What happened to Eder, the man who won Portugal the 2016 Euros?

Eder is a legend in Portuguese football. The former striker helped his country to one of the biggest triumphs in its history: victory at the 2016 UEFA Euros.

For Eder himself, it was the absolute highlight of his career, despite having won a good number of trophies in his career.

Eder, by birth Ederzito António Macedo Lopes, was born in Guinea-Bissau, but moved to Portugal as a child.

He started his football career with Associação Desportiva e Cultural da Adémia (Coimbra district) and later played for Oliveira do Hospital and G.D. Tourizense. In 2008, he made the move to first-division club Académica Coimbra.

In August 2008, Eder made his debut in the Pimeira Liga for Académica. In total, he would make 103 appearances for the club, scoring 19 goals and providing 11 assists.

The highlight of his time at Académica was in 2012, when the striker won the Portuguese Cup, the first trophy of his career.

His performances earned Eder a (free) transfer to SC Braga in the summer of 2012, one of the bigger clubs in Portugal behind Benfica, Sporting and FC Porto.

Eder had a good first season at Braga, scoring 16 goals in 31 appearances and helping the club win the League Cup by beating Benfica and FC Porto along the way.

He would play a total of 85 matches for Braga, in which he netted 34 goals.

In September 2012, Eder took the next step in his career by making his debut for Portugal's national team, as a substitute against Azerbaijan in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers.

After his spell at Braga, a move to a bigger league awaited Eder, who was transferred to Swansea City for €6.7 million in the summer of 2015. However, his first six months in the Premier League were disappointing, with not a single goal.

Swansea decided to loan Eder to French top club OSC Lille, where he would find the back of the net six times that season. This earned him a permanent transfer to northern France for €4.5 million.

That same summer, Eder, who took part in the 2014 World Cup with Portugal, was selected to represent his country at UEFA Euro 2016. It would be a memorable event for Eder and all of Portugal.

Portugal made it through to the group stage, with Eder playing only a minor role as a substitute.

Eder and his compatriots got through the round of 16, the quarter-finals and the semi-finals, but Eder did not play a single minute in those victories. However, his luck would change in the final against France.

Portugal suffered a huge blow in the final when star player Cristiano Ronaldo had to be substituted in the first half with an injury. Eder came in himself towards the end of the match, which ended 0-0 after 90 minutes. Extra time had to decide who could crown themselves European champions.

Tension was high in extra time as neither team wanted to concede a goal. The first half of extra time ended 0-0, but after the break, Eder would unleash a huge party in Portugal.

In the 109th minute, Eder got the ball outside the 18-yard box and tried his luck with a powerful low shot that went past French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris: 1-0.

Eder and Portugal maintained their lead and crowned themselves European champions for the first time, with the striker going down in history as a national hero.

Now making a name for himself internationally, Eder earned a loan transfer to top Russian club Lokomotiv Moscow in 2017, a move that was made permanent in July 2018.

In Russia, Eder would add more trophies to his record, winning the Russian league, cup (twice) and super cup.

During his time at Lokomotiv, Eder was also part of another Portuguese success story, when the country won the first edition of the UEFA Nations League in front of its own crowd.

Eder's contract at Lokomotiv expired in July 2021, but the player did not immediately find a new club.

It was the Saudi team Al-Raed who lent a helping hand in September 2021 by giving Eder the chance to bring out the best in him one more time. The Portuguese striker showed his gratitude with 6 goals and 1 assist in 23 appearances.

Al-Raed was the last club of Eder, who retired at the end of July 2022.

The striker can look back on an impressive career, especially at international level, with two historic trophies with Portugal under his belt. That's as many as ... Cristiano Rinaldo.