José Gilson Rodriguez, commonly called Zézé, (18 December 1942 – 31 May 2006)
'' kicker.de'', accessed: 28 March 2015 was a Brazilian professional footballer who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for, among other clubs,

1. FC Köln 1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., commonly known as simply FC Köln () or FC Cologne in English, is a German professional football club based in Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 as a merger of the clubs ''Kölner Ballspi ...

in the Bundesliga. Zézé was the first-ever Brazilian player in the German Bundesliga but left the country after being diagnosed with a snow allergy.Schnee-Allergie beim Samba-Kicker
Weltfussball.de, published: 27 March 2015, accessed: 28 March 2015

Career

Zézé spend his early career with Madureira, Guaratinguetá and Madureira again before being signed by 1. FC Köln in the summer of 1964, on the advice of Polish player agent Julius Ukrainczyk, without ever having been scouted by a representative of the club. He was signed for a then club record fee of DM 150,000 and allegedly arrived in Cologne on a Banana boat from Brazil. Zézé impressed the club in warm up matches before the start of the season, raising hopes he would be a miracle forward. Zézé made his debut for 1. FC Köln on 22 August 1964 in a 3–2 loss to

Hertha BSC Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC (), and sometimes referred to as Hertha Berlin, Hertha BSC Berlin, or simply Hertha, is a German professional football club based in the locality of Westend of the borough of Charl ...

. He played one more game for the club in 1964, in December against

1. FC Nürnberg 1. Fußball-Club Nürnberg Verein für Leibesübungen e. V., often called 1. FC Nürnberg (, en, 1. Football Club Nuremberg) or simply Nürnberg, is a German association football club in Nuremberg, Bavaria, who currently compete in the 2. Bund ...

. Zézé's next appearance in a competitive match for Köln was on 20 February 1965 when he played against

Eintracht Braunschweig Braunschweiger Turn- und Sportverein Eintracht von 1895 e.V., commonly known as Eintracht Braunschweig () or BTSV (), is a German association football, football and sports club based in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony. The club was one of the founding ...

. He made an appearance in a 0–0 away draw at Liverpool F.C. in the quarter final of the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

in March, with 1. FC Köln exiting the 1964–65 edition after three drawn games on coin toss. Zézé then played two more Bundesliga matches, against Karlsruher SC and 1. FC Kaiserslautern. In the latter he registered his only goal for Köln in a competitive match when he scored the first goal in a 3–0 win. He was however not the first Brazilian to score in the Bundesliga, with

Raoul Tagliari __NOTOC__ Raoul is a French variant of the male given name Ralph or Rudolph, and a cognate of Raul. Raoul may also refer to: Given name * Raoul Berger, American legal scholar * Raoul Bova, Italian actor * Radulphus Brito (Raoul le Breton, di ...

already having done so in a match for Meidericher SV against 1. FC Nürnberg on 21 November 1964, making his Bundesliga debut in this game three month after Zézé. Zézé found it difficult to cope with the German winter and was diagnosed by a Spanish doctor with a snow allergy, leaving Cologne and not making another appearance for the club, Köln cancelling his contract and the Brazilian returning home. 1. FC Köln who had won the inaugural Bundesliga championship in 1963–64, went on to finish the 1964–65 season as runners-up, three points behind

SV Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are be ...

. Upon his return he played for Portuguesa, Santo André, Rio Branco, Atlético Paranaense, Bangu and Flamengo in his home country of Brazil.Zeze
ceroacero.es, accessed: 29 March 2015

Honours

* Bundesliga: runners-up 1964–65

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zeze 1942 births 2006 deaths Brazilian footballers Brazilian expatriate footballers Bundesliga players Expatriate footballers in Germany Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Sportspeople from Minas Gerais Madureira Esporte Clube players 1. FC Köln players Associação Portuguesa de Desportos players Esporte Clube Santo André players Rio Branco Sport Club players Club Athletico Paranaense players Bangu Atlético Clube players Association football forwards