised citizens of Romania Sportspeople from Rio de Janeiro (state)