.jpg) Zeca withCopenhagen in 2018 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | José Carlos Gonçalves Rodrigues[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1988-08-31)31 August 1988 (age 37)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Lisbon, Portugal[1] | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[1] | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1998–2007 | Casa Pia | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2007–2010 | Casa Pia | 46 | (5) |
| 2010–2011 | Vitória Setúbal | 26 | (0) |
| 2011–2017 | Panathinaikos | 165 | (8) |
| 2017–2023 | Copenhagen | 140 | (8) |
| 2023–2025 | Panathinaikos | 16 | (0) |
| 2023 | Panathinaikos B | 1 | (0) |
| International career | |||
| 2011 | Portugal U23 | 1 | (0) |
| 2017–2023 | Greece | 34 | (2) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 04:09, 15 May 2025 (UTC) | |||
José Carlos Gonçalves Rodrigues (Greek: Ζοζέ Κάρλος Γκονσάλβες Ροντρίγκες; born 31 August 1988), commonly known asZeca (Greek:Ζέκα), is a professionalfootballer who plays as amidfielder.
He spent most of his career in Greece withPanathinaikos after starting out atCasa Pia, appearing in 275 competitive matches for the former club in two spells and winning the2014 Greek Cup. In 2017, he signed withCopenhagen.
Born in Portugal, Zeca became aGreek citizen in March 2017 and started representing itsnational team the same year.
Born inLisbon, Zeca started his career with localCasa Pia AC, joining the club's youth system at the age of 10 and promoting to thefourth division in his first season as a senior. In summer 2010 he moved straight into thePrimeira Liga, signing withVitória de Setúbal.[2]
During hisonly season with theSado River team, Zeca made 26 league appearances, appearing in as many games as a starter or asubstitute and totalling 1,611 minutes of action.[3]
Zeca signed a four-year contract with Greek sidePanathinaikos F.C. on 29 July 2011 for a fee of€400,000,[4][5] as the club was coached by countrymanJesualdo Ferreira.[6] He played all 30 league games in2012–13, but theClover could only finish in sixth place. After a massive rebuilding for thefollowing campaign, he was one of the few survivors.[7]
After more than 100 appearances with the club, on 26 April 2014 Zecalifted theGreek Cup asteam captain, in a final againstPAOK FC at theOlympic Stadium inAthens.[8] On 21 June, he signed a three-year extension.[9][10][11]
In February 2015, Zeca expressed his desire to play for theGreece national team if he was awarded thecountry's citizenship.[12] He agreed to renew his contract until 2018 two months later, commenting on the deal: "It will be good to continue withAnastasiou in charge. ... The team is happy and I think we can do a lot better under him".[13]
On 6 February 2016,Andrea Stramaccioni's team ended the match with ten players as Zeca was shown a straightred card in a 0–1 home loss againstSkoda Xanthi FC.[14] Eight days later, after returning from suspension, he again received his marching orders, but in an eventual 3–0 away victory overPAS Giannina FC.[15]
Zeca extended his contract on 9 August 2016, until the summer of 2019 for an undisclosed fee.[16]
On 28 August 2017, Panathinaikos reached a formal agreement withF.C. Copenhagen for Zeca's transfer to the Danish club,[17] for a fee believed to be in the region of €1.5 million;[18] the player signed a four-year deal, with an annual salary of €1 million.[19] On his debut, on 9 September, he scored in a 4–3 home defeat ofFC Midtjylland.[20]
On 6 November 2019, after helping the teamwin theSuperliga for the fifth time in the decade, Zeca renewed his contract until 30 June 2023.[21] On 3 October 2021, he suffered acruciate ligament injury in a game againstViborg FF that sidelined him for several months;[22] he still contributed relatively as theyconquered the domestic league again.[23]
Zeca was again seriously injured in the knee in October 2022.[24]
On 23 May 2023, aged 34, Zeca returned to Panathinaikos on a two-year contract.[25]
Having completed five years of residence and professional status in Greece, Zeca became eligible for itscitizenship in the beginning of 2017. He passed the relevant language and history exams in November 2016, becoming available for national side managerMichael Skibbe in the middle of the2018 FIFA World Cupqualification campaign.[26][27][28] He earned his firstcap on 25 March 2017, coming on as a late substitute in a 1–1 away draw againstBelgium;[29] in the return match, on 3 September of that year, he scored his first goal in a 1–2 loss inPiraeus.[30]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Vitória Setúbal | 2010–11 | Primeira Liga | 26 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 31 | 1 | ||
| Panathinaikos | 2011–12 | Super League Greece | 27 | 2 | 2 | 0 | – | 2[c] | 0 | 5[d] | 0 | 36 | 2 | |
| 2012–13 | Super League Greece | 30 | 4 | 2 | 0 | – | 10[e] | 1 | – | 42 | 5 | |||
| 2013–14 | Super League Greece | 27 | 0 | 8 | 0 | – | – | 6[d] | 0 | 41 | 0 | |||
| 2014–15 | Super League Greece | 29 | 2 | 2 | 0 | – | 8[f] | 0 | 5[d] | 0 | 44 | 2 | ||
| 2015–16 | Super League Greece | 27 | 0 | 4 | 0 | – | 4[g] | 0 | 6[d] | 0 | 41 | 0 | ||
| 2016–17 | Super League Greece | 23 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | 9[c] | 0 | 4[d] | 0 | 39 | 0 | ||
| 2017–18 | Super League Greece | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 4[c] | 0 | – | 6 | 0 | |||
| Total | 165 | 8 | 21 | 0 | – | 37 | 1 | 26 | 0 | 249 | 9 | |||
| Copenhagen | 2017–18 | Danish Superliga | 27 | 2 | 1 | 0 | – | 5[c] | 0 | – | 33 | 2 | ||
| 2018–19 | Danish Superliga | 32 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | 12[c] | 0 | – | 45 | 1 | |||
| 2019–20 | Danish Superliga | 35 | 2 | 2 | 0 | – | 16[h] | 1 | – | 53 | 3 | |||
| 2020–21 | Danish Superliga | 28 | 2 | 1 | 0 | – | 3[c] | 0 | – | 32 | 2 | |||
| 2021–22 | Danish Superliga | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | 7[i] | 1 | – | 18 | 2 | |||
| 2022–23 | Danish Superliga | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 4[j] | 0 | – | 11 | 0 | |||
| Total | 140 | 8 | 5 | 0 | – | 47 | 2 | – | 192 | 10 | ||||
| Panathinaikos | 2023–24 | Super League Greece | 12 | 0 | 4 | 0 | – | – | 2[d] | 0 | 18 | 0 | ||
| 2024–25 | Super League Greece | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 2[c] | 0 | 1[d] | 0 | 8 | 0 | ||
| Total | 16 | 0 | 5 | 0 | – | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 26 | 0 | |||
| PAO Total | 181 | 8 | 26 | 0 | – | 39 | 1 | 29 | 0 | 275 | 9 | |||
| Career total | 347 | 16 | 34 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 86 | 3 | 29 | 0 | 498 | 20 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greece | 2017 | 8 | 1 |
| 2018 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 6 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 34 | 2 | |
Scores and results list Greece's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Zeca goal.[32]
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 September 2017 | Karaiskakis Stadium,Piraeus, Greece | 4 |  Belgium | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2018 World Cup qualification |
| 2 | 11 June 2019 | Olympic Stadium,Athens, Greece | 17 |  Armenia | 1–2 | 2–3 | Euro 2020 qualifying |
Panathinaikos
Copenhagen
Individual
