The exlateral José Carlos de Almeida, better known as Zé Carlos and who played in the 1998 World Cup in France with the Brazilian team, died this Friday at the age of 56, victim of a “massive heart attack,” according to São Paulo.
The tricolor club, where Zé Carlos played 72 games between 1998 and 1999, announced the news “with immense pain and sadness” through its social networks and declared official mourning.
The former player suffered a cardiorespiratory arrest while sleeping at a relative’s house in the town of Osasco, metropolitan region of São Paulo.
Late but notable career
Zé Carlos, who was born on November 14, 1967 in Presidente Bernardes, almost 600 kilometers from the capital of São Paulo, had a late but notable career in soccer.
The right back gained notoriety playing for Sociedade Esportiva Matonense in 1997, when it was promoted to the first division of the Paulista Championship.
At the beginning of 1998 he joined the starting team of the Sao Paulo, which allowed him to raise that same year the title of the Paulista Championship and put him in the sights of the technical commission of the Brazilian team, which called him up in 1998 to play as Cafu substitute in the World Cup in France.
Zé Carlos replaced the suspended Cafú in the semifinal against Holland, a match that Brazil won on penalties, earning their place in the final, in which they finally lost to France.
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In the last years of his career he toured clubs like Gremio, Ponte Preta and Joinville, to finish his career in Northwest in 2005.
