Éder Aleixo de Assis (; born 25 May 1957) is a Brazilian former

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 lea ...

. He played as a

left winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

, and as a forward, most notably with

Atlético Mineiro Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico *Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy *Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic Cl ...

in the Campeonato Brasileiro and with the Brazil national team. He also played for

Palmeiras The Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional association football, football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes (district of São Paulo), Perdizes. Palmeiras is ...

and Grêmio, among other teams. A few years later, he transferred to Turkey, where he played for

Malatyaspor Malatya Spor Kulübü is a Turkish sports club based in Malatya, mainly concentrated on football. History Prior to 1984 the club colors were yellow and black. They played for 11 seasons on the top-level of Turkish football. Their best result ...

during 1988–89 season, along with Carlos and Serginho.

International career

Éder Aleixo gained 52 caps with the Brazil national team between May 1979 and April 1986, and came to international prominence during the

1982 FIFA World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain from 13 June to 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy national footbal ...

while playing alongside Zico,

Sócrates Sócrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira (19 February 1954 – 4 December 2011), simply known as Sócrates , was a Brazilian footballer who played as a midfielder. His medical degree and his political awareness, combined with s ...

and Falcão in what's considered one of the greatest international football teams ever. In Brazil's first match of the tournament Eder scored a winning goal against the Soviet Union, flicking the ball up and volleying it into the net with blistering power and precision from 25 yards out. He followed that up with another goal in the 4–1 win over Scotland when, after feigning to shoot, he lofted the ball over Scotland's frozen goalie

Alan Rough Alan Roderick Rough (; born 25 November 1951) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He won 53 caps for Scotland and played in two FIFA World Cups. He also had a long club career, principally with Partick This ...

and into the far corner from the edge of the area. He smashed a bending

free kick A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play. Association football In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offe ...

against the crossbar vs Argentina in the 2nd round group game from 30 yards out, and this shot resulted in the first goal of the match scored by Zico. Éder Aleixo did not make the Brazilian squad for the 1986 World Cup, after losing form and fitness during the preceding season, and also because he apparently pushed a ball boy during a warm-up game for Brazil. He was sent off in his final international match, against Peru, in April 1986. Off the field he was occasionally a controversial figure; rumours abounded that he preferred partying to training and often fell out with coaches and teammates. Despite his ability as a footballer, he was also notorious for his poor work-rate, difficult and temperamental character, and lack of discipline both on and off the pitch, which led him to have issues with several of his managers.

Style of play

A predominantly left-footed player, Éder Aleixo usually played as a wide midfielder on the left flank, although he was also capable of playing as a forward or in a free role as a

second striker In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on bein ...

; in his prime, he was considered to be one of the best players in the world in his position. Although he was not the quickest winger, he was highly creative, athletically built, and had dazzling technical skills and close control, as well as an extremely accurate and powerful

bending In applied mechanics, bending (also known as flexure) characterizes the behavior of a slender structural element subjected to an external Structural load, load applied perpendicularly to a longitudinal axis of the element. The structural eleme ...

shot with his left foot (one of his strikes reportedly reached a speed of 174.5 km/h) that earned him the nickname ''O Canhão'' ("The Cannon") from his fans; he was capable of bending the ball in any direction by striking it with either the inside or the outside of the

instep The foot (: feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is an organ at the terminal part of the leg made up of o ...

of his left foot, while he was not particularly adept with his weaker right foot. In addition to his ball striking abilities from outside the area or from volleys in open play, he was also known for his accuracy from free kicks, as well as his excellent ball delivery from set-pieces and corners, and his accurate long passing and crossing ability.

Career statistics

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

Honours

Grêmio *

Reconquista The ''Reconquista'' (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese for ) or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military and cultural campaigns that European Christian Reconquista#Northern Christian realms, kingdoms waged ag ...

: 1977 *

Campeonato Gaúcho The Campeonato Gaúcho (English: Gaúcho Championship), officially named as Campeonato Gaúcho de Futebol Série A and commonly known as the Gauchão or the Gauchão Ipiranga (company), Ipiranga for sponsorship reasons, is the top-flight profess ...

: 1977, 1979 *

Hexa Hexosaminidase A (alpha polypeptide), also known as HEXA, is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''HEXA'' gene, located on the 15th chromosome. Hexosaminidase A and the cofactor GM2 activator protein catalyze the degradation of the GM2 ...

: 1978, 1979 * Torneo Ciudad de Rosario: 1979 Atlético Mineiro *

Campeonato Mineiro The Campeonato Mineiro is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. It is run by the Minas Gerais Football Federation (FMF). The history of Campeonato Mineiro can be divided into two parts: bef ...

: 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1995 * Tournoi de Paris: 1982 * Trofeo Ramón de Carranza: 1990 Cruzeiro *

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil () 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 it is the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de Portugal, ...

: 1993 Individual * Brazilian Silver Ball: 1983 * South American Player of the Year Bronze award: 1983

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aleixo, Eder 1957 births Living people Brazilian men's footballers Footballers from Minas Gerais Men's association football forwards Brazil men's international footballers 1982 FIFA World Cup players 1983 Copa América players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Süper Lig players América Futebol Clube (MG) players Clube Atlético Mineiro players Grêmio FBPA players Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas players Santos FC players Sport Club do Recife players Club Athletico Paranaense players Associação Atlética Internacional (Limeira) players Malatyaspor footballers Cruzeiro Esporte Clube players Sociedade Esportiva do Gama players União São João Esporte Clube players Cerro Porteño players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Paraguay Expatriate men's footballers in Paraguay Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey 20th-century Brazilian sportsmen