Dedê

Atlético Mineiro

Born in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais as the second of six brothers, Dedé was introduced to football at an early age, playing three-a-side matches with his brothers in his parents' apartment. "Our living room was the biggest room and also our playing field, with the doors to the kitchen and the bedroom as our goals. Well, you can imagine, we always broke things in the living room." On club level he first played for local Clube Atlético Mineiro, appearing in 30 Série A games in the 1997 season as the team finished in fourth position (two goals). Also in that year, Dedé was awarded with the Bola de Prata award by magazine Placar, being chosen the best player in his position in the national league.

Borussia Dortmund

Dedé signed for Germany's Borussia Dortmund for the 1998–99 campaign, aged only 20. He made his Bundesliga debut on 14 August 1998, being stretchered off in the early minutes of an eventual 1–2 away loss against VfB Stuttgart, but finished his first year with 29 appearances as the Black Yellow finished fourth. In the following season, Dedé was joined at Borussia by compatriot Evanílson, and the two proceeded to form an efficient wingback partnership in the following four years, being essential as the club won the 2002 league and reached that year's UEFA Cup final (with the player appearing in a total of 45 official games during the campaign, scoring once); he never appeared in less than 30 games from 2004 to 2008. Afterwards, as his…

Dedé earned his first and only cap for Brazil in April 2004, in a 4–1 friendly win over Hungary. Earlier that year, he had expressed a desire to represent the German national team. The Qatar Football Association also offered Dedé to represent their national team in 2004 despite having no ties to the country, FIFA blocked his switch of nationality and tightened eligibility requirements as a result.

Dedé's brothers, Cacá and Leandro, were also footballers. They too had (short) spells in Germany, with the latter coinciding with him at Borussia Dortmund.

Atlético Mineiro

Copa CONMEBOL: 1997 Borussia Dortmund

Bundesliga: 2001–02, 2010–11 UEFA Cup: Runner-up 2001–02 DFB-Pokal: Runner-up 2007–08 DFB-Ligapokal: Runner-up 2003