Zé Maria (footballer, born 1973)
| Personal information | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | José Marcelo Ferreira | |||||||||||
| Date of birth | 25 July 1973 | |||||||||||
| Place of birth | Oeiras, Brazil | |||||||||||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | |||||||||||
| Playing position | Right back | |||||||||||
| Club information | ||||||||||||
Current team | Gor Mahia (manager) | |||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||
| 1991–1995 | Portuguesa | 28 | (2) | |||||||||
| 1993 | → Sergipe (loan) | 38 | (5) | |||||||||
| 1994 | → Ponte Preta (loan) | 22 | (0) | |||||||||
| 1996 | Flamengo | 13 | (1) | |||||||||
| 1996–1998 | Parma | 45 | (2) | |||||||||
| 1998–2004 | Perugia | 144 | (16) | |||||||||
| 1999 | → Vasco Gama (loan) | 34 | (4) | |||||||||
| 1999 | → Palmeiras (loan) | 15 | (1) | |||||||||
| 2000 | → Cruzeiro (loan) | 29 | (2) | |||||||||
| 2004–2006 | Internazionale | 29 | (1) | |||||||||
| 2006–2007 | Levante | 14 | (0) | |||||||||
| 2008 | Portuguesa | 5 | (1) | |||||||||
| 2008–2009 | Città Castello | |||||||||||
| Total | 416 | (35) | ||||||||||
| National team | ||||||||||||
| 1996–2001 | Brazil | 25 | (0) | |||||||||
| Teams managed | ||||||||||||
| 2010 | Group Castello | |||||||||||
| 2010 | Catanzaro | |||||||||||
| 2015 | Ceahlăul | |||||||||||
| 2016– | Gor Mahia | |||||||||||
Honours
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* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. | ||||||||||||
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José Marcelo Ferreira (born 25 July 1973), commonly known as Zé Maria, is a retired Brazilian footballer and current manager of Kenyan Premier League side Gor Mahia.
Known for his pin-point crosses, he could play either as a right back or wide midfielder, and played the vast majority of his professional career, other than in his country, in Italy's Serie A, where he represented three teams, mainly Perugia.
Club career
Born in Oeiras, Piauí, Zé Maria started his professional career with Associação Portuguesa de Desportos in 1991, being loaned two times for the duration of his link. In 1996, he signed for Clube de Regatas do Flamengo.
In the summer, Zé Maria moved to Italy after signing with Serie A club Parma A.C., playing regularly for two seasons. Subsequently he stayed in the country, joining Perugia Calcio.
With the Umbrians Zé Maria had a shaky start, being loaned three times back to his country, but eventually established himself in the starting XI, helping his team finish tenth in his third full season whilst contributing with six goals. Via the UEFA Intertoto Cup he and the side reached the third round of the subsequent UEFA Cup, but also suffered domestic relegation.
After two average campaigns with giants Inter – only eight appearances in his second (with Inter winning the Scudetto courtesy of the Calciocaos affair), 49 official ones overall – Zé Maria was released and joined La Liga club Levante UD on a free transfer: starting the season as first-choice right-back the 33-year-old lost the position and finished with 14 league appearances, with the Valencians barely avoiding relegation.
Released again, Zé Maria entailed unsuccessful negotiations with several teams, reportedly Sheffield United[1] and Queens Park Rangers in England, thus returning to Brazil and Portuguesa in January 2008. In August, after having rescinded his contract, he surprisingly accepted an offer from A.S.D. Città di Castello, in the Italian Eccellenza (amateur championships).[2]
Zé Maria settled in Italy after his retirement from football, at the age of 36.[3] He subsequently founded a football school in Perugia.[4]
On 15 March 2010 Zé Maria took his first head coaching job, accepting Serie D club S.S.D. Group Città di Castello's offer.[5] He was then appointed manager of fourth division team F.C. Catanzaro for the 2010–11 campaign, being however removed from his post after a few months.[6]
International career
Zé Maria gained 25 caps for Brazil over a period of five years. He was not selected for any FIFA World Cup but did participate in two FIFA Confederations Cups, including the original in Saudi Arabia which the national team won, and one Copa América (also ended in win, in Bolivia).
In 1996 Zé Maria helped the Olympic team win bronze at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, appearing in all six matches.
References
- ↑ Zé Maria snubs Sheffield contract; Mirror, 15 September 2007
- ↑ "Dalla A all'Eccellenza: i big del calcio che giocano per divertirsi" [From A to Eccellenza: Football greats who play for fun] (in Italian). La Stampa. 29 August 2008. Retrieved 29 August 2008.
- ↑ "A tu per tu...with Zè Maria" [One on one...with Zé Maria] (in Italian). Tutto Mercato. 29 August 2008. Retrieved 29 August 2008.
- ↑ "Zé Maria spends week watching Inter train". Inter Milan. 15 January 2010. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
- ↑ "Storie di ex – Zè Maria diventa allenatore del Group Città di Castello" [About ex – Zé Maria becomes Group Città di Castello's coach] (in Italian). Gazzetta di Parma. 15 March 2010. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
- ↑ "Calcio, Catanzaro: Esonerato Zé Maria, squadra ad aloi" [Football, Catanzaro: Zé Maria sacked, Aloi takes charge of team] (in Italian). La Repubblica. 2 November 2010. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
External links
- SambaFoot profile
- CBF data (Portuguese)
- Stats at Tutto Calciatori (Italian)
- Zé Maria profile at BDFutbol
- Zé Maria at National-Football-Teams.com
- Zé Maria – FIFA competition record