There have been a lot of promising young Brazilian strikers to come through and grab worldwide headlines, but one name has been all but forgotten amid happier tales of Romarios, Ronaldos, Ronaldinhos and Robinhos. Goal.com’s Sulmaan Ahmad digs up memories of a star that shown bright before fading away into obscurity (Jardel) in relating the current problems that have besought countryman Adriano.
“One of the most prolific strikers in modern history” while plying his trade in Portugal, Jardel “for ten years, was incredible” but “the highest goalscorer in Europe for three consecutive years” is somehow “not even as big a name as Gareth Southgate,” writes Ahmad. Why? For one, on the world stage he was always stuck behind those famous R’s, but his bigger flaw was a “fragile mental state, perhaps brought about by a string of unfortunate circumstances in his personal life.”
All it took was being left of the 2002 World Cup squad (that went on to win the title) to doom Jardel to a future of “fitness woes and journeyman decline.” Ahmad wonders of Adriano’s recent spate of off-field issues might spell the same kind of end for a career that included “almost 30 goals in 2004-05” and an international striking rate of 31 goals in 51 games for the Selecao.