José Maria Pena

José Maria Pena (27 December 1948 – 1 May 2019), more commonly known as Zé Maria was a Brazilian football player and manager. As a player, he was most known for his career with Atlético Mineiro throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s as he would be a part of the winning squad for the club's first title in the 1971 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A.

Career as a player He began his career with his most notable role with Atlético Mineiro in 1968. During his career, he would play 146 games for Galo and scored a single goal. He would experience considerable success with the club, being part of the winning squads for the 1970 Campeonato Mineiro and 1971 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A as well as be part of the winning squads for three editions of the . He would also play for Coritiba, Náutico Capibaribe where he would win the 1975 , Brasil de Pelotas, Botafogo Futebol Clube and Figueirense throughout the remainder of the 1970s. He would then travel abroad to Venezuela as he would retire following his spell with Deportivo Italia for the 1979 Venezuelan Primera División.

Career as a manager After retirement, he began his coaching career at in Belo Horizonte in 1980. Among the teams he coached such as Al Ahli, Cruzeiro, América, Caldense and Americano, he also served as an assistant coach for the Atlético Mineiro during the 1999 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A and managed for 7 games in 2001.

In 1987, he coached Americano, whose squad was used to represent Rio de Janeiro in the final phase of the . His team would end up winning the tournament, beating the São Paulo team in the final.

However, he stood out in teams within the interior of Minas Gerais, mainly URT and Democrata–GV, whose fans nicknamed him "Zé Milagre" after taking the club from the bottom of its group and qualifying it for the final quadrangular. In the same year, he received the title of citizen of Valadarense.

Zé Maria also commanded Tupi in 2006, Uberlândia in 2009 and Funorte in 2010. He died in Belo Horizonte, at the age of 70 from diabetes complications.