Eduardo Filipe Quaresma Coimbra Simões (born 2 March 2002) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for Primeira Liga club Sporting CP.

Club career

Sporting CP

Early career

Born in Barreiro, Setúbal District, Quaresma joined the youth academy of Fabril at the age of 3 before moving to Sporting CP in 2011. In May 2020, the club rejected a bid of €5 million and Diego Laxalt from AC Milan in exchange for his signature.

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

and RB Leipzig were also interested in him, but he agreed to a new contract to tie him to Sporting until 2025, with a €45 million buyout clause and annual salary of €250,000. Quaresma made his professional debut in a 2–2 Primeira Liga away draw against Vitória de Guimarães on 4 June 2020, playing the full game. In the following season, he contributed two appearances (three overall) as his team won the national championship for the first time in 19 years.

2021–2023: Loans to Tondela and Hoffenheim

On 23 July 2021, Quaresma was loaned to Tondela for one year without a buying option. He scored his first goal in the Portuguese top flight on 7 January 2022, a late consolation in the 1–3 home loss to Benfica. He played 30 games as they suffered relegation; one of those was on 22 May when he featured the entire final of the

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; ) is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Generali Tranquilidade since the 2024–25 seaso ...

, lost 3–1 to

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

. On 4 August 2022, Quaresma joined Hoffenheim on a season-long loan, with an option to make the move permanent afterwards. He totalled only four matches during his spell in Germany, and the club did not activate the clause.

Return from loan

Quaresma returned to the Estádio José Alvalade in summer 2023. Having begun the campaign on the bench, he benefitted from injuries to teammates and the absence of Ousmane Diomande, who was competing in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, and was given a start against

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

Porto on 18 December; he impressed in the game, and also created a play that led to a goal by Viktor Gyökeres that was disallowed, in a 2–0 win to overtake Benfica at the top of the table. Afterwards, he began appearing regularly as a starter, and scored his first competitive goal for Sporting on 11 February 2024 in a 5–0 home victory over Braga. Quaresma made his continental debut on 15 February 2024, featuring the entire 3–1 away defeat of Young Boys in the knockout phase of the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

. He made his first appearance in the UEFA Champions League on 1 October, in a 1–1 away draw against PSV Eindhoven in the league stage. On 4 May 2025, he scored a stoppage-time goal in a 2–1 win over Gil Vicente to help his team maintain their lead at the top of the table with two matches remaining.

International career

Quaresma represented

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

at under-15, under-16, under-17, under-18 and under-19 levels, totalling 36 caps. He made his debut for the under-21s on 6 September 2021, in a 1–0 win over

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

in the 2023 UEFA European Championship qualifiers held in Amadora.

Style of play

Quaresma is predominantly deployed as a central defender, but could also play as a right-back; a natural leader thanks to his passing ability, vision and football IQ, he is equally adept at defensive midfielder. Technically gifted with strong tackling, intercepting and anticipation skills, he also liked to dribble and play short passes taking advantage of his pace to create attacking opportunities for his team.

Personal life

Quaresma is a distant relative of Brazilian international Zico. He is also a distant cousin of fellow footballer Ricardo Quaresma through his mother.

Career statistics

Honours

Sporting CP * Primeira Liga: 2020–21, 2023–24, 2024–25 *

: 2024–25 * Taça da Liga: 2020–21

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Quaresma, Eduardo 2002 births Living people 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Barreiro, Portugal Men's association football central defenders Primeira Liga players Campeonato de Portugal (league) players G.D. Fabril players Sporting CP footballers Sporting CP B players C.D. Tondela players Bundesliga players Regionalliga players TSG 1899 Hoffenheim II players TSG 1899 Hoffenheim players Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Germany