José Maria Rodrigues Alves, better known as Zé Maria, (born in Botucatu

Botucatu

Botucatu is a city in the southeastern region of Brazil and is located 224.8 km from São Paulo, the Capital of the State of São Paulo. The city has a population of about 127,370 inhabitants within a of 1,486.4  square kilometers, on top of a plateau . Botucatu became a township in .The...

, May 18, 1949) is a former association footballer.

During his career (1966–1983) he played for Ferroviário Botucatu, Portuguesa

Associação Portuguesa de Desportos

Associação Portuguesa de Desportos, usually called Portuguesa or Lusa, is a sports club, and a Brazilian football team from São Paulo in São Paulo state, founded on August 14, 1920 by the Portuguese population of the city.-History:...

, Corinthians

Sport Club Corinthians Paulista

Sport Club Corinthians Paulista, commonly just known as Corinthians , is a Brazilian football club based in the city of São Paulo. They play in the São Paulo state league, as well as the Brasileirão, Brazil's top national league...

 and Internacional de Limeira as a right back. He won four São Paulo State Championships

Campeonato Paulista

The Campeonato Paulista de Futebol Profissional da Primeira Divisão - Série A1, simply known as the Campeonato Paulista, is the top-flight professional football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. The league is contested between 20 clubs and typically lasts from January to April...

 (1977, 1979, 1982, 1983).

For the Brazilian team

Brazil national football team

The Brazil national football team represents Brazil in international men's football and is controlled by the Brazilian Football Confederation , the governing body for football in Brazil. They are a member of the International Federation of Association Football since 1923 and also a member of the...

 he played in 46 games from 1971 to 1978. He was a member of the Brazilian squad at the 1970 FIFA World Cup

1970 FIFA World Cup

The 1970 FIFA World Cup, the ninth staging of the World Cup, was held in Mexico, from 31 May to 21 June. The 1970 tournament was the first World Cup hosted in North America, and the first held outside South America and Europe. In a match-up of two-time World Cup champions, the final was won by...

 (as a reserve who did not play), but he played in four matches during the 1974 FIFA World Cup

1974 FIFA World Cup

The 1974 FIFA World Cup, the tenth staging of the World Cup, was held in West Germany from 13 June to 7 July. The tournament marked the first time that the current trophy, the FIFA World Cup Trophy, created by the Italian sculptor Silvio Gazzaniga, was awarded...

.