He spent most of his career in Greece with Panathinaikos after starting out at Casa Pia, appearing in more than 200 competitive matches for the former club and winning the 2014 Greek Cup.

Born in Lisbon, Zeca started his career with local Casa Pia AC, joining the club's youth system at the age of 10 and promoting to the fourth division in his first season as a senior.

[7] After more than 100 appearances with the club, on 26 April 2014 Zeca lifted the Greek Cup as team captain, in a final against PAOK FC at the Olympic Stadium in Athens.

[13] On 6 February 2016, Andrea Stramaccioni's team ended the match with ten players as Zeca was shown a straight red card in a 0–1 home loss against Skoda Xanthi FC.

He passed the relevant language and history exams in November 2016, becoming available for national side manager Michael Skibbe in the middle of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign.

[26][27][28] He earned his first cap on 25 March 2017, coming on as a late substitute in a 1–1 away draw against Belgium;[29] in the return match, on 3 September of that year, he scored his first goal in a 1–2 loss in Piraeus.