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Revision as of 16:07, 24 November 2019

Brazilian footballer

Edu
Personal information
Full name Eduardo César Daude Gaspar
Date of birth (1978-05-15) 15 May 1978 (age 46)
Place of birth São Paulo, Brazil
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Central midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2001 Corinthians 23 (0)
2001–2005 Arsenal 79 (7)
2005–2009 Valencia 50 (1)
2009–2010 Corinthians 11 (0)
Total 184 (8)
International career
2004–2005 Brazil 15 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Eduardo César Daude Gaspar (born 15 May 1978), commonly known as Edu or Edu Gaspar, is a retired Brazilian footballer who played as a midfielder. He is currently the Technical Director at Arsenal.

Club career

Early career

Edu started his career in the Campeonato Brasileiro with one of Brazil's biggest teams, the Corinthians. While with the Corinthians, Edu won the 1998 and 1999 Brasileiro championships, and the 2000 World Club Championship.

Arsenal

After initially planning to join Arsenal in 2000, his transfer was put on hold after it was realized that he was in possession of a fake Portuguese passport. Months later, after qualifying for a European Union (EU) passport (aided by Italian lineage on his father's side), he signed for Arsenal on 16 January 2001 for £6 million. He had a turbulent time early on as his sister was killed in a car accident.

His Arsenal debut came in 2001 in a goalless draw tarnished by an injury after 15 minutes against Leicester City. He had replaced Freddie Ljungberg at half time only to be replaced by Dennis Bergkamp minutes later. It was an unfortunate start and he only managed to play in four more matches for the club during that season, one of which was a 0–3 defeat at home to Middlesbrough in which he contributed an own goal. His first goal for the club came against Grimsby in the League Cup on 27 November 2001. He went on to make a substitute appearance in the 2002 FA Cup Final as Arsenal emerged victorious. He also contributed 14 league appearances, and a goal against Aston Villa, as Arsenal won the 2001-02 FA Premier League, with Edu becoming the first Brazilian to win the Premier League.

2003-04 season in midfield for Arsenal was seen as his finest season so far in football, he was part of the team which went 49 games unbeaten, (the whole 2003-04 Premier League season without defeat). He appeared in 30 League games and scored 2 goals, both against Chelsea, he scored the fourth of Arsenal's 5 in a 5-1 historic win against Inter Milan in the Champions League in November 2003, he made a career high 48 appearances and 7 goals for Arsenal in all competitions. Edu was on the pitch as Arsenal clinched the 2003–04 FA Premier League title at White Hart Lane on 25 April 2004. During the season, he made his 100th appearance for Arsenal.

Edu then put forward plans to play for England in the World Cup (as he had gained British citizenship) were Brazil not willing to accept his placement. This was cancelled by April as he was handed a match against Chile and subsequently named to play in the Copa América in 2004.

Edu enjoyed mixed fortunes in the 2004–05 season. He missed the start of the season because he was away with Brazil at the Copa América. This was followed by speculation over his future at the club as he was in the last year of his contract with Arsenal. Talks with Valencia of Spain in January 2005 failed as the Mestalla outfit were not able to pay the fee Arsenal demanded.

Edu only scored two goals for Arsenal in 2004–05 – one was a fine chip in the 2–0 away win at West Bromwich Albion in May 2005, and the other a penalty kick in a 7–0 demolition of Everton in 2005. He did however come on as an extra time substitute as Arsenal won the 2005 FA Cup Final.

Valencia

In May 2005, it was confirmed that he would leave Arsenal in the summer on a Bosman ruling free transfer. Valencia, Juventus, Internazionale, and Barcelona were hot favorites to secure the signature of Edu, and on 30 May, Valencia announced it had signed him to a five-year deal. Shortly after signing, Edu suffered a pre-season injury that ruled him out of first-team action until 4 April 2006, when he made his debut in the 5–3 victory over Cádiz. On 3 July 2009, the Brazilian midfielder left Valencia through contractual termination.

Corinthians

After being released in Spain, Edu signed a contract with his former club, the Corinthians, on 6 August 2009, which was to last until 31 December 2011. After playing four matches during the 2010 season, his contract was terminated by mutual consent, and Edu announced his retirement from professional football.

International career

Edu initially considered playing for the English national team upon gaining a British passport as he did not think he would be picked for Brazil. He finally got a call-up to the Brazilian national team in 2004 and made his debut on 28 April 2004 in a friendly match against Hungary. He played for them in the Copa América 2004 and 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup, which were both won by Brazil. In the final of the Copa América 2004 he scored one of the penalties in the shootout as Brazil defeated Argentina.

Post-playing career

On 17 March 2011, Corinthians announced that Edu would take over from William Machado as the club's director of football. He also assisted Carlos Queiroz's Iranian national team during the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

On 9 July 2019, it was announced that Edu had become Arsenal's first ever Technical Director. The club's Director of Football, Raul Sanllehi said: "We’re very excited that Edu is joining the team. He has great experience and technical football knowledge and most importantly is a true Arsenal man. He understands the club and what we stand for to our millions of fans around the world."

Personal life

Edu lives with wife Paula and their two young children – a son named Luigi and a daughter named Eduarda.

Honours

Corinthians

Arsenal

Valencia

Brazil

Individual

References

  1. "Player Profile: Edu Gaspar". Premier League. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  2. Corinthians Squad – 2000 FIFA World Club Championship Archived 14 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine FIFA Website
  3. "Ten-man Leicester hold Gunners". BBC. 20 January 2001. Retrieved 9 April 2010.
  4. "Gunners hand Man Utd the title". BBC News. 14 April 2001.
  5. "Gunners down Grimsby". BBC. 27 November 2001. Retrieved 9 April 2010.
  6. "Games played by Edu in 2001/2002". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
  7. "Arsenal clinch title". BBC Sport. 25 April 2004. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  8. "Edu volta ao Corinthians" (in Portuguese). corinthians.com.br. 6 July 2009. Retrieved 7 July 2009.
  9. "Edu's England bid thwarted". BBC Sport. 5 April 2004.
  10. "Brazil win Copa shoot-out". BBC. 25 July 2004. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  11. "Edu Gaspar é o novo gerente de futebol do Corinthians". esporte. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  12. "Edu to assist Iran boss Carlos Queiroz at World Cup". Mail Online. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  13. "Edu: Arsenal appoint former player as technical director". BBC Sport. 9 July 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  14. "Edu named as our technical director". www.arsenal.com.
  15. ^ "Edu: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 16 April 2018.

External links

Brazil squad
Brazil squad – 2004 Copa América winners (7th title)
Brazil
Brazil squad – 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup winners (2nd title)
Brazil
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