José Eduardo de Araújo (born 16 August 1991), or simply Zé Eduardo, is a Brazilian 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 plays as a

defensive midfielder 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. ...

. He can also play at full-back or on either wing, but sees central midfield as his strongest position.

Club career

Zé Eduardo began his career in 2003 with

Cruzeiro Esporte Clube Cruzeiro Esporte Clube () is a Brazilian professional football club, based in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. Cruzeiro is the greatest team of Minas Gerais. Although competing in a number of different sports, Cruzeiro is mostly known for its as ...

. He made his debut in the last match of the

2008 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The 2008 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A was the 52nd edition of the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A. It began on May 8 and ended on December 7. For the first time, one club has won the championship three times in a row. Also, São Paulo has been cro ...

, replacing Henrique in the final minutes. In August 2009, Zé Eduardo joined Associação Maga Esporte Clube (which was effectively an investing company) for €500,000 and signed a five-year contract. Maga held 75% of his transfer rights while Cruzeiro held the remaining 25%. On 31 August 2009, he was loaned to

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

. On 9 June 2010, Ajax chose not to activate the option to buy Zé Eduardo, and he moved back to Associação Maga Esporte Clube. In July 2010, he joined Italian

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

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

on loan from Maga for €500,000 and was called up to pre-season camp. He was a member of its youth team, though was also awarded the number 22 shirt of the first team. He played in 2011 Torneo di Viareggio. In July 2012, he joined

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

side

Padova Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of ...

on loan. In August 2013, he moved to Greek club

OFI Crete OFI Football Club (, ''Heraklion Sportsmen Club 1925 FC''), commonly referred to as OFI, is a Greek professional Association football, football club based in Heraklion, on the island of Crete. It is part of the O.F.I. (sports club), OFI mul ...

on loan. In July 2014, Zé Eduardo joined

Cesena Cesena (; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy; and - with Forlì - is the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena. Served by Autostrada A14 (Italy), Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine M ...

for an undisclosed fee. On 8 August 2015, Zé Eduardo joined

Lanciano Lanciano (; ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Chieti, part of the Abruzzo region of central Italy. It has 33,944 inhabitants as of 2023. The town is known for the first recorded Catholic Church, Catholic Miracle of Lanciano, Eucharis ...

in a temporary deal. On 10 March 2020, Zé Eduardo joined

Sandefjord Sandefjord () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Vestfold. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Sandefjord ...

on a one-year contract.

International career

Ze Eduardo is also former Brazil U-19 member and played for the

Brazil national under-20 football team The Brazil national under-20 football team, also known as Brazil Sub-20 or Seleção Sub-20, represents Brazil in association football at this age level and is controlled by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF). The team ha ...

from 2009 to 2011. Dudu was formerly member of the U-16 of his homeland

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 ...

Honours

South American Youth Championship South American Youth Championships may refer to: * South American Youth Football Championship The South American Youth Football Championship, also known as South American U-20 Championship (; ), branded as CONMEBOL Sub 20, is a South American foo ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

* Sendai Cup: 2008

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ze Eduardo 1991 births Living people 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen Brazilian men's footballers Footballers from Uberaba Men's association football midfielders Brazil men's under-20 international footballers Brazil men's youth international footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Cruzeiro EC players AFC Ajax players Parma Calcio 1913 players Empoli FC players Calcio Padova players OFI Crete F.C. players AC Cesena players SS Virtus Lanciano 1924 players FC Wil players Sandefjord Fotball players Serie A players Serie B players Super League Greece players Swiss Challenge League players Eliteserien players Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Norway