Éder

Early years

Born in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, Eder moved to Portugal as a child, and started playing football with Associação Desportiva e Cultural da Adémia in the Coimbra District at the age of 11. He made his senior debut with Oliveira do Hospital and G.D. Tourizense, the latter in the third division and the farm team of Académica de Coimbra.

Académica

Eder made his Primeira Liga debut for Académica on 24 August 2008, in a 1–0 away loss against C.F. Estrela da Amadora. He scored his first goal for the club at the end of the season, netting the Students equalising goal in an eventual 3–1 victory over Associação Naval 1º de Maio. On 2 May 2010, Eder scored what looked like a winning goal against C.D. Nacional, but the visitors equalised at 3–3 in the 90th minute. On 12 September of the following year, against the same opponent and also in Coimbra, he scored twice in a 4–0 rout. He finished the season with five goals in 16 appearances, and helped the club win its first Portuguese Cup since 1939 after defeating Sporting CP in the final, but he only featured in the earlier rounds of the cup as he was suspended for not reporting to training for several weeks, as interest from other clubs in signing him grew.

Braga

Eder signed with S.C. Braga in summer 2012, for four years. He made his official debut for his new team on 2 September in a 2–0 defeat at F.C. Paços de Ferreira but scored twice later that month as the Minho Province side defeated Rio Ave F.C.…

Eder chose to represent Portugal internationally. After impressive club performances for Braga, he was first called up by the national team in August 2012 for a match against Luxembourg for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, but remained an unused substitute in the 2–1 away win on 7 September. He made his debut four days later in the same competition, replacing Hélder Postiga in the dying minutes of a 3–0 home victory over Azerbaijan. On 19 May 2014, Eder was named in the final 23-man squad for the tournament in Brazil. He made his debut in the competition on 16 June, replacing the injured Hugo Almeida in the first half of a 4–0 group stage loss to Germany. In the second game, a 2–2 draw against the United States, he replaced another injured striker early on, this time Postiga. Eder's first international goal came on his 18th cap, the only goal in a friendly defeat of Italy at the Stade de Genève on 16 June 2015. He was selected by Fernando Santos for his UEFA Euro 2016 squad, appearing in three matches as a substitute and scoring the only goal in the final to help defeat hosts France after extra time. Eder was not picked for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup squad, being replaced by Porto's André Silva. He was included in a preliminary 35-man list for the 2018 World Cup, but did not make the final cut.

Eder was often described as a strong, hard-working and well-rounded striker, with a solid first touch. Usually deployed as a centre-forward, he excelled in the air due to his height and powerful physique, although he was also capable of playing in other offensive positions due to his ability to hold up the ball with his back to goal and play off his teammates.

Early years

Born in Lauro Müller, Santa Catarina state, Éder started his career at Criciúma. He made his first team – and Campeonato Brasileiro Série A – debut on 19 December 2004, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 3–3 home draw against Coritiba, with his side being already relegated. Éder was definitely promoted to the first team ahead of the 2005 season, and scored his first goal on 30 January of that year, but in a 3–2 Campeonato Catarinense home loss against Joinville. He finished the tournament with three goals in ten appearances, and scored in his Campeonato Brasileiro Série B debut against São Raimundo-AM on 26 April, finishing a 2–0 home success. At the age of 19, and with five goals in 19 league appearances during the year, Éder was signed by Italian club Empoli.

Frosinone

Éder signed with Frosinone in a co-ownership deal for a fee of €600,000 in June 2008 following a loan spell during the second half of the 2007–08 Serie B season.

Return to Empoli

Empoli bought Éder back from Frosinone in June 2009 for €2.42 million following an impressive Serie B season by the striker. He scored four goals in one Serie B game on 13 April 2010, two of which were penalties, in a 5–2 victory for Empoli over Salernitana. He finished the 2009–10 Serie B season as top scorer, with 27 goals.

Loans to Brescia & Cesena

On 20 August 2010, Éder signed a 1+4 year contract with Serie A newcomers Brescia, meaning that Éder would join Brescia on…

Éder, as a dual citizen of Italy and Brazil, was eligible to play for both nations. He qualified for the Italy national team through his Italian citizenship as well as more than 2-year of residence in Italy; he qualified to Italian citizenship through his Italian great-grandfather Battista Righetto, who came from Nove in Veneto. He was previously included in Brazil's preliminary squad for the 2008 Summer Olympics, however, he did not get a place in the final squad list by coach Dunga. Éder began to be considered for the Italy national team by head coach Antonio Conte due to his good form in the 2014–15 season with Sampdoria. There was controversy surrounding Antonio Conte's call-up for Éder and Franco Vázquez, respectively born in Brazil and Argentina. Speaking at a Serie A meeting on 23 March 2015, interim manager Roberto Mancini stated, "The Italian national team should be Italian. An Italian player deserves to play for the national team while someone who wasn't born in Italy, even if they have relatives, I don't think they deserve to." Conte's response to the use of overseas-born players was: "If Mauro Camoranesi [who was born in Argentina] was allowed to help Italy win the 2006 FIFA World Cup, then why can't Éder and Franco Vázquez lead the Azzurri to glory in next year's European Championship?" On 28 March 2015, Éder made his debut for Italy, coming on as a 58th-minute substitute for Simone Zaza in a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifier against Bulgaria and scoring the equaliser in…

Éder is a forward, who usually plays in a central role as a main striker, due to his pace, positional sense, attacking movement, tactical intelligence, and eye for goal, which make him particularly effective during counter-attacks. A versatile, hard-working, and technically gifted player, with good vision, he is also effective as a second striker, as a left winger, or even as an attacking midfielder, positions which allow him to provide depth to his team and participate in build-up plays, play off of his teammates, hold up the ball, and provide assists. Possessing substantial physical strength, despite his relatively small stature, he can also be effective in the air, as well as from set-pieces and penalties. In addition to his offensive and creative abilities, Éder has stamina and defensive work-rate, which make him useful when his team are not in possession.

In 2017, Eder married in Algarve to Sanna Ladera, a Belgian model. They later welcomed sons Kaï and Rio.

Éder holds dual nationality (Brazilian and Italian) as his great-grandfather, Battista Righetto, was from Nove in the Province of Vicenza. He was named in tribute to Éder Aleixo de Assis, striker of the Brazil national team during the 1982 FIFA World Cup.