Zé António

José António dos Santos Silva (born 14 March 1977), known as Zé António, is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a central defender.

Zé António
Zé António in action for Mönchengladbach in 2006
Personal information
Full name José António dos Santos Silva
Date of birth (1977-03-14) 14 March 1977
Place of birth Torres Vedras, Portugal
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Centre back
Youth career
1987–1994 Torreense
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1994–1998 Torreense 100 (14)
1998–2000 Porto 0 (0)
1998–1999 → Leça (loan) 13 (0)
1999–2000 → Alverca (loan) 0 (0)
2000–2002 Alverca 50 (2)
2002–2003 Varzim 15 (5)
2003–2005 Académica 67 (2)
2005–2008 Borussia M'gladbach 64 (3)
2008 → Manisaspor (loan) 13 (1)
2008–2009 Racing Santander 0 (0)
2010–2011 União Leiria 43 (1)
2012–2015 Porto B 86 (5)
Total 451 (33)
International career
1996–1997 Portugal U20 8 (2)
1998–2000 Portugal U21 7 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He amassed Primeira Liga totals of 175 games and ten goals over eight seasons, representing in the competition Alverca, Varzim, Académica and União de Leiria. He added 145 matches and 12 goals in the Segunda Liga, in a 21-year senior career.

Zé António also competed professionally in Germany, Turkey and Spain.

Club career

Born in Torres Vedras, Lisbon District, Zé António began playing football for hometown's S.C.U. Torreense, being acquired in 1998 by Primeira Liga club FC Porto. However, he never represented the latter officially, going on to have loan spells at Leça F.C. and F.C. Alverca[1] and being definitively sold to Alverca in the summer of 2000.

After another top-level campaign, with Varzim SC (which ended in relegation), Zé António joined Académica de Coimbra and played there from 2003 to 2005, forming an interesting defensive partnership with Tonel – later of Sporting CP – in his first year.

Avoiding relegation with Académica at the end of 2004–05, Zé António took advantage of his outrunning contract to sign for Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Bundesliga,[2] on a deal lasting for two initial seasons. An undisputed starter throughout the 2005–06 campaign he opened his goalscoring account in just his fourth league appearance with the Germans, heading the winner in a 2–1 home win over MSV Duisburg on 10 September.[3]

Aged 29, Zé António received his first callup for the Portugal national team, being summoned by Luiz Felipe Scolari for UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers against Azerbaijan and Poland.[4] He eventually failed to earn a full cap, and Borussia also suffered relegation in 2007.

In January 2008, after having made no appearances in 2007–08 (division two), Zé António moved on loan to Turkey's Vestel Manisaspor for six months. At the end of June, he switched to Spain and signed a two-year contract with La Liga side Racing de Santander.[5][6]

In early December 2009, after having appeared only in one Copa del Rey match for the Cantabrians, against Real Murcia,[7] his spell at the club also including a demotion to the B team and legal action undertaken by the player,[8][9] Zé António terminated his link. He returned to his country in January 2010, joining U.D. Leiria on a one-and-a-half-year deal.[10]

Zé António only missed one league game in the 2010–11 season, as Leiria once again managed to retain its top division status. In June 2011 the 34-year-old left the club, returning to action after one year out of football with Porto's reserves in the second tier.[11]

References
  1. "José António no Alverca" [José António to Alverca]. Record (in Portuguese). 29 July 1999. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  2. "Decision of Dispute Resolution Chamber 210093" (PDF). FIFA. 5 February 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 November 2012. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
  3. "Borussia M'gladbach 2–1 MSV Duisburg". ESPN Soccernet. 10 September 2005. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  4. "Portugal try out José António". UEFA. 28 September 2006. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  5. "El Racing ficha al central portugués Ze Antonio" [Racing sign Portuguese stopper Ze Antonio]. Sport (in Spanish). 27 June 2008. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  6. "Racing roared on by Sepsi signing". UEFA. 12 August 2008. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
  7. "El Racing acaba pagando su exceso de confianza" [Racing finally pay for overconfidence]. Marca (in Spanish). 29 October 2009. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  8. "¿Qué pasa con Ze Antonio?" [What's up with Ze Antonio?]. El Diario Montañés (in Spanish). 17 September 2009. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  9. "Ze Antonio demandará al Racing para rescindir su contrato" [Ze Antonio to take Racing to court to terminate his contract]. Marca (in Spanish). Madrid. 23 October 2009. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  10. Frederico, Francisco (9 January 2010). "U. Leiria: Zé António acerta contrato segunda-feira" [U. Leiria: Zé António will agree to contract on Monday] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  11. "F.C. Porto B: Zé António, o veterano, vai continuar" [F.C. Porto B: Zé António, the veteran, will continue] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 26 June 2013. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.