Zé António

Football player infobox
playername = Zé António


fullname = José António dos Santos Silva
height = height|m=1.86
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1977|3|14
cityofbirth = Torres Vedras
countryofbirth = Portugal
currentclub = Racing Santander
clubnumber = 22
position = Central defender
youthyears = ?-1994
youthclubs = SCU Torreense
years = 1994-1998
1998-1999
1999-2002
2002-2003
2003-2005
2005-2007
2008
2008-
clubs = SCU Torreense
Leça FC
FC Alverca
Varzim SC
Académica Coimbra
Borussia Mönchengladbach
→ Manisaspor "(loan)"
Racing Santander
caps(goals) = ? (?)
? (?)
21 (0)
15 (5)
62 (1)
64 (3)
? (?)
0 (0)
nationalyears = 2005-
nationalteam = Portugal
nationalcaps(goals) = 00 (0)
pcupdate = August 1, 2008 (UTC)
ntupdate = November 18, 2007

José António dos Santos Silva (born March 14, 1977 in Torres Vedras), known as Zé António, is a Portuguese professional footballer, currently playing central defender for Racing de Santander in Spain.

Zé António began playing football in his native country for hometown SCU Torreense (1994-98), and also had stints with Leça FC (1998-99), FC Alverca (1999-2002), Varzim SC (2002-03) and Académica Coimbra (2003-05). He also spend some time learning his trade with the B-side of giants FC Porto in the first half of 2000-01. Avoiding relegation from the Portuguese league with Académica at the end of the 2004-2005 season, he took advantage of his outrunning deal to join Borussia Mönchengladbach in the German Bundesliga, on a deal lasting for two initial seasons.

Obtaining a starting role in the Mönchengladbach backline two games into the 2005-2006 season, the defender got off to a good start at his new club. He opened his goalscoring account in what was just his fourth Bundesliga appearance, netting the winning goal in a home fixture against MSV Duisburg with a header. He would amass 64 games and 3 goals in two seasons.

The left-footed was surprisingly included in the preliminary squad of Portugal for the World Cup, but in the end failed to make it into the final 23 of Luiz Felipe Scolari for the tournament.

After having made no appearances in 2007-08 (2nd Bundesliga), in January 2008, Zé António moved on loan to Turkey's Vestel Manisaspor for six months. At the end of June 2008, he signed a two-year contract with first division side Racing de Santander.

External links

* [http://www.zerozero.eu/uk/jogador.php?edicao_id=0&epoca_id=138&id=340 Stats and profile at zerozero.pt]