Wilson Bruno Naval da Costa Eduardo (born 8 July 1990) is a 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 ...

who plays as a forward for Turkish club

Alanyaspor Alanyaspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Alanya in Antalya Province. Formed in 1948, the club colours are orange and green. Home matches are played at Kırbıyık Holding Stadium. The most recent club ma ...

. He was formed at

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

, but spent most of his time out on loan. In 2015 he joined

Braga Braga ( , ; cel-x-proto, Bracara) is a city and a municipality, capital of the northwestern Portuguese district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality has a resident population of 193,333 inhabitants (in ...

, with whom he won the 2015–16 Taça de Portugal and the

2019–20 Taça da Liga The 2019–20 Taça da Liga was the thirteenth edition of the Taça da Liga (also known as Allianz Cup for sponsorship reasons), a football league cup competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional and contested exclusively ...

. Over nine seasons in the Primeira Liga, where he represented those two clubs and three others, he amassed totals of 197 matches and 51 goals. He also played professionally in the Netherlands, Croatia, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey. Eduardo played for Portugal at youth level. He switched his allegiance to

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

in 2019, appearing at the year's Africa Cup of Nations.

Club career

Sporting CP

Eduardo was born in Pedras Rubras,

Maia Maia (; Ancient Greek: Μαῖα; also spelled Maie, ; la, Maia), in ancient Greek religion and mythology, is one of the Pleiades and the mother of Hermes, one of the major Greek gods, by Zeus, the king of Olympus. Family Maia is the daugh ...

. After starting his football grooming with local FC Porto he finished it at

, joining the latter's youth system at the age of 14. In 2009–10 he made his senior debut, splitting the season between Real SC ( third division) and Portimonense SC ( second) and being a relatively important part as the

Algarve The Algarve (, , ; from ) is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities ( ''concelhos'' or ''municípios'' in Portuguese). The region has it ...

side returned to the Primeira Liga after a 20-year absence. In the 2010–11 campaign, still on loan, Eduardo joined

S.C. Beira-Mar Sport Clube Beira-Mar () is a Portuguese sports club based in Aveiro, Portugal. Its football team currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, the fourth national level, having gained promotion by winning the Aveiro FA First Division 2018/19 ...

, also recently promoted from the second level. He made his competition debut on 15 August 2010, coming from the bench in a 0–0 home draw against

U.D. Leiria União Desportiva de Leiria, commonly known as União de Leiria (), is a Portuguese football club based in Leiria, central Portugal. Founded on 6 June 1966, it currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, holding home matches at Estádio Dr. ...

. Two weeks later, as the Aveiro team defeated Académica de Coimbra 2–1 (also at home), he scored his first goal in the top flight. Eduardo was again loaned by Sporting for

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, to Académica. On 8 November 2012 he netted twice – one of his goals coming through a second-half

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) A p ...

– in the 2–0 home win against Atlético Madrid in the group stage of 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. ...

. On 18 August 2013, Eduardo finally made his Sporting debut, in the first game of the new season, starting and scoring in a 5–1 home victory over F.C. Arouca. On 6 April 2014 he dropped into the reserves who competed in division two, scoring the decider in a 2–1 away defeat of C.D. Feirense. Eduardo moved abroad for the first time on 20 July, being loaned to Croatian First Football League champions GNK Dinamo Zagreb, and made 17 overall appearances for the capital team, scoring in the 2–0 win over NK Istra 1961 on 13 September. On 30 January 2015, he switched to assist ADO Den Haag for the remainder of the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

campaign.

Braga

Eduardo ended his 11-year association with Sporting on 31 August 2015, moving to

Paulo Fonseca Paulo Alexandre Rodrigues Fonseca (born 5 March 1973) is a Portuguese professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player who played as a central defender. He is the current head coach of French ...

S.C. Braga Sporting Clube de Braga () (), commonly known as Sporting de Braga or just Braga, is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Braga. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese ...

. He made his debut 17 days later in a Europa League group match away to

FC Slovan Liberec FC Slovan Liberec (), commonly referred to as Slovan Liberec or simply Slovan, is a Czech football club based in the city of Liberec. The club is one of the most successful in the Czech Republic, having won three league titles and the domestic ...

, replacing Crislan for the final 28 minutes of a 1–0 victory, and contributed two goals in ten games as they reached the quarter-finals as well as one in three in a victorious run in the

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 sea ...

. His only league goal of the season came on 10 January 2016 to open a 2–3 loss on his return to the

Estádio José Alvalade Estádio José Alvalade is a football stadium in Lisbon, Portugal, home of Sporting Clube de Portugal. It was built adjacent to the site of the older stadium. The stadium is named after José Alvalade (1885–1918), the founder and first club ...

. In 2018–19, Eduardo reached double figures for the first time in a league campaign, scoring 13 times while partnered with Dyego Sousa up front. On 6 October 2018, he was one of five people – including three non-playing members of staff –

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

in the closing stages of a 1–1 home draw against

Rio Ave FC Rio Ave Futebol Clube, commonly known as Rio Ave (), is a Portuguese professional football club based in Vila do Conde Vila do Conde (, ; "the Count's Town") is a municipality in the Norte Region of Portugal. The population in 2011 was 79,5 ...

, being issued a straight red card after the final whistle and on his way to the changing room.

Later career

On 16 July 2020, Eduardo signed a two-year contract with

Al Ain FC Al Ain Football Club ( ar, نادي العين لكرة القدم; transliterated: Nady al-'Ayn) or Al Ain FC or simply Al Ain is a professional football club, based in the city of Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It is one of many ...

of the

UAE Pro League The UAE Pro League ( ar, دوري المحترفين الإماراتي), known for sponsorship reasons as the ADNOC Pro League, is the top professional football league in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The first team to win the title was Al ...

. He scored on his league debut on 17 October, concluding a 2–0 home win over

Khor Fakkan Club Khor Fakkan Club ( ar, نادي خورفكان الرياضي الثقافي, formally known as Al Khaleej), usually known simply as Khor Fakkan, is an Emirati football club from Khor Fakkan. History Founded in 1981, the club won a UAE Federat ...

having earlier missed a penalty. Eduardo moved to

of the Turkish

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 ...

on 16 August 2021, on a two-year deal with the option of a third; he joined compatriots José Marafona and Daniel Candeias at the club. He scored four times in his first season, starting with a goal in a 6–0 rout of

Hatayspor Hatayspor Kulübü, known as Atakaş Hatayspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club located in Antakya, Hatay Province. History Hatayspor was founded on 23 July 1967. In July 2020, the team achieved promotion to t ...

on 20 January 2022.

International career

All youth levels comprised, Eduardo earned 61

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

and scored 26 goals. In 2013, he rejected to play for the Angola senior team. Eduardo went back on his decision in 2019, scoring on his debut against

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalaha ...

in a 1–0 away victory for the

2019 Africa Cup of Nations The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2019 or CAN 2019), known as the Total 2019 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 32nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football championshi ...

qualifiers on 22 March. He was called up by manager Srđan Vasiljević for the tournament in Egypt, and played all three games of a group-stage exit.

Personal life

Eduardo's younger brother, João Mário, is also a footballer. A

midfielder A midfielder is an 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 central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, he too graduated from Sporting's youth academy.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Angola's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Eduardo goal.''

Honours

Dinamo Zagreb * Croatian First Football League: 2014–15 * Croatian Football Cup: 2014–15 Braga *

: 2015–16 * Taça da Liga: 2019–20

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eduardo, Wilson 1990 births Living people People from Maia, Portugal Portuguese sportspeople of Angolan descent Black Portuguese sportspeople Sportspeople from Porto District Portuguese footballers Angolan footballers Association football forwards Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players Sporting CP footballers Real S.C. players Portimonense S.C. players S.C. Beira-Mar players S.C. Olhanense players Associação Académica de Coimbra – O.A.F. players Sporting CP B players S.C. Braga players Croatian Football League players GNK Dinamo Zagreb players Eredivisie players ADO Den Haag players UAE Pro League players Al Ain FC players Süper Lig players Alanyaspor footballers Portugal youth international footballers Portugal under-21 international footballers Angola international footballers 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players Portuguese expatriate footballers Angolan expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Croatia Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate footballers in Turkey Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Turkey