What is RSS?

Players: Abel Freddy Adu H. Almeida Bruno Alves Anderson J. Andrade N. Assis Vitor Baia Boa Morte Bosingwa M. Caneira Cardozo R. Carvalho Ze Castro Jorge Costa Rui Costa Conceicao Costinha F. Couto M. da Costa Dady Deco Di Maria Y. Djalo Duda M. Fernandes P. Ferreira Luis Figo Luis Filipe Nuno Gomes L. Gonzalez Helton Izmailov Karagounis Katsouranis Liedson L. Lopez Luisao David Luiz Makukula Maniche Mantorras F. Meira R. Meireles P. Mendes Miguel Miguelito Moreira J. Moutinho Nani Nelson Pauleta C. Peixoto Pepe Petit Pereirinha Joao Pinto H. Postiga Polga Quaresma Quim Ricardo R. Rocha C. Rodriguez Ronaldo Romagnoli P. Sousa Simao Tarik Tiago J. Tomas Tonel Miguel Veloso Hugo Viana Vukcevic Abel Xavier Select player

Player profile: Jose Castro (Ze Castro)

Full name: Jose Eduardo Rosa Vale e Castro

Position: Defender

Date of Birth: 13 January 1983

Birthplace: Coimbra, Portugal

Ze Castro started his professional career playing for his hometown club, Academica de Coimbra. After coming through the youth ranks, the tall defender rapidly established himself a first-team regular.

His impressive reading of the game and good ability on the ball, coupled with a committed playing style were so impressive he was made team captain barely having left his teenage years behind him.

By the summer of 2006 a move to a bigger club had become inevitable. Celtic, Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern Munich all expressed an interest, but Castro decided to stay closer to home and crossed the border to sign for La Liga giants Atletico Madrid.

Outshining senior compatriots

The then 23-year-old was one of a trio of Portuguese players bought during the 2006 close season by Atletico Madrid, the other two being seasoned Portugal internationals and Champions League winners Maniche and Costinha, of whom much was expected. However, at the end of the season it was Castro alone who had thoroughly won over the home supporters as a firm fans’ favourite.

After biding his time in his quest for action behind first choice central defensive pairing Luis Perea and Pablo Ibanez, an injury to Pablo in November gave the young Portuguese his chance in a side that relied on a strong defence, as goals were proving difficult to come by.

Castro needed no second invitation, playing 15 out of Atletico’s next 17 matches, particularly impressing in a 1-1 draw against Barcelona at the Nou Camp and scoring winning goals in 1-0 victories over Getafe and Osasuna.

He ended a highly satisfactory first year in Spain with his stock well and truly enhanced. At one stage Chelsea and Manchester United were rumoured to be chasing his signature, but the Atletico board immediately issued a statement that Castro was very much part of the club’s plans to build a team capable of challenging for the Spanish championship title.

The club’s subsequent huge investments in the summer of 2007, including the signing of Portuguese compatriot Simao, suggest that Castro is in a good position to showcase his talents as one of Portugal’s most promising central defenders.

by Tom Kundert (28/09/2007)

CLUB APPEARANCES* GOALS Academica 55 1 Atletico Madrid** 23 2

* League only
** Up to September 2007