Elzo Aloísio Coelho (born 22 January 1961), better known as Elzo, is a retired Brazilian footballer who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

, a number of Brazilian clubs, and Portuguese Benfica.

Playing career

At the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...

in Mexico, Elzo played an active role as a main starter for Brazil's squad in all five of the team's matches, playing alongside stars such as Carecca,

Sócrates Sócrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira (19 February 1954 – 4 December 2011), simply known as Sócrates , was a Brazilian footballer who played as a midfielder. His medical degree and his political awareness, combined with s ...

and Zico. In the group stage, the team won against

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

(1–0),

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

(1–0), and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

(3–0), and defeated the Poland national team 4–0 in the last 16. In the quarter-finals, they played against the

France national team France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

led by

Michel Platini Michel François Platini (; born 21 June 1955) is a French association football, football Administrator (business), administrator and former player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Platini won the Ballon d'O ...

; however, after a 1–1 draw, the match went to a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

, and Brazil were eliminated from the competition in the last eight. He made 11 appearances for Brazil in total, all of which came in 1986. In 1987 Elzo moved from Brazilian side

Atlético Mineiro Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico *Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy *Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic Cl ...

(after three seasons with the club, winning the

Campeonato Mineiro The Campeonato Mineiro is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. It is run by the Minas Gerais Football Federation (FMF). The history of Campeonato Mineiro can be divided into two parts: bef ...

in 1985 and 1986) to Benfica in Portugal, where he remained until 1989. At that time, the side was coached by Portugal's legendary former forward

Eusébio Eusébio da Silva Ferreira (; 25 January 1942 – 5 January 2014), nicknamed the "Black Panther", the "Black Pearl" or "O Rei" ("The King"), was a Portuguese Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Stri ...

, known as the ''black panther'', who highly rated Euzo's defensive ability, leading him to join the team. From his first season with the team, he became a regular squad member, winning the 1988–89 Portuguese league title, and advancing to the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

of the 1987–88 European Champions Cup (the predecessor to the current

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

); although Elzo played the entire match in Stuttgart, Germany, before 75,000 spectators, he unfortunately ended up on the losing side, with Benfica finishing as runners-up to

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional association football, football department, which has pla ...

, led by

Guus Hiddink Guus Hiddink (; born 8 November 1946) is a Dutch former football manager and professional player. He enjoyed a long career playing as a midfielder in his native Netherlands. Retired as player in 1982, Hiddink went into management, leading both c ...

, in a penalty shoot-out defeat, following a 0–0 draw. He returned to Brazil in 1989, joining

Palmeiras The Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional association football, football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes (district of São Paulo), Perdizes. Palmeiras is ...

for two seasons.

Honours

;Ginásio Pinhalense *

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Run by the São Paulo State Football Federation (FPF), ...

: 1979 ;Internacional *

Campeonato Gaúcho The Campeonato Gaúcho (English: Gaúcho Championship), officially named as Campeonato Gaúcho de Futebol Série A and commonly known as the Gauchão or the Gauchão Ipiranga (company), Ipiranga for sponsorship reasons, is the top-flight profess ...

: 1982, 1983 and 1984 ;Atlético Mineiro *

: 1985 and 1986 ;Benfica *

Portuguese Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

: 1988–89 *

UEFA European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robin ...

: Runner-up 1987–88

Individual

* Bola de Prata: 1989 (Palmeiras)

References

1961 births Living people Footballers from Minas Gerais Brazilian men's footballers São Paulo state football team players Associação Atlética Internacional (Limeira) players SC Internacional players Clube Atlético Mineiro players S.L. Benfica footballers SE Palmeiras players Associação Atlética Caldense players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Primeira Liga players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal 1986 FIFA World Cup players Brazil men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders 20th-century Brazilian sportsmen {{Brazil-footy-midfielder-1960s-stub