Ederson Honorato Campos (born 13 January 1986) is a Brazilian former 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 lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Club career

Early career

Ederson began his footballing career playing on the streets of

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

. When he was 15, he joined Brazilian second tier club RS Futebol. After a year of obscurity, Ederson joined top division side Juventude, who, at the time, was managed by

Ricardo Gomes Ricardo Gomes Raymundo (born 13 December 1964) is a Brazilian retired professional footballer and manager. As a player, he played as a central defender, in a 14-year professional career, for Fluminense (six years), Benfica (four) and Par ...

, who would go on manage top French clubs

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

and

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

. Ederson flourished at Juventude. His performances earned him a call up to the Brazil under-17 team, whom he helped win the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Cup held in

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

Move to Europe

Like most Brazilian men's footballers, Ederson's ideal destination was Europe, where he believed he could further his development. In January 2005, Ederson agreed to join French club

OGC Nice Olympique Gymnaste Club de Nice (), commonly referred to as OGC Nice or simply Nice, is a French professional association football, football club based in Nice. The club was founded in 1904 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the top tier of Footb ...

, initially as a loan, after being approached by then-Nice manager

Gernot Rohr Gernot Rohr (born 28 June 1953) is a German professional football coach and former player who is currently the manager of the Benin national team. Managerial career In 1996, he managed Girondins de Bordeaux to the UEFA Cup final, where they l ...

who scouted the player through videotapes. He made his league debut on 5 February 2005 in a match against

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

coming on as a substitute in the 72nd minute. On just his third appearance with the club, he scored his first goal in the 66th minute with an extraordinary shot from almost 45 meters out against nearby rivals

. The goal turned out to the game winner as Nice won the match 2–1. The following season, Ederson was handed the number 10 shirt, but was limited to mostly substitute appearances. He still managed to score two goals in 20 appearances. The 2006–07 season effectively brought Ederson into the limelight as he made a career-high 30 appearances and scored 6 goals, including a game winning

penalty Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to: Sports * Foul (sports) ** Penalty (golf) ** Penalty (gridiron football) ** Penalty (ice hockey) ** Penalty (rugby) ** Penalty (rugby union) ** Penalty kick (assoc ...

in the 90th minute against

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

and a brace against

, though Nice finished in 16th position. Still, his dazzling performances caught the eye of several big clubs, notably

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

, and

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

, to name a few.

Final season at Nice and Lyon

Ederson's final season at Nice was his best starting all 36 matches he appeared in and scored 7 goals. In January 2008, Ederson and Nice agreed to a move to French champions

Olympique Lyonnais Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a French professional association football, football club based in Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. With origins dating back to 1899, they were founded in 1950 and p ...

for a fee of €14 million with Nice likely to receive another €1 million based on incentives. He allegedly snubbed European heavyweights Manchester United and Real Madrid, according to Lyon chairman

Jean-Michel Aulas Jean-Michel Antoine Aulas (; born 22 March 1949) is a French businessman. He is the founder of Cegid (Compagnie Européenne de Gestion par l'Informatique Décentralisée), and from 1987 to 2023, he served as the president of French football club ...

. As per the agreement, Ederson was allowed to finished the 2007–08 season with Nice scoring his 6th and 7th goal on the last two match days of the season. He officially joined Lyon in June 2008 along with Nice teammate

Hugo Lloris Hugo Hadrien Dominique Lloris (born 26 December 1986) is a French professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC. Lloris began his career wi ...

. Considered a perfect replacement for the aging

Juninho Juninho, Portuguese for "little Junior", is a common nickname in Brazil for those whose full name includes Júnior. It is often combined with an epithet, sometimes a demonym (a word derived from their place of origin). The following association foo ...

, he was given the number 7 shirt and made his debut on the opening day of the season in a 3–0 victory over

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

coming on as a substitute in the 74th minute. He scored his first goal for Lyon with a penalty kick against

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

on 20 September 2008. It was the only goal of the match. In January 2009, he scored in back to back matches against

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

with another penalty kick and

Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...

. He appeared in all eight of Lyon's

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

matches and has been one of Lyon's more consistent players despite playing the majority of matches in the unfamiliar winger position, whilst at Nice, he operated mainly as an attacking midfielder.

Move to Lazio

Ederson acquired Italian nationality in 2012 after his marriage with an Italian citizen. On 2 July 2012, Ederson joined

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

side

on a five-year contract. Ederson has had an interrupted preseason with a few minor injuries but has managed to score two goals in 5 appearances for the biancocelesti.

Move to Flamengo

On 21 July 2015, Ederson joined Brazilian Série A club

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; ), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian multi sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea. It was founded and named after the Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Flamengo n ...

Retirement

After spending more than a year away from the pitch because of persistent knee pains, he announced his retirement on January 1, 2020 in an interview with a television station.

International career

As mentioned, Ederson was a part of the Brazil under-17 team that won the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Cup. In 2008 he was included in Brazil's preliminary squad to the 2008 Summer Olympics, however he did not get a place in the final list by coach Dunga. On 26 July 2010, he was called up for the first time to the senior team to participate in the team's August 2010 friendly against the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Prior to representing Brazil, Ederson was also eligible to appear for

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

under residency rules. He earned his first cap in a friendly game against the

but unfortunately after a couple of minutes he got injured and was replaced immediately by Carlos Eduardo.

Career statistics

)

Honours

Brazil U-17 *

FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the annual world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fé ...

: 2003 Lazio *

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Flamengo *

Campeonato Carioca The Campeonato Carioca (Carioca Championship), officially known as Campeonato Estadual do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro State Championship), also commonly known as the Cariocão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Br ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

References

External links

* * *
Profile on Sky Sports
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ederson (footballer, born 1986 01) Living people 1986 births Brazilian men's footballers Naturalised citizens of Italy Men's association football midfielders Esporte Clube Juventude players OGC Nice players Olympique Lyonnais players SS Lazio players CR Flamengo footballers Ligue 1 players Serie A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Brazil men's youth international footballers Brazil men's international footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in France Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Footballers from São Paulo (state) 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen