Zé Roberto

Zé Roberto

Personal information
Full name	José Roberto da Silva Jr.
Date of birth	6 July 1974 (1974-07-06) (age 36)
Place of birth	Ipiranga, São Paulo, Brazil
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Playing position	Central midfielder / Left winger
Club information
Current club	Hamburger SV
Number	8
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1994–1997	Portuguesa	61	(1)
1997–1998	Real Madrid	15	(0)
1998	Flamengo	11	(0)
1998–2002	Bayer Leverkusen	113	(17)
2002–2006	Bayern Munich	110	(5)
2006–2007	Santos	13	(2)
2007–2009	Bayern Munich	59	(9)
2009–	Hamburg	23	(6)
National team‡
1995–2007	Brazil	84	(6)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 10:08, 9 May 2010 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 18:18, 27 Jan 2010 (UTC)

José Roberto da Silva Jr. (born 6 July 1974 in Ipiranga), commonly known as Zé Roberto, is a Brazilian footballer who plays for Hamburger SV in the German Bundesliga.

Career

Early Career

Zé Roberto began his career at Portuguesa in São Paulo, Brazil. He then joined Real Madrid for a brief spell where he helped them win La Liga, before moving back to Brazil to play for Flamengo.

Bayer Leverkusen

He joined Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 1998. It was at Leverkusen that he made a real name for himself, fast becoming a popular figure at the club. During his four year stay at the club, Bayer enjoyed its most successful period, being German Bundesliga runners-up on three occasions and reaching the 2002 UEFA Champions League Final. In four years at the club Zé Roberto appeared in 113 league matches scoring 17 goals.

Bayern Munich

Ze Roberto playing for Bayern Munich

In May 2002, he joined Bayern Munich for a reported €12 million^[1][2] where he claimed the domestic league and Cup double three times between 2002 and 2006. He found his starting spot threatened under coach Felix Magath. Following the announcement that he would not return to Bayern Munich, he publicly criticized the club's style of play and predicted struggles if changes were not made.

Santos FC

On 31 August 2006, Zé Roberto signed a one-year deal with Santos FC^[3] and helped the team to win the 2007 Campeonato Paulista in a brilliant style. The win was his first and only title (to date) in a Brazilian competition. He scored seven goals in the Copa Libertadores 2007, where Santos reached the semi-finals. During his time with Santos he appeared in 48 official matches scoring 12 goals, playing for the first time in his career as an attacking midfielder.

Return to Bayern

On 22 June 2007, Bayern Munich officially announced the return of Zé Roberto on a Bosman transfer. He had completed his medical with the German club a day before and was offered a two-year contract.^[4]

He stated, "It was as if I’d never been away," en route to winning a fourth domestic double with the Bavarians. During Bayern's 2007–08 season, he scored five goals and was influential in Bayern's domestic and cup double. The revitalised Zé Roberto demonstrated all his newly-acquired skills by scoring five goals and forming a rock-solid partnership with Mark van Bommel in his new role in central defensive midfield.

He made a successful start to the 2008–09 season – scoring four goals in his first 11 starts. He would conclude his second spell at the Bavarian club appearing in 59 league matches scoring 9 goals.

Hamburg

His contract with Bayern ran until 30 June 2009. The club offered him a contract until 2010, though Zé Roberto declined.^[5] Bundesliga side Hamburger SV officially announced signing Zé Roberto to a two year contract on 2 July 2009.^[6][7] But Der Spiegel reported Hamburg actually paid €4 million sign-on fees to Zé Roberto's agent Juan Figer, which Bayern also paid 1 million in 2007.^[8][9]

International career

Zé Roberto was part of the Brazil squad at the 1998 FIFA World Cup and 2006 FIFA World Cup. Zé Roberto scored Brazil's third and final goal in a man of the match performance in Brazil's second round match against Ghana in the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany.

Honours

Germany

• Bayern Munich
  • German Championship: 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008
  • German Cup: 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008
  • German League Cup: 2004, 2007

Spain

• Real Madrid
  • Spanish Championship: 1997
  • Spanish Super Cup: 1997

Brazil

• Santos FC
  • Paulista Championship: 2007

Brazil national team

• Copa America: 1997, 1999
• Confederations Cup: 1997, 2005

Personal life

Zé Roberto is a devout Christian and is married to Luciana, with whom he has three children: Endrik, Miriá, and Isabelli.^[10] He is considering to become a pastor, once his career in sports has run its course.

References

External links

• All about Zé Roberto on sambafoot.com
• Player Profile
• Leverkusen-who's who
• Career stats at Fussballdaten.de (German)
• Profile at FC Santos
• CBF Contract Record (Portuguese)
• Profile at Futpedia.globo.com (Portuguese)

Brazil squad Brazil squad – 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup Runners-up 1 Dida • 2 Zé María • 3 Alexandre Lopes • 4 Narciso • 5 Flávio Conceição • 6 André Luiz • 7 Caio • 8 Amaral • 9 Iranildo • 10 Arílson • 11 Sávio • 12 Danrlei • 13 Carlinhos • 14 Gélson • 15 Zé Roberto • 16 Zé Elias • 17 Beto • 18 Jamelli • 19 Souza • 20 Leandro • Coach: Zagallo Brazil squad – Copa América 1997 Winners (5th Title) 1 Taffarel • 2 Cafu • 3 Aldair • 4 Márcio Santos • 5 Mauro Silva • 6 Roberto Carlos • 7 Giovanni • 8 Dunga • 9 Ronaldo • 10 Leonardo • 11 Romário • 12 Carlos Germano • 13 Djalminha • 14 Zé Maria • 15 Célio Silva • 16 Gonçalves • 17 Zé Roberto • 18 César Sampaio • 19 Flávio Conceição • 20 Denílson • 21 Edmundo • 22 Paulo Nunes • Coach: Zagallo Brazil squad – 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup Winners (1st Title) 1 Dida • 2 Cafu • 3 Aldair • 4 Júnior Baiano • 5 Dunga • 6 Roberto Carlos • 7 Bebeto • 8 Flávio Conceição • 9 Ronaldo • 10 Leonardo • 11 Romário • 12 Rogério Ceni • 13 Zé Maria • 14 Gonçalves • 15 Zé Roberto • 16 César Sampaio • 17 Doriva • 18 Denílson • 19 Juninho • 20 Rivaldo • 21 Rodrigo • 22 Russo • Coach: Zagallo Brazil squad – 1998 FIFA World Cup Runners-up 1 Taffarel • 2 Cafu • 3 Aldair • 4 J. Baiano • 5 C. Sampaio • 6 R. Carlos • 7 Giovanni • 8 Dunga (c) • 9 Ronaldo • 10 Rivaldo • 11 Emerson • 12 Carlos Germano • 13 Zé Carlos • 14 Gonçalves • 15 André Cruz • 16 Zé Roberto • 17 Doriva • 18 Leonardo • 19 Denílson • 20 Bebeto • 21 Edmundo • 22 Dida • Coach: Zagallo Brazil squad – Copa América 1999 Winners (6th Title) 1 Dida • 2 Cafu • 3 Odvan • 4 Antônio Carlos • 5 Emerson • 6 Roberto Carlos • 7 Amoroso • 8 Vampeta • 9 Ronaldo • 10 Rivaldo • 11 Alex • 12 Marcos • 13 Evanílson • 14 César Belli • 15 João Carlos • 16 Serginho • 17 Marcos Paulo • 18 Flávio Conceição • 19 Beto • 20 Christian • 21 Ronaldinho • 22 Zé Roberto • Coach: Luxemburgo Brazil squad – 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup Runners-up 1 Dida • 2 Evanílson • 3 Odvan • 4 João Carlos • 5 F. Conceição • 6 Serginho • 7 Ronaldinho • 8 Émerson • 9 Christian • 10 Alex • 11 Zé Roberto • 12 Marcos • 13 César • 14 Luiz Alberto • 15 Marcos Paulo • 16 Athirson • 17 Beto • 18 Roni • 19 Warley • 20 Vampeta • Coach: Luxemburgo Brazil squad – 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup Winners (2nd Title) 1 Dida • 2 Maicon • 3 Lúcio • 4 Roque Júnior • 5 Emerson • 6 Gilberto • 7 Robinho • 8 Kaká • 9 Adriano • 10 Ronaldinho (c) • 11 Zé Roberto • 12 Marcos • 13 Cicinho • 14 Juan • 15 Luisão • 16 Léo • 17 Gilberto Silva • 18 Juninho • 19 Renato • 20 Júlio Baptista • 21 Oliveira • 22 Edu • 23 Gomes • Coach: Parreira Brazil squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Dida • 2 Cafu (c) • 3 Lúcio • 4 Juan • 5 Emerson • 6 Roberto Carlos • 7 Adriano • 8 Kaká • 9 Ronaldo • 10 Ronaldinho • 11 Zé Roberto • 12 Rogério Ceni • 13 Cicinho • 14 Luisão • 15 Cris • 16 Gilberto • 17 Gilberto Silva • 18 Mineiro • 19 Juninho • 20 Ricardinho • 21 Fred • 22 Júlio César • 23 Robinho • Coach: Parreira