STATESMEN TABS DE SOUZA TO LEAD MEN'S SOCCER PROGRAM

PETERSBURG, VA, August 5, 2014-Eduardo de Souza enters his first season as the head men's soccer coach at Richard Bland College. De Souza has been seeking an opportunity to run his own program and he is looking forward to the challenge. 

Eduardo de Souza spent the previous six seasons as part of the Longwood men's soccer program, and has served two season's as the team's associate head coach. Previously, de Souza was an assistant coach since beginning his employment on September 10, 2009. Prior to joining the Lancers, he served as a coach at the Schulz Academy in Boca Raton, Fla. and was an assistant coach at Mercer University. de Souza serves as head coach for the local Heart of Virginia SC club soccer program's U12 team.

de Souza has coached at the Zico Academy in Orlando, Fla. since 2010. In this role, he works with Arthur "Zico" Antunes Coimbra, a world-renown soccer player who led Brazil to three World Cups and scored more than 800 goals in his professional career.

de Souza is a product of Brazil's Gremio FBPA, but also has playing experience in Spain (Desportivo) and the United States (Tempest USL). He helped Gremio FBPA to a second-place finish in Brazil in 1992. He began his coaching career at Sport Club International, where he worked primarily with the 'Junior' program, coaching the likes of Brazilian National Team members Rafael Sobis, Alexandre Pato and Nilmar Honorato da Silva. de Souza currently holds a US Soccer Coaching C License, in addition to his Brazilian B License.

de Souza earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in mass communication at Trevecca Nazarene University in Tennessee and a Master of Science degree in education at Mercer. He was a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) All-American student-athlete at Mid-Continent University in Kentucky, helping the program to a pair of NAIA Final Four appearances before transferring to Trevecca Nazarene.

A native of Porto Alegre, Brazil, de Souza and his wife, Larissa, have a daughter, Livia (2).