José Luís Mendes Lopes (born 23 September 1992), known as Zezinho, is a

Bissau-Guinean Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ) ...

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 plays as 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 ...

for Cypriot club

Omonia Aradippou Omonia Aradippou () is a Cypriot professional football club based in Aradippou, a settlement on the outskirts of the city of Larnaca. The club was founded on 4 April 1929 and currently, they compete in the Cypriot Second Division. They have com ...

and the Guinea-Bissau national team.

Club career

Born in

Bissau Bissau () is the capital, and largest city of Guinea-Bissau. Bissau had a population of 492,004. Bissau is located on the Geba River estuary, off the Atlantic Ocean, and is Guinea-Bissau's largest city, major port, and its administrative and m ...

, Zezinho finished his development with

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 ...

after joining its youth system at the age of 16. He made his debut as a senior in the 2011–12 season, being loaned to

Atlético Clube de Portugal Atlético Clube de Portugal is a Portuguese club, located in the city of Lisbon, more precisely in the parish of Alcântara. It was founded on 18 September 1942 due to the merger of two clubs of Alcântara (Carcavelinhos Football Club) and Santo ...

and helping them to the ninth position in the Segunda Liga. Subsequently, returned 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 mem ...

, Zezinho appeared almost exclusively with

the B team The B Team is a global nonprofit initiative co-founded by Sir Richard Branson and Jochen Zeitz. It advocates for business practices that are more centered on humanity and the climate. History In 2013, a group of leaders came together following ...

during his tenure. His maiden

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

appearance occurred on 13 January 2013, as he came on as a 75th-minute substitute for

Zakaria Labyad Zakaria Labyad ( Riffian-Berber: ⵣⴰⵎⴰⵔⵉⵢⴰ ⵍⴱⵢⴰⴷ; born 9 March 1993) is a professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder. Born in the Netherlands, he represented that nation at under-17 level before switch ...

in a 2–0 away win against

S.C. Olhanense Sporting Clube Olhanense () is a Portuguese sports club from Olhão, Algarve. Its football team was founded on 27 April 1912 and currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, the fourth tier of Portuguese football. It holds home matches at the ...

. Zezinho served a further two loans before being released in June 2016, at

Veria F.C. Veria ( el, Βέροια or Βέρροια), officially transliterated Veroia, historically also spelled Berea or Berœa, is a city in Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia, northern Greece, capital of the regional unit of I ...

from the

Super League Greece 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 ...

and

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and is thus officially ...

club

AEL Limassol Athlitiki Enosi Lemesou ( el, Αθλητική Ένωση Λεμεσού, translation=Athletic Union of Limassol) commonly known as AEL, is a Cypriot sports club based in the city of Limassol, most famous for its football team. AEL also maintain ...

International career

Zezinho earned his first

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 ...

for

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ) ...

on 4 September 2010 – 19 days before his 18th birthday – in a 1–0 home victory over

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

for the

2012 Africa Cup of Nations The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football ( ...

qualifiers. Selected to the 2017 edition of the tournament by manager

Baciro Candé Baciro Candé (born 18 March 1948 in Catió) is a Bissau-Guinean professional football player and manager. Career Candé played professional football in Portugal's Segunda Liga as a defender with Estrela da Amadora and Amora. After he re ...

, he featured in three games in an eventual group stage exit. Zezinho was also included in 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 champion ...

squad.

International goals

(Guinea-Bissau score listed first, score column indicates score after each Zezinho goal)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zezinho 1992 births Living people Sportspeople from Bissau Bissau-Guinean footballers Association football midfielders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Sporting CP B players Sporting CP footballers Atlético Clube de Portugal players Super League Greece players Veria F.C. players Levadiakos F.C. players Cypriot First Division players Cypriot Second Division players AEL Limassol players Omonia Aradippou players Slovak Super Liga players FK Senica players Saudi Professional League players Damac FC players Marsaxlokk F.C. players Guinea-Bissau international footballers 2017 Africa Cup of Nations players 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players Bissau-Guinean expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Greece Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Expatriate footballers in Slovakia Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate footballers in Malta Bissau-Guinean expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Bissau-Guinean expatriate sportspeople in Greece Bissau-Guinean expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Bissau-Guinean expatriate sportspeople in Slovakia Bissau-Guinean expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia