| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | José Marcelo Ferreira | |||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1973-07-25)25 July 1973 (age 52) | |||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Oeiras (PI -Brazil) | |||||||||||||
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in) | |||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Right back Right midfielder | |||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||
| 1991–1995 | Portuguesa | 28 | (2) | |||||||||||
| 1993 | →Sergipe (loan) | 38 | (5) | |||||||||||
| 1994 | →Ponte Preta (loan) | 22 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 1996 | Flamengo | 14 | (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 | Inter Milan | 29 | (1) | |||||||||||
| 2006–2007 | Levante | 14 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2008 | Portuguesa | 5 | (1) | |||||||||||
| 2008–2009 | Città Castello | |||||||||||||
| Total | 416 | (35) | ||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||
| 1996–2001 | Brazil | 25 | (0) | |||||||||||
| Managerial career | ||||||||||||||
| 2010 | Group Castello | |||||||||||||
| 2010 | Catanzaro | |||||||||||||
| 2015 | Ceahlăul | |||||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | Gor Mahia | |||||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | Tirana | |||||||||||||
| 2019 | Portuguesa | |||||||||||||
| 2024–2025 | Olbia | |||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||
José Marcelo Ferreira (born 25 July 1973), commonly known asZé Maria, is a retired Brazilianfootball player turned coach.
Known for his pin-pointcrosses, he could play either as aright back orright midfielder, and played the vast majority of his professional career, other than in his country, in Italy'sSerie A, where he represented three teams, mainlyPerugia.
Born inOeiras, Piauí, Zé Maria began his professional career withPortuguesa in 1991, being loaned out twice during his contract with the club. In 1995, he was selected in the Bola de Prata Brazilian League team of the year. This led to him being signed byFlamengo in 1996.
In the summer, Zé Maria moved to Italy after signing withSerie A clubParma, playing regularly for two seasons. Subsequently, he remained in Italy, joiningPerugia.
With theUmbrians Zé Maria had a shaky start, being loaned three times back to Brazil, during which time he won the Copa Libertadores with Palmeiras, and the Copa do Brasil with Cruzeiro. Eventually, he established himself in the Perugia starting line-up, helping his teamfinish 10th in his third full season whilst contributing with six goals.Via theUEFA Intertoto Cup he and the sidereached the third round of the subsequentUEFA Cup,[1] but alsosuffered domestic relegation.
After two seasons with giantsInter[2] – playing instead regularly inhis first but making only eight appearances (mostly as asubstitute) inhis second (with Inter winning theScudetto courtesy of theCalciopoli affair), 49 official ones overall – Zé Maria was released and joinedLa Liga clubLevante UD on afree transfer:[3] startingthe season as first-choice right-back the 33-year-old lost the position and finished with 14 league appearances, with theValencians barely avoiding relegation.
Released again, Zé Maria entailed unsuccessful negotiations with several teams, reportedlySheffield United[4] andQueens 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 ItalianEccellenza (amateur championships).[5]
Zé Maria settled in Italy after his retirement from football, at the age of 36.[6] He subsequently founded a football school inPerugia.[7]
Zé Maria gained 25caps forBrazil over a period of five years. He was not selected for anyFIFA World Cup but did participate in twoFIFA Confederations Cups, includingthe original in Saudi Arabia which the national team won, and oneCopa América (alsoended in win, inBolivia).[8]
In1996 Zé Maria helped theOlympic team win bronze at the1996 Summer Olympics inAtlanta, appearing in all six matches.
On 15 March 2010, Zé Maria took his first head coaching job, acceptingSerie D clubS.S.D. Group Città di Castello's offer.[9] He was then appointed manager offourth division teamF.C. Catanzaro for the 2010–11 campaign, being however removed from his post after a few months.[10]
On 16 June 2017, Tirana announced the signing of Zé Maria on a one-year contract.[11] He lost his first match in charge later on 29 June, a 2–0 away loss toMaccabi Tel Aviv atNetanya Stadium in the2017–18 UEFA Europa League first qualifying round.[12] Tirana was knocked out from the competition after losing the second leg.[13]
Zé Maria won his first silverware with the club later on 6 September, the2017 Albanian Supercup, with Tirana defeatingKukësi thanks to anErion Hoxhallari late winner.[14] By doing so, Tirana became the first ever Albanian First Division club to win the supercup.[14] Tirana began the championship by recording a 1–0 home win versusIliria Fushë-Krujë.[15] They successfully eliminatedBesa Kavajë 4–1 on aggregate in the2017–18 Albanian Cup first round.[16] Tirana ended September by winning all the matches, and did so also in November, taking the lead ofGroup B.[17] During his time, Zé Maria also guided Tirana to the biggest win of the season, 6–0 versusShkumbini Peqin.[18]
Tirana finished the year in the first place, conceding only one defeat, the one versusBylis Ballsh.[19] Zé Maria called the defeat "a shame".[19] The team also eliminatedVllaznia Shkodër in the second round of Albanian Cup.[20] In January 2018, Tirana broughtKenneth Muguna,Mohammed Musa and Samson Iliasu at the request of Zé Maria.[21][22] In February 2018, Tirana was eliminated by Kukësi in the quarter-final of the Albanian Cup.[23]
Tirana continued their winning streak, eventually finishing top of Group B to qualify for the promotion play-off.[24] Later on 14 April, the team mathematically achieved promotion totop flight next season by winning 3–2 at home againstPogradeci.[25] On 16 May, Tirana was named Albanian First Division champions after beating 2–0 the Group A winnersKastrioti Krujë.[26] Later on 2 June, Zé Maria agreed a contract extension with the club until June 2020.[27]
On 5 October 2022,Parma announced to have hired Zé Maria as a technical collaborator for the youth team.[28]
He departed from Parma in November 2024 to become the new head coach ofSerie D clubOlbia.[29] He left the club by the end of the season.
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Gor Mahia F.C. | Jan 2016 | Jun 2017 | |||||
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Tirana | 17 June 2017 | 12 October 2018 | 46 | 30 | 7 | 9 | 065.22 |
