Edmundo Zura

Edmundo Salomón Zura de Jesús (born 12 January 1983 in Pimampiro, Imbabura), is an Ecuadorian professional footballer who plays for El Nacional. Zura is a centre forward who is known for his superb heading, powerful shooting and ruthless finishing.[1]

Edmundo Zura
Personal information
Full name Edmundo Salomón Zura de Jesús
Date of birth (1983-01-12) 12 January 1983
Place of birth Pimampiro, Ecuador
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Striker
Club information
Current team
 Deportivo Quito
Youth career
2000–2001 LDU Quito
2001 Imbabura SC
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2002 El Nacional 0 (0)
2002–2009 Imbabura SC 54 (23)
2004 → Macará (loan) 7 (0)
2007–2008 → Barcelona SC (loan) 5 (1)
2008 → Newcastle Jets (loan) 9 (0)
2009– El Nacional 45 (14)
2011 → San Jose Earthquakes (loan) 1 (0)
2013 Deportivo Quito
National team‡
2006–2009 Ecuador 11 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15 August 2011
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 1 August 2008
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Zura and the second or maternal family name is de Jesús.

Zura celebrates his goals by donning a blue Spider-Man style wrestling mask as a tribute to Otilino Tenorio who was killed in a car accident.[2][3] His brother Rommel Zura is also a professional footballer and playing for Emelec.[4]

Club career

Zura started out playing with the LDU Quito under-18 side before joining Imbabura SC where he played in the lower divisions. He then moved to El Nacional for six months before rejoining Imbabura SC. He is currently under contract with Imbabura SC until 2011.[5]

Zura was loaned out to Macará for a short period in 2004 where he played in the top division of Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol before returning to play for Imbabura in the Serie B. He helped Imbabura secure its promotion to the Serie A during the 2006 Clausura where he was the league's top scorer with 18 goals.[2]

Following his impressive displays at the 2007 Pan American Games, Zura was again loaned out, this time to Barcelona SC of Guayaquil. He joined the Ecuadorian giants in December 2007 but his contract was not extended when it expired on 30 June 2008.[6] He returned to Imbabura after only playing five games for Barcelona SC, having been given only limited opportunities by manager Ever Hugo Almeida.[5][7] After his return to Imbabura he played several games in the Serie B but made it clear that he intended to leave and play abroad.[5][8]

On 31 July 2008 Zura joined the reigning Australian champions Newcastle Jets as a marquee player.[9][10] Zura has joined the Newcastle Jets from Imbabura on a one-year loan deal.[9][11] He had to travel to Santiago, Chile to obtain an Australian tourist visa which was to be converted to a sporting visa before he could make his A-League debut.[10][11] As with most imports coming to the A-League, he tried to get his fitness levels up to compete in the physical and up-tempo A-League style of play.[12]

On 3 November 2008, Newcastle Jets and the striker parted ways. The Ecuadorean requested a mutual termination of his one-year loan deal, citing personal reasons.[13]

Zura joined Major League Soccer club San Jose Earthquakes via loan on 15 August 2011.[14] The loan was terminated by San Jose on 31 August 2011 due to Zura's lack of fitness.[15]

International career

Zura earned his first cap for the Ecuadorian national team against Brazil on 10 October 2006 after being called up by Colombian coach Luis Fernando Suárez.[16] He scored his first international goal on 21 January 2007 against Sweden.[2][17]

Zura captained Ecuador's under-23 side to victory as an overage player at the 2007 Pan American Games. He scored three goals including the match winning penalty in the final as Ecuador won their first international tournament. He was regarded as Ecuador's most impressive player of the tournament.[1]

Career statistics

Club

(Correct as of 7 October 2008)

Club League Season League Finals Asia Total
Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists
Macará Campeonato Serie A 2004 70-------70-
Imbabura SC Campeonato Serie B 2006 3218-------3218-
Campeonato Serie A 2007 205-------205-
Barcelona SC Campeonato Serie A 2008 51-------51-
Imbabura SC Campeonato Serie B 2008 20-------20-
Newcastle Jets A-League 2008–09 701000000401
Total 67230

Honours

Club
Imbabura

International
Ecuador U-20

References
  1. "Ecuador optimism restored in Rio". FIFA. 7 August 2007.
  2. "Striker Edmundo Zura" (in Spanish). El Universo. 19 February 2007. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
  3. "Striker Edmundo Zura goes to Australia" (in Spanish). CRE Satelital Ecuador. 28 July 2008. Archived from the original on 9 August 2008. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
  4. "Sentenced to substitution" (in Spanish). El Universo. 20 March 2007. Retrieved 1 August 2008.
  5. "The gold in Rio did not shine for all" (in Spanish). El Comercio. 13 July 2008. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
  6. "Hurtado does not appear in Barcelona; will Zura" (in Spanish). El Universo. 2 July 2008. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
  7. "Zambrano and Zura, two attackers who prefer to ignore the Shipyard" (in Spanish). El Comercio. 8 May 2008. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
  8. "Zura is going to Australia" (in Spanish). La Calle. 30 July 2008. Archived from the original on 10 July 2011. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
  9. Ormond, Adrian (31 July 2008). "Zura Is Newcastle Jets Marquee". FourFourTwo. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
  10. Gardiner, James (1 September 2008). "Newcastle Jets unveil Edmundo Zura as marquee signing". The Newcastle Herald. Archived from the original on 3 August 2008. Retrieved 1 September 2008.
  11. "Edmundo Zura to play football in Australia" (in Spanish). El Murcurio. 29 July 2008. Archived from the original on 31 July 2008. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
  12. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 13 September 2008. Retrieved 4 September 2008.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/88151,zura-quits-jets.aspx
  14. http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2011/08/15/earthquakes-ink-ecuadorian-target-man-zura-loan
  15. http://www.sjearthquakes.com/news/2011/08/earthquakes-terminate-zura-loan-deal
  16. "Ecuador soccer manager Suarez calls up B-team striker". People's Daily. 4 October 2006. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
  17. "Match: Ecuador vs Sweden – International friendly". ESPN. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
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