Ze Castro

Jose Eduardo Rosa Vale de Castro (born 13 January 1983), commonly known as Ze Castro, is a Portuguese footballer who plays for Academica de Coimbra as a central defender.

He started and finished his professional career with Academica, but spent 11 years in Spain representing Atletico Madrid, Deportivo and Rayo Vallecano. Appearing for all the clubs in La Liga, he amassed totals of 168 matches and five goals.

Castro earned 26 caps for Portugal at youth level, including 15 for the under-21 team. He made his full debut in 2009.

Club Career

Born in Coimbra, Castro entered hometown Academica de Coimbra's youth ranks as a child, and made his Primeira Liga debut on 5 October 2003, playing the full 90 minutes in a 4–1 away loss to FC Porto. Despite his young age, he eventually became an undisputed starter and team captain.

In the 2006 off-season, after unfinished advances by Portugal's Big Three, Castro signed with Spanish club Atletico Madrid. In his first year he benefitted from injuries to teammates, appearing in 22 La Liga matches and scoring two goals (including an 83rd-minute strike against CA Osasuna for the game's only goal, at home, on 20 January 2007). He featured rarely in the following.

In the summer of 2008, Castro joined fellow league side Deportivo de La Coruna on a season-long loan, with the Galicians having a buyout clause of €2 million for 50% of the player's rights; the remaining 50% were owned by a company. Again due to injury – habitual starter Pablo Amo was sidelined for months with an Achilles tendon problem – the Portuguese was able to start most of the campaign, and the option was activated for a permanent move.

Castro played only ten games in 2009–10, and featured even less the following season, prompting him to request a move in mid-November 2010. In March 2011, he was to be picked as a last-minute substitute for a league match against Real Sociedad after Aythami Artiles went down with a bout of gastroenteritis, but did not present himself

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