Edmundo

Edmundo Alves de Souza Oliveira (born 2 April 1971), better known simply as Edmundo, is a Brazilian football pundit and retired footballer who played as a forward.

Nicknamed "O Animal", he was a talented yet controversial footballer and drew attention both for his skill, as well as for his volatile behaviour, both on and off the pitch.

He began his career with the club in the amateur divisions in 1982, also later playing for the Botafogo youth side before returning to the club.

Edmundo started his professional career in Vasco da Gama in 1991, making his debut in 1992, where he won the Cariocão Grupo A in 1992.

Edmundo played for Brazil national team from 1992 to 2000.

He went on to make his debut as professional with the Vasco da Gama senior side, where he remained until 1992.

In 1993, he signed with Palmeiras, where he was part of the team that won the Brasileirão Série A in 1993 and 1994 and the Paulistão Série A1 in 1993, which ended the club's 17-year major title drought, and 1994, with a loan spell at Parma in 2000.

He played three Copa América editions, in 1993, 1995 and 1997, winning the 1997 and finished runner-up in 1995.

In 1993, Edmundo left Vasco da Gama and transferred to Palmeiras, where he won the Brasileirão twice, in 1993 and 1994, scoring thirty-four goals in eighty-nine appearances for the club.

Despite his success, he had several disputes with his manager Vanderlei Luxemburgo, and was involved in an altercation with his team-mate Antônio Carlos, which led to Edmundo being sacked by the club.

In 1995, he moved to Flamengo and in 1996, after a loan spell in Corinthians, he returned to Vasco da Gama, where he won the Brasileirão Série A in 1997, netting 29 goals in 28 games, breaking the then Brasileirão Série A scoring record for a season.

On 27 June 1995 he joined Flamengo who paid Palmeiras 5.5 million dollars, one of the highest transfer fees in Brazilian football.

However he stayed in Flamengo for a season in 1995 (two goals in fourteen appearances), and subsequently signed for Corinthians in 1996, although he failed to make an appearance for the club, as he reportedly stormed out of a training session after an argument.

He returned to the club in 1996, and in 1997, when Vasco won the Brasileirão Série A, he was the season's top scorer, his twenty-nine goals breaking a record set by Reinaldo of Atlético Mineiro twenty years earlier.

In that same year, Vasco da Gama scored sixty-nine goals.

That season, Edmundo was named the league's player of the year.

He also scored six goals in a match against União São João.

In 1997, Italian club Fiorentina purchased Edmundo for 13 billion lire (approx. 8 million dollars at the time), and he remained with the team until 1999.

Despite putting on some spectacular performances during his tenure in Florence, which initially endeared him with the fans, his stint in Italy was also marked by inconsistency and controversy, which drew criticism from the press.

In 1998, he moved to Italian club Fiorentina.

He played the World Cup in 1998, where Brazil reached the final and finished runner-up.

He also played the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 1998.

Born in Niterói, Edmundo played for several clubs throughout his career, both in his native country of Brazil and abroad.

However, the history of Edmundo, as a football player, is strongly intertwined with Vasco da Gama.

One particular incident which drew much publicity occurred during the 1998–99 season, under manager Giovanni Trapattoni; Edmundo left the club midway through the season in order to attend the Rio Carnival.

Although at that point Fiorentina were first in the league, due to his absence, as well as strike partner Gabriel Batistuta's injury, Fiorentina missed out on the league title at the end of the season, and as a result, Edmundo had a falling out with the club, his manager, and his team-mates.

In 1999, he returned to Vasco da Gama.

After moving between several clubs abroad, he returned to Vasco da Gama in 1999, where he joined his international team-mate Romário and was initially handed the captain's armband, reaching the final of the 2000 Club World Championship, defeating Manchester United in the process; he was later kicked off the team in 2000 by vice-president Eurico Miranda for lack of discipline, however, after he left the dressing-room before a game.

In April 1999 he returned to Brazil with Vasco da Gama who paid Fiorentina a record 23 billion lire (payable in two installments).

In Vasco he created a lethal partnership in attack with rival Romario with whom they were not in speaking terms.

He later joined Santos on loan in 2000 (scoring thirteen goals in twenty appearances), and Cruzeiro in 2001 (three goals in thirteen appearances).

After loans to Santos and Napoli and a spell at Cruzeiro, in 2001, he moved to Japan, where he played in Tokyo Verdy and Urawa Red Diamonds.

In 2003, he moved to Vasco da Gama, and after spells at Fluminense, Nova Iguaçu, Figueirense and Palmeiras, he returned to Vasco da Gama in 2008, where he retired, returning in 2012 to a testimonial match.

He returned to Vasco da Gama again in 2003, where he remained until the end of the season when was released after scoring only seven goals in nineteen appearances.

After another spell at Vasco da Gama, he joined Fluminense in 2004, scoring seven goals in twenty appearances, and also scored one goal in two appearances whilst playing for Nova Iguaçu in 2005.

He returned to Vasco da Gama in 2008, when he played the last season of his career.

In total, he made 127 appearances with the club.

Regarding his attachment to the club, Edmundo stated that his love for Vasco da Gama was like that between a son and his mother.

On 28 March 2012, he played his testimonial match when Vasco da Gama hosted Barcelona de Guayaquil in a friendly match.

The game ended 9–1 with Edmundo scoring twice.