José Gilson Rodriguez, commonly called Zézé, (18 December 1942 – 31 May 2006)Zeze profile
''

kicker.de ''Kicker'' (stylized in all lowercase) is Germany's leading sports magazine, focused primarily on football. The magazine was founded in 1920 by German football pioneer Walther Bensemann and is published twice weekly, usually Monday and Thursday ...

'', accessed: 28 March 2015 was 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 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) ** Smal ...

for, among other clubs,

1. FC Köln 1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., better known as simply 1. FC Köln () or FC Cologne in English language, English, is a German professional association football, football club based in Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 ...

in the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

. Zézé was the first-ever Brazilian player in the German Bundesliga but left the country after being diagnosed with a snow

allergy Allergies, also known as allergic diseases, are various conditions caused by hypersensitivity of the immune system to typically harmless substances in the environment. These diseases include Allergic rhinitis, hay fever, Food allergy, food al ...

.Schnee-Allergie beim Samba-Kicker
Weltfussball.de, published: 27 March 2015, accessed: 28 March 2015

Career

Zézé spend his early career with Madureira,

Guaratinguetá Guaratinguetá is a municipality in the state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo in Brazil. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of Vale do Paraíba e Litoral Norte. The population is 122,505 (2020 est.) in an area of 752.64 km2. It is locate ...

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 Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

on a

Banana boat Banana Boat is a Polish a cappella sextet, authoring and performing original songs representing the genre of neo-shanties. Being one of the pioneers of the new genre, the group retains its simultaneous focus on contemporary interpretations of ...

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 () or Hertha Berlin, is a German professional football club based in Berlin. Hertha BSC plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football league system, German footbal ...

. He played one more game for the club in 1964, in December against 1. FC Nürnberg. 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 football and sports club based in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony. They compete in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier o ...

. He made an appearance in a 0–0 away draw at

Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founded in ...

in the quarter final of the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

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 Karlsruher Sport-Club Mühlburg-Phönix e. V., better known as Karlsruher SC, is a Football in Germany, German association football club, based in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg that currently plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of Germa ...

and

1. FC Kaiserslautern 1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern e. V., also known as 1. FCK, FCK (), FC Kaiserslautern (), K'lautern or colloquially Lautern (), is a German sports club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to Association football, football ...

. 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 already having done so in a match for

Meidericher SV Meidericher Spielverein 02 e. V. Duisburg, commonly known as simply MSV Duisburg (), is a German association football club based in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia. Nicknamed ''Die Zebras'' for their traditional striped jerseys, the club was o ...

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. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...

. Upon his return he played for Portuguesa,

Santo André Santo ('saint' in various languages) may refer to: People * Santo (given name) * Santo (surname) * El Santo, Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta (1917–1984), Mexican wrestler and actor * Bob Santo or Santo, stage name of Ghanaian comedian John Evans Kwad ...

, Rio Branco,

Atlético Paranaense Club Athletico Paranaense (abbreviated CAP, commonly known as Athletico Paranaense and up to 2019 known as Atlético Paranaense) is a Brazilian football team from the city of Curitiba, capital city of the Brazilian state of Paraná, founded o ...

, Bangu and

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 ...

in his home country of Brazil.Zeze
ceroacero.es, accessed: 29 March 2015

Honours

: runners-up 1964–65

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zeze 1942 births 2006 deaths Brazilian men's footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Bundesliga players Expatriate men's footballers in West Germany Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in West Germany Footballers 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 Men's association football forwards People from Varginha, Minas Gerais 20th-century Brazilian sportsmen