José Joaquim de Carvalho (born 6 March 1997), commonly known as Zeca, is a Brazilian 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

K League 1 The K League 1 (Hangul: K리그1) is the men's top professional football division of the South Korean football league system. The league is contested by twelve clubs. History The South Korean professional football league was founded in 1 ...

club Pohang Steelers.

Club career

Zeca was born in Salvador,

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro) and the 5th-largest b ...

, and was a

youth graduate. He made his senior debut while on loan at Ypiranga-BA in 2016, but later moved to Vitória and returned to the youth setup. In 2017, Zeca moved abroad and joined Portuguese side Boavista, being assigned to the reserve team. He returned to his home country in 2019, signing for

Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian state located in the Center-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso. The state capital is Goi ...

and being initially a part of the under-23 team. Zeca was definitely promoted to the main squad for the 2020 season, and made his Série A debut on 12 August of that year, coming on as a late substitute for Vinícius Lopes in a 1–2 away loss against

Athletico Paranaense Club Athletico Paranaense (commonly known as Athletico and formerly known as Atlético Paranaense) is a Brazilian football team from the city of Curitiba, capital city of the Brazilian state of Paraná, founded on March 26, 1924. The team ...

. After featuring in a further two top tier matches, he was loaned to Série C side

Criciúma Criciúma is a city in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. At , it is located 180 km south of Florianópolis, the state capital and around 900 km south of São Paulo. The city is the center of Brazil's flooring and home materials in ...

. On 17 February 2021, Zeca agreed to a contract with Oeste also in the third division. A regular starter, he moved to

Londrina Londrina (, literally "Little London") is a city located in the north of the state of Paraná, South Region, Brazil, and is away from the state capital, Curitiba. It is the second largest city in the state and fourth largest in the southern regi ...

in the Série B on 29 September, and was an important unit as the club narrowly avoided relegation in the last round. On 31 December 2021, Zeca signed for

Mirassol Mirassol is a municipality in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The city is located in the northern part of the state, 453 km from the city of São Paulo and 15 km from São José do Rio Preto. Mirassol has 60,303 inhabitants (IBGE/2020). ...

. The following 27 March, after scoring six goals in the 2022 Campeonato Paulista, he was loaned to South Korean side

Daegu FC Daegu FC ( Korean: 대구 FC) is a South Korean professional football club based in Daegu. The club was founded as a community club at the end of 2002, and made their K League 1 debut in 2003. Daegu has played mostly in the K League 1 but was rel ...

until the end of the year. On 6 January 2023, Zeca officially returned to the K League, joining Pohang Steelers on a permanent deal.

Career statistics

Honours

Londrina * Campeonato Paranaense: 2014 Operário Ferroviário *

Campeonato Brasileiro Série D The Campeonato Brasileiro Série D (English: Brazilian Championship Serie D) is the fourth division of the Brazilian football league system, and was announced by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) on April 9, 2008. The Campeonato Brasileir ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

* Campeonato Paranaense Segunda Divisão: 2018 * Campeonato Brasileiro Série C:

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 Unit ...

Ypiranga-RS *

Campeonato Gaúcho Série A2 The Campeonato Gaúcho Série A2 (Gaucho Championship Series A2) are the football tournament for the Rio Grande do Sul clubs that do not play in the Campeonato Gaúcho Série A1 in Brazil. The competitions are organized by the Rio Grande do Su ...

: 2019

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zeca 1997 births Living people Sportspeople from Salvador, Bahia Brazilian footballers Association football forwards Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Campeonato Brasileiro Série C players Esporte Clube Bahia players Esporte Clube Ypiranga players Goiás Esporte Clube players Criciúma Esporte Clube players Oeste Futebol Clube players Londrina Esporte Clube players Mirassol Futebol Clube players Daegu FC players Brazilian expatriate footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in South Korea Expatriate footballers in South Korea