Eduardo Pereira Rodrigues

Eduardo Pereira Rodrigues Biography

Eduardo Pereira Rodrigues, also known as Dudu is a Brazilian footballer who is an attacking midfielder.

An audacious player since a young age, Rodrigues made his mark in Brazilian domestic football.

He was born on 7 January 1992 in Goiânia, Brazil and has been a left winger since he started playing football.

Background

Rodrigues started playing football at the age of 11 at a local Atletico academy and was spotted by talent spotters of Cruzeiro Esporte Clube in 2005. He leaned the tricks of the trade at the club and transformed into a fine midfielder.

He also got a nickname by the people who saw him play, "Menino Prodigio" which means Wonder boy. He represented Brazil at the Under-17 level and was a part of the Brazil team which won the 2011 FIFA Under-20 World Cup beating Portugal by 3-2 in the final. He scored 3 goals in the competition.

Debut

Rodrigues made his debut for Cruzeiro on 14 June 2009 in Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A, which is Brazil's primary football competition against Palmeiras. He played well and assisted his the senior players in the club.

In 2010, he was signed by Coritiba Football Club on loan from Cruzeiro till the end of the year. He made 21 appearances for the club without scoring a goal and providing assist and then went back to Cruzeiro in the next season.

Rise to glory

He gradually became a reliable player and became a regular for his club. In August 2011, he was signed by the Ukrainian side Dynamo Kyiv for €5 million. He made 6 appearances with 2 goals in that season.

Dudu's prominent performance came in the 2013-2014 season where he scored 6 goals and provided 8 assists as Dynamo Kyiv became the Ukrainian Cup Champions.

He was signed by Palmeiras in January 2015 on a four-year contract and became one of the most important players in their squad as Palmeiras became the Copa do Brasil Champions that year winning their 3rd title. Dudu scored twice for Palmeiras in the final match against Santos.

Club Career

Rodrigues has played for five clubs till now and has always been hailed as an audacious and competent player. His first club Cruzeiro gave him much needed experience and exposure after making 16 appearances for them with 4 assists.

He could not open his score sheet while being at Coritiba but his transfer to Dynamo Kyiv started his gradual rise to being an impact player. With 4 goals and 5 assists, Dudu made 32 appearances for Dynamo.

His next club was Gremio Football Porto Alegrense for which he made 42 appearances while scoring 5 goals and providing 7 assists. But his most successful stint has been with Palmeiras where he has shown his full potential.

In 93 appearances for them, he has scored 25 goals along with 26 assists.

Records

He has made 3 appearances for Brazil National Team and scored 1 goal for the country. He is a Ukrainian Cup and a FIFA World Cup Under-20 winner.