Eric de Oliveira

Eric de Oliveira Pereira (born 5 December 1985), known as Eric, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.

After starting out his career in native Brazil, he went on to amass numerous stints in Romania, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, Japan and Qatar. He achieved most success in Romania, representing in the country Gaz Metan Mediaș, Pandurii Târgu Jiu, Viitorul Constanța and Voluntari.

With 66 goals in the Liga I, Eric has been the top foreign goalscorer of the Romanian championship since 2020. Previously, he was named the Foreign Player of the Year twice, in 2010 and 2013.

Early career, Gaz Metan Mediaș and Karpaty Lviv
Eric de Oliveira was born on 5 December 1985 in Nova Iguaçu, Brazil and started to play futsal at his school's team, then moving to play for the town's team, winning the Rio de Janeiro state tournament where he was the best player and goalscorer, his picture appearing in a local newspaper which was read by the director of Flamengo who brought him to play junior level football at the club in 2002, staying until 2004 when he moved at senior level, playing in Série C at CFZ de Brasília. In 2005 he was on an unsuccessful trial in Mexico with Alacranes de Durango, but in 2006 he was signed by Série A club, Paraná where did not get a chance to play as he got injured.

He moved back to Série C, signing with Metropolitano with whom in 2007 he went on a tournament in Austria where he was noticed by Romanian Liga II club, Gaz Metan Mediaș who decided to transfer him on a one-season loan by paying $80.000, being presented at the team with fellow Brazilians Cairo Lima and Grillo Edson. He made his Liga II debut in a 3–1 victory against CSM Reșița, helping the team earn promotion to the first league by the end of the season under the guidance of coach Cristian Pustai, Eric contributing with 10 goals scored, forming a successful trio in the offence with Claudiu Boaru and Ciprian Prodan. He was bought by Gaz Metan from Metropolitano for €122.500, making his Liga I debut on 27 July 2008 in the first round of the season in a 2–2 with Oțelul Galați where he received a red card, he scored his first goals in the competition by the end of the season in a 2–1 win over Gloria Buzău from two free kicks, however the season was rather unsuccessful as the team mathematically relegated, but managed to keep its position in the league because Argeș Pitești was relegated by the Romanian Football Federation for corruption of referees. In the first half of the 2009–10 season Eric scored the only goal of a 1–0 home victory against Dinamo București, starting to score more often in 2010, by the end of the second half of the season when he managed to score two consecutive braces in two victories against Politehnica Timișoara and Unirea Alba Iulia, then he started the following season strong by scoring 7 goals in the first four rounds, including three doubles in the first three games against Victoria Brănești, Politehnica Timișoara and Astra Ploiești, also by the end of the year scoring the only goal of a 1–0 away victory against Steaua București, all these performances helping him earn the 2010 Foreign Player of the Year award in front of Júnior Moraes. Overall in the 2010–11 season, with a personal record of 15 goals scored in 31 appearances, of which the last two were a brace in a 3–2 victory against CFR Cluj, Eric was the second top-goalscorer of the season with three behind Politehnica Timișoara's Ianis Zicu, which helped the team finish on the 7th place, that gained Gaz Metan's first ever qualification to the Europa League, due to Politehnica Timișoara, who finished 2nd in the league table, being relegated by the Romanian Football Federation for not fulfilling the licence conditions to play in European competitions or Liga I.           In the 2011–12 campaign, he made his debut in European competitions, playing both legs of the 2–1 victory on aggregate against KuPS.

Shortly afterwards he left Gaz Metan to go on a trial with Bundesliga side VfL Wolfsburg but was not offered a contract, so he moved to Ukraine, signing with Karpaty Lviv. His one-season spell with The Lions was unsuccessful as he played only six league games there, returning in September 2012 to Gaz Metan where in the 2012–13 season he played 22 games with four goals scored, being the team's captain.

Pandurii Târgu Jiu and Asian spells
On 12 July 2013, Eric de Oliveira was transferred from Gaz Metan Mediaș to Pandurii Târgu Jiu for a transfer fee of €400.000 in the same day as Nicandro Breeveld, reuniting with their former coach from Gaz Metan, Cristian Pustai. He debuted for Pandurii only a few days later after his transfer, appearing in the first leg of the 2013–14 Europa League second qualifying round against Levadia Tallinn, the game ending 0–0 but he impressed with his technique and dribbling abilities, providing two assists in the 4–0 win from the second leg. With Eric in a good shape, the club also managed to eliminate Hapoel Tel Aviv against whom he scored a goal and Braga, reaching the group stage where the campaign ended, but Eric still managed to make a good impression as he scored a goal from a penalty against Dnipro and a very spectacular one from a scissors kick against Fiorentina. Eric scored his first league goal for Pandurii in a 2–1 win over Oțelul Galați, other important goals being the winning goal in the 2–1 victory against Dinamo București, the only goal of the team in the 1–1 with CFR Cluj and two doubles in wins against Botoșani and Brașov, netting the goal 14 times and providing 12 assists by the end of the first half of the season in all competitions. All these performances earned him the 2013 Foreign Player of the Year award.

In January 2014, Eric was transferred for a fee of €1.25 million from Pandurii to Al-Ahli signing a contract for one year and a half. He scored his first goal in the league in a 1–1 with Al-Shoulla, also scoring a brace in a 3–0 win over Al-Orobah in the King Cup, a competition in which the team reached the final, losing 3–0 in front of Al-Shabab, but Eric did not play in it as one month earlier during a game with Al-Ettifaq he suffered a ligament injury which kept him off the field over six months.

In January 2015, he returned to Pandurii Târgu Jiu, reaching the Cupa Ligii final where coach Edward Iordănescu sent him on the field in the 78th minute in order to replace Filip Mrzljak, however three minutes later he got injured, the team remaining in 10 players, eventually losing 3–0 in front of Steaua București.

On 30 June 2015, Japan's Matsumoto Yamaga announced the signing of Eric de Oliveira from Pandurii, however even do he impressed during the training sessions, Eric never got to play in any official games for them. He then went back to play in the Saudi Professional League, this time at Najran, scoring four goals in 12 league appearances, his best game being a 4–3 victory against Al Nassr in which he scored two goals and provided two assists.

Gaz Metan Mediaș, Viitorul Constanța, Al-Markhiya and Voluntari
In June 2016, Eric came for a third spell at Gaz Metan Mediaș where he was wanted very much by the coach from his first spell, Cristian Pustai. In the 2016–17 season, he made 34 appearances and scored 6 goals, impressing in the final matches of the season when he scored two doubles in two victories against Voluntari and Poli Timișoara, helping his side avoid relegation.

On 8 July 2017, Eric signed a one-year contract with the champions of the last season, Viitorul Constanța where he worked with coach Gheorghe Hagi. In the first half of the season Eric scored 7 goals and provided 5 assists, including scoring two spectacular goals in two 1–0 wins over FCSB and CFR Cluj, also appearing in the extra time of the 4–0 loss in front of APOEL Nicosia from the second leg of the third qualifying round from the 2017–18 Champions League, failing to help his side qualify to the next round even do he had some important opportunities to score.

In January 2018 Viitorul sold him for €100.000 to Al-Markhiya in the Qatar Stars League. He scored three goals in 9 league appearances, including a brace against Al-Gharafa, however the team relegated to the second division by the end of the season. He stayed with the club in the second league, scoring a goal directly from a corner kick against Muaither, also bringing former Gaz Metan and Pandurii teammate Nicandro Breeveld to the club.

On 12 January 2019, Eric de Oliveira returned at Viitorul Constanța, helping the team win the 2018–19 Cupa României by the end of the season, scoring in extra time the decisive goal of the 2–1 victory against Astra Giurgiu from the final. He started the following season strong by scoring five goals in the first five rounds but then an injury and his physical condition made Hagi keep him off the field for most of the first half of the season.

In January 2020 he signed with Voluntari where in a 2–0 win over Hermannstadt he scored from a penalty kick his 65th Liga I goal which made him the best foreign goalscorer of the competition, surpassing fellow Brazilian Wesley. One year later Eric left Voluntari and signed a six months contract for a fourth spell with Gaz Metan Mediaș, however this time he did not make a single appearance for the team because of an injury. Eric de Oliveira has total of 222 games in Liga I with 66 goals scored and 48 assists provided, also having 17 appearances with 3 goals in European competitions.

In 2022, after Gaz Metan Mediaș got dissolved, Eric was one of the founding members of the town's new club, ACS Mediaș.

Personal life
In July 2011, Eric and Romanian handball player Cosmina Dancu had their first son, whom they named Deric. Eric married Cosmina two years later and their second son, Anthony was born in 2015. Eric's cousin, Vitinho, was also a professional footballer, they played together for a while at Gaz Metan Mediaș.

After he ended his playing career, Eric de Oliveira settled in Romania, being very attached to the country, saying in an interview:"I am 50 percent Brazilian, 50 percent Romanian, actually Transylvanian. I'm Eric from Mediaș, not from somewhere else. I don't have citizenship yet, but I can apply, I will as soon as possible, now it is clear that I will spend my life here."

Honours
Al-Ahli Pandurii Târgu Jiu Viitorul Constanța
 * King Cup runner-up: 2014
 * Cupa Ligii runner-up: 2014–15
 * Cupa României: 2018–19
 * Supercupa României: 2019

Individual
 * Gazeta Sporturilor Foreign Player of the Year in Romania: 2010, 2013
 * Liga I Player of the Month: September 2013, October 2013,

Records
 * Foreign top goalscorer in Liga I: 66 goals