Eduardo dos Reis CarvalhoComM (Portuguese pronunciation:[iˈðwaɾðukɐɾˈvaʎu]; born 19 September 1982), known simply as Eduardo, is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
He appeared in 138 Primeira Liga games over 11 seasons, almost always representing Braga. He also played professionally in Italy, Turkey, Croatia, England and the Netherlands.
Eduardo returned to Braga for the 2008–09 campaign, playing in all the league matches and also in the Minho team's UEFA Cup round-of-16 run.[4] The same happened in the following season – with them finishing in their best-ever position, second – as he only conceded 20 goals, joint-best in the competition.[5]
Genoa
On 7 July 2010, Eduardo signed a four-year contract with Serie A's Genoa for €4.8 million,[6][7] replacing departed Marco Amelia. Braga would also receive a 25% future transfer fee if Genoa sold the player.[8]
Eduardo started all the games but one for the Italians in his first and only season, in a final midtable position. In July 2011 he returned to his country and joined Benfica on loan, with the Lisbon club having an option to buy at the end of the campaign;[9] during his spell at the Estádio da Luz, he appeared in only nine competitive matches.[10]
On 26 June 2012, Eduardo signed for İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor in a temporary deal, being coached by Carvalhal at the Süper Lig team.[11] The following summer he returned to both Portugal and Braga, while still owned by Genoa.[12]
Later career
On 27 June 2014, Eduardo joined several compatriots at Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb after agreeing to a three-year contract.[13] On 25 August 2016, after 95 competitive appearances, he signed with Premier League club Chelsea on a one-year deal, being brought in to provide experienced cover and competition to Thibaut Courtois and Asmir Begović.[14]
In spite of his team being crowned league champions, Eduardo did not receive a medal as he did not appear in any games.[15] He agreed to a one-year contract extension on 23 May 2017, with technical director Michael Emenalo calling him "a model professional".[16]
Despite being listed on Chelsea's released list following the conclusion of 2017–18, Eduardo signed a new one-year contract in July.[17] Early in the same month, he agreed to join Dutch club Vitesse on a season-long loan.[18] He made his competitive debut on 26 July 2018, in a 2–2 draw away to Viitorul Constanța for the Europa League second qualifying round.[19]
On 1 July 2019, after no official matches during his stint at Chelsea, Eduardo left the club.[20] The previous week, he had already agreed to a two-year deal at Braga.[21] He played for one season before announcing his retirement at the age of 37.[22][23]
International career
Eduardo in action for Portugal against Croatia in 2013
After being relegated to the bench at his club, Eduardo met the same fate in the national team to Rui Patrício, and both finished the UEFA Euro 2012qualifying campaign with five games as Portugal qualified for the finals. He was also named in the squad of 23 for the 2014 World Cup,[31] but only actually played five minutes in the last group stage match against Ghana, coming on for injured Beto.[32]
An unused member as the side won Euro 2016 in France and Patrício starred, Eduardo made his final international appearance on 1 September 2016 in his first such match for over two years. He kept a clean sheet in the 5–0 friendly win over Gibraltar at the Estádio do Bessa.[33]
