Eric de Oliveira

Eric de Oliveira Pereira (born 5 December 1985), known as Eric, is a Brazilian-Romanian[2][3] former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is de Oliveira and the second or paternal family name is Pereira.
Eric
Eric with Karpaty Lviv in 2012
Personal information
Full name Eric de Oliveira Pereira
Date of birth (1985-12-05) 5 December 1985
Place of birth Nova Iguaçu, Brazil
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Farul Constanța (scout)
Youth career
0000–2004 CFZ do Rio
2004 Alacranes de Durango
2005–2006 Paraná
2006–2007 Metropolitano
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007 Metropolitano 5 (3)
2007–2011 Gaz Metan Mediaș 117 (36)
2011–2012 Karpaty Lviv 6 (0)
2012–2013 Gaz Metan Mediaș 22 (4)
2013 Pandurii Târgu Jiu 18 (11)
2014 Al-Ahli 9 (1)
2015 Pandurii Târgu Jiu 13 (2)
2015 Matsumoto Yamaga 0 (0)
2016 Najran 12 (4)
2016–2017 Gaz Metan Mediaș 34 (6)
2017–2018 Viitorul Constanța 20 (7)
2018 Al-Markhiya 9 (3)
2019 Viitorul Constanța 12 (8)
2020–2021 Voluntari 17 (2)
2021 Gaz Metan Mediaș 0 (0)
Total 294 (87)
Managerial career
2023– Farul Constanța (scout)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 5 December 2021

After starting out his career in native Brazil, he went on to amass numerous stints in Romania, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, Japan and Qatar. He achieved most success in Romania, representing in the country Gaz Metan Mediaș, Pandurii Târgu Jiu, Viitorul Constanța and Voluntari.

With 66 goals in the Liga I, Eric has been the top foreign goalscorer of the Romanian championship since 2020. Previously, he was named the Foreign Player of the Year twice, in 2010 and 2013.

Career

Early career / Gaz Metan Mediaș

Eric de Oliveira started his professional career in Brazil at Metropolitano. He was loaned[4] by Metropolitano to Gaz Metan Mediaș in the 2007–08 Liga II season, a season in which he scored 10 goals helping the team to gain promotion to Liga I. After that season, Gaz Metan bought him from Metropolitano.

In his first Liga I season, he played in 25 games and scored 3 goals. In the following campaign, he played in 30 games and scored 8 goals. In the 2010–11 season, he played in 31 games and scored 15 goals, helping the team finish in the 7th place in Liga I, a place that gained Gaz Metan's first ever qualification to the UEFA Europa League, due to Politehnica Timișoara, who finished 2nd in the league table, being relegated by the Romanian Football Federation for not fulfilling the licence conditions to play in European competitions or Liga I. He was awarded the Liga I Foreign Footballer of the Year individual trophy in 2010.

In the 2011–12 campaign, he made his debut in European competitions playing both legs against KuPS. Shortly after moved to Ukraine after signing with Karpaty Lviv. He played 6 games there and returned to Gaz Metan after that season. In the 2012–13 season, he was named Gaz Metan's captain and played in 22 games and scored four goals.

Pandurii Târgu Jiu / Al-Ahli

In July 2013, Eric de Oliveira signed a three-year contract with Pandurii Târgu Jiu, the Liga I runner-up, following his former coach from Gaz Metan, Cristian Pustai. With Pandurii, he advanced to the group stage of Europa League, participating in 8 matches. On 13 September 2013, Eric scored the winning goal in the 2-1 victory against Dinamo București. The following week, he scored the only goal of Pandurii in the 1-1 draw against CFR Cluj.

In January 2014, Eric transferred to Al-Ahli from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, a team contending in the Saudi Professional League and runner up for last year's Asian Champions League. In January 2015, he returned to Pandurii Târgu Jiu.[5]

Late career

On 30 June 2015, Matsumoto Yamaga announced the signing of Eric de Oliveira from Romanian club Pandurii Târgu Jiu.[6] On 8 July 2017, Eric signed a one-year contract with Liga I club Viitorul Constanța.[7]

On 12 January 2019, Eric de Oliveira signed a one-and-a-half-year contract with Viitorul Constanța.[8] On 14 January 2020, Eric left Viitorul Constanța[9] and signed a one-and-a-half-year contract with Liga I side Voluntari.[10] On 8 January 2021, Eric was released from the club after having his contract mutually terminated.[11]

On 19 February 2021, Eric de Oliveira signed a six-month contract with Gaz Metan Mediaș.[12]

Personal life

In July 2011, Eric and Romanian handball player Cosmina Dancu had their first son, whom they named Deric.[13] Eric married Cosmina two years later.[14] Their second son, Anthony, was born in 2015.[15]

Eric's cousin, Vitinho, was also a professional footballer and played for Gaz Metan Mediaș.[16]

Honours

Al-Ahli

Pandurii Târgu Jiu

Viitorul Constanța

Individual

Records

  • Foreign top goalscorer in Liga I: 66 goals

References
  1. "Liga 1 Romania - Pagina Personala a Jucatorului". lpf2.ro.
  2. "Eric, fotbalistul îndrăgostit de România. "Nu mă mai întorc în Brazilia" | DCNews".
  3. "VIDEO EXCLUSIV Eric regretă că n-a îmbrăcat tricoul naționalei României: „Puteam fi primul străin care făcea asta"".
  4. "Cairo, Eric e Grilo no Gaz Metan da Romênia". metropolitano.net. Archived from the original on 25 August 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  5. "Eric de Oliveira, bucuros că s-a întors la Pandurii". Pandurii Târgu Jiu. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  6. "エリック選手 パンドゥリ タルグ ジウより完全移籍加入のお知らせ" (in Japanese). Matsumoto Yamaga. 30 June 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  7. "Eric a devenit jucătorul Viitorului" (in Romanian). Viitorul Constanța. 8 July 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
  8. "Bine ai revenit, Eric de Oliveira!" (in Romanian). Viitorul Constanța. 12 January 2019. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  9. "Mulțumim, Eric de Oliveira!" (in Romanian). Viitorul Constanța. 14 January 2020. Archived from the original on 14 January 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  10. "BUN VENIT, ERIC !" (in Romanian). Voluntari. 14 January 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  11. "Multumim, Eric de Oliveira!" (in Romanian). Voluntari. 8 January 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  12. "Bine ai revenit, Eric de Oliveira!" (in Romanian). Gaz Metan Mediaș. 19 February 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  13. "Eric de Oliveira este oficial tatic!Vezi primele poze cu fiul vedetei lui Gaz Metan". adevarul.ro. Retrieved 24 July 2011.
  14. "Eric vedeta lui Gaz Metan Medias s-a insurat". enational.ro. 28 May 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  15. "Eric si-a pregatit ghetele pentru meciurile cu Pandurii". pandurul.ro. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  16. "Vitinho, vărul lui Eric, cel mai valoros stranier anul trecut, munceşte pe brânci în România, pentru familia nevoiaşă aflată la Rio". libertatea.ro. 16 March 2014. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
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