Eduardo Luís Abonízio de Souza (born 18 May 1981), better known as Edu Dracena, is a Brazilian retired

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 a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Club career

Guarani

Born in

Dracena Dracena is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population is 45,847 (2015 est.) in an area of 488 km². The elevation is 421 m. The municipality contains part of the Rio do Peixe State Park, created in 2002. Histor ...

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

, Dracena (nickname earned from his birthplace) graduated with Guarani's youth setup. He made his professional debut on 28 February 1999, starting in a 1–2

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional association football, football league in the Brazilian States of Brazil, state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo. Run b ...

away loss against Matonense, aged just 17. Dracena made his Série A debut on 8 August 1999, starting in a 1–0 away win over Gama. He scored his first senior goal in the opening match of the 2000 season, netting the opener in a 1–1 away draw against América-SP. Dracena established himself in the club's starting XI in the following years, impressing in 2002.

Loan to Olympiacos

On 2 July 2002 Dracena was loaned to

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

in a

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

-long deal. He was a part of the squad which won the

Alpha Ethniki The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

, but only appearing in five matches.

Cruzeiro

Shortly after his return to Guarani, Dracena signed for Cruzeiro on 8 February 2003, as a replacement for

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

-bound Cris. He appeared regularly for the club, winning the year's Série A and

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil ( en, Brazil Cup) is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de ...

. Dracena fell through the pecking order in 2005, mainly due to an injury which ruled him out for seven months. In 2006, he was appointed Cruzeiro's captain, winning the year's

Campeonato Mineiro Campeonato Mineiro is the state football league of the state of Minas Gerais and is controlled by the Minas Gerais Football Federation FMF (Federação Mineira de Futebol). The history of Campeonato Mineiro can be divided into two parts: befor ...

Fenerbahçe

In August 2006, Dracena transferred to Fenerbahçe for a

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

5.7 million fee. On 19 May 2007, he scored Fenerbahçe's 500th goal against rivals

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

. Dracena rescinded his link with the club on 24 August 2009, after being mainly used as a backup during the 2008–09 season.

Santos

On 16 September 2009 Dracena signed a three-year-deal with

Santos FC Santos Futebol Clube (), commonly known simply as Santos or Santos FC and nicknamed the ''Peixe'' (; "fish"), is a Brazilian sports club based in Vila Belmiro, a '' bairro'' in the city of Santos. It is also the team with the most goals i ...

, being sidelined during his first year due to a knee injury. Dracena was an important defensive unit for ''Peixe'' in the following years, winning three Paulista titles (2010 2011 and 2012), one Copa do Brasil (

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, scoring in the final) and one

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

(

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

). However, he struggled with two serious knee injuries which sidelined him for long periods. On 15 January 2015, after the club's financial trouble, Dracena rescinded his link.

Corinthians

On 21 January 2015, Dracena signed a two-year deal with Santos' fierce rivals

Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians ( grc, Α΄ ᾽Επιστολὴ πρὸς Κορινθίους) is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-aut ...

. On 22 December, after being a backup option, he terminated his contract.

Palmeiras

Shortly after leaving Corinthians, Dracena signed a two-year contract with

Palmeiras Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes. Palmeiras is one of the most popular clubs in South America, with around ...

. He was again a backup for the most of his spell, but still won two Série A titles with the club (

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

and

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

). On 4 December 2019, Dracena announced his retirement from professional football at the age of 38.

International career

Dracena played for the Brazil U-20 team in 2001, participated in the 2001 U-20 World Cup. He was also a member of Brazil U-23 team that failed to win the 2004 Pre-Olympic Tournament and hence failed to qualify for the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. In June 2003, Dracena received his first call up to the Brazilian senior team for the

2003 Confederations Cup The 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup football tournament was the sixth FIFA Confederations Cup, held in France in June 2003. France retained the title they had won in 2001, but the tournament was overshadowed by the death of Cameroon player Marc-Vi ...

. However, he did not make his international debut during the competition. Four years later, Dracena was called up to play a friendly match against

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

on 9 and 12 September 2007. He played 45 minutes as a substitute against United States, which marked his first international

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

, followed by a place in the starting line-up against Mexico.

Post-playing career

On 19 December 2019, Dracena was presented as the new technical advisor of Palmeiras, replacing former player

Zé Roberto José Roberto da Silva Júnior (born 6 July 1974), commonly known as Zé Roberto, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a left wing-back or as a midfielder. Currently, he is a technical advisor to Palmeiras, acting directl ...

. On 27 October 2021, he returned to Santos after being named the club's football executive. On 7 July 2022, Dracena resigned from his executive role at Santos.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

;Olympiacos *

Greek Super League The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

: 2002–03 ;Cruzeiro *

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian"), and also known as Brasileirão Assaí due to sponsorship with Assaí Atacadista, is a Br ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

: 2003, 2004, 2006 ;Fenerbahçe *

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

: 2006–07 *

Turkish Super Cup The Turkish Super Cup ( Turkish: ''TFF Süper Kupa''), as it is currently known, is the annual super cup football match contested between the previous season's Süper Lig champions and the Turkish Cup winners in Turkey. It was originally known a ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

;Santos *

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

;Corinthians *

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

;Palmeiras *

References

External links

*
Biography at fenerbahce.org

Profile at TFF.org
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dracena, Edu 1981 births Living people People from Dracena Brazilian people of Italian descent Brazilian footballers Association football defenders Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Guarani FC players Cruzeiro Esporte Clube players Santos FC players Sport Club Corinthians Paulista players Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras players Super League Greece players Olympiacos F.C. players Süper Lig players Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers Brazilian expatriate footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate footballers in Greece Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Turkey Brazil under-20 international footballers Brazil international footballers 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players Santos FC non-playing staff Footballers from São Paulo (state)