Born in Coimbra, Castro entered hometown Académica de Coimbra's youth ranks as a child, and made his Primeira Liga debut on 5 October 2003, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–4 away loss to FC Porto. Despite his young age, he eventually became an undisputed starter and team captain. In the 2006 off-season, after unfinished advances by Portugal's Big Three, Castro signed with Spanish club Atlético Madrid. In his first year, he benefitted from injuries to teammates, appearing in 22 La Liga matches, with two goals, but featured rarely in the following. In the summer of 2008, Castro joined fellow league side Deportivo de La Coruña, on a season-long loan, with the Galicians having a buyout clause of €2 million for 50% of the player's rights. Again due to injury – habitual starter Pablo Amo was sidelined for months with an Achilles tendon problem – the Portuguese was able to start most of the campaign, and the option was activated for a permanent move. Zé Castro appeared in only ten games in 2009–10, and featured even less in the following season, prompting him to request a move in mid-November 2010. In March 2011, he was to be picked as a last-minute substitute for a league match against Real Sociedad after Aythami Artiles went down with a bout of gastroenteritis, but did not present himself at the Estadio Riazor, and could not be traced through his cellphone. Following Depors two relegations in the space of three seasons, and a promotionin between, Zé Castro returned to both Madrid and the Spanish top flight on 29 August 2013, signing a season's deal at Rayo Vallecano. In early July 2015, the 32-year-old extended that by a further three. On 25 September 2017, Castro returned to Académica after an absence of 11 years.
International career
Shortly after his debuts with Académica, Castro became a defensive stalwart for the Portugal under-21s, and appeared at the 2006 UEFA European Championship on home soil. There, he played in three complete matches as the team exited in the group stage, and scored an own goal in the 0–2 defeat against Serbia. On 10 June 2009, Castro finally made his full debut, in a 0–0 friendly draw in Estonia. On 10 May of the following year, in spite of a poor season at Deportivo, he was included in a provisional squad of 24 players announced by Carlos Queiroz in view of the 2010 FIFA World Cup; however, after Pepe recovered in time to participate in the competition, he was cut.
