Luís Eduardo Schmidt (born 10 January 1979), commonly known as Edu, is a Brazilian retired

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 ...

. A versatile

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 ...

and

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) ** Smal ...

, he played most of his professional career in Spain – helping both

Celta CELTA is an initial teacher training qualification for teaching English as a second or foreign language (ESL and EFL). It is provided by Cambridge Assessment English through authorised Cambridge English Teaching Qualification centres and can be ...

and Betis to their first-ever Champions League participation – amassing

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

totals of 253 matches and 63 goals in nine years. He started his career with

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 ...

Club career

Born in

Jaú Jaú is a city and municipality in the center of the state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo, in Brazil. The population is 151,881 (2020 est.) in an area of . The elevation is . The city takes its name from the native fish species ''Gilded catfish ...

, Edu made only 11 Série A appearances for

São Paulo FC São Paulo Futebol Clube () is a professional Association football, football club in the Morumbi, São Paulo, Morumbi district of São Paulo, Brazil. It plays in Campeonato Paulista, São Paulo (state), São Paulo's premier State football lea ...

over the course of three seasons, then transferred to

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

RC Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), the club was fou ...

for 2000–01. Even though he only scored three goals during his first year, he went on to become one of the Galician side's most important elements in the subsequent

campaigns. Hindered by injuries throughout 2003–04, Edu also played a small part in Celta's

run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

in the

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 ...

, netting once against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in a round-of-16 home defeat (2–3). Upon the club's relegation he moved to

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

, spending the first two seasons on loan. Edu made a huge impression during his first year in

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

, as his partnership with countryman

Ricardo Oliveira Ricardo José Dognella Lima de Oliveira (; born 6 May 1980) is a Brazilian retired professional footballer who played as a striker. Oliveira represented São Paulo and Santos in two different spells, but also played in Spain, amassing La Lig ...

featured strongly in the success of the club, who

qualified Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

to its first Champions League. He finished the campaign with 11 goals in 32 league appearances, with the team also

winning Winning may refer to: * Victory Film * Winning (film), ''Winning'' (film), a 1969 movie starring Paul Newman * ''Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman'', a 2015 documentary by Adam Carolla and Nate Adams Music * ''Winning'', an album by Ten Fo ...

the

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

. In his second year, Edu only scored in three league matches, but started it by scoring a

last-minute goal The term "last-minute goal" is used in sport, primarily association football, to describe a goal scored very late in a game, usually one that affects the outcome of the game. The definition of a "last-minute goal" commonly used is one scored eith ...

against

AS Monaco FC Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club, commonly referred to as AS Monaco (), is a professional association football, football club based in Fontvieille, Monaco, Fontvieille, Monaco. Although not in France, they are a member of the Frenc ...

in the Champions League third qualifying round, as the ''Verdiblancos'' went on to win 3–2 on aggregate. After two seasons, Edu was officially signed for

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

2,000,000 in 2006. On the final day of 2006–07 he scored twice in the final ten minutes in a 2–0 win at

Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Spain, Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spani ...

, which proved instrumental in avoiding relegation to the second division. In the following season, as Betis again battled relegation, he finished as the club's top scorer at 12; two of those came on 29 March 2008 as he netted the first and the last for his team in a 3–2 home win against

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

, who led 2–0 at

half-time In several team sports, matches are played in two halves. Half-time (also written halftime or half time) is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match. Typically, after half-time, teams swap ends of the field of play in or ...

. Edu appeared very rarely in the 2008–09 campaign due to injuries and Betis were relegated, with the played being released subsequently. Shortly after, he returned to Brazil after a nine-year absence and signed a two-year contract with

Sport Club Internacional Sport Club Internacional (), commonly known as Internacional, Inter de Porto Alegre, a cidade do Grêmio or simply Inter, is a Brazilian professional Association football, football club based in Porto Alegre. They play in the Campeonato Bras ...

. On 2 June 2011, aged 32, Edu joined

Esporte Clube Vitória Esporte Clube Vitória () is a Brazilian professional club based in Salvador, Bahia, Salvador, Bahia founded on 13 May 1899. It competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, as well as in the Campeonato Baiano, the top flight of the Bahia St ...

on a free transfer. On 26 April of the following year he signed for

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Founded in ...

in the United States, being released by the

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

club on 16 November.

International career

Edu made his

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

debut against

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, on 23 February 2000. It would be his only

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. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

for the full side. Late in the summer, Edu scored twice at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

, as the country was ousted in the quarter-finals.

Honours

Betis *

: 2004–05 Brazil U23 *

CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament The CONMEBOL Preolímpico () is an international association football event in the South America region organized by CONMEBOL. It is the qualification tournament for the football at the Summer Olympics, football tournament at the Olympic Games. ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Edu 1979 births Living people Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Men's association football forwards Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players São Paulo FC players SC Internacional players Esporte Clube Vitória players La Liga players RC Celta de Vigo players Real Betis players Major League Soccer players Colorado Rapids players Brazil men's under-20 international footballers Brazil men's international footballers Olympic footballers for Brazil Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Footballers from Jaú 20th-century Brazilian sportsmen