The wild tale of Brazil's forgotten superstar, Edmundo

Even by the wild standards of Brazilian strikers, Edmundo was a Grade A nutter.

From getting circus animals pissed to swinging punches in cup finals, meet The Animal...

Remember when Ronaldo nearly didn’t play in the 1998 World Cup Final? Of course you do. Remember who nearly replaced him? Probably not.

But you should. Because Edmundo – otherwise known as ‘The Animal’ – spent his career getting circus animals pissed, falling out with every manager he had, and partying so hard he makes Ronaldinho look like James Milner.

If his nickname didn’t already give you a clue, Edmundo played football like he lived life: hard, fast and with very little care for those around him. In his breakthrough season for Vasco de Gama in Brazil, he scored 29 goals in 28 games, and was sent off seven times.

Despite his volatility, Brazil called him up for the Copa América in 1997. Edmundo played superbly as Brazil claimed the title, but he also punched an opponent in the face during the Final.

That didn’t put off Fiorentina, who stumped up a hefty fee to take him to Italy in 1998. In his early days for La Viola, Edmundo threw a strop at a lack of playing time and disappeared back to Brazil.

When he was eventually persuaded to return, he scored in his first game back, and told reporters, "I’m dedicating my goal to myself. After all I’ve been through, I deserve it."

In his second season, Edmundo was on fire as Fiorentina led Serie A and chased a historic league title. So it was pretty inconvenient when, midway through the season, The Animal went AWOL.

The investigation didn’t last long. It was the week of Rio Carnival, and Fiorentina weren’t best pleased to discover their star striker in nothing but a feather boa, samba dancing along the Copacabana with a bottle of cachaça.

They sacked him, and the Animal flounced back to Brazil, where the scandals followed him.

Ever the doting dad, he hired a full circus for his son’s first birthday party. But Edmundo got bored of musical chairs, and zeroed in on an Adidas tracksuit-wearing chimp called Pedrinho.

He decided to get the primate off its tits on whiskey and lager, then appeared on the front cover of FHM sharing a pint with the monkey.

Back at Vasco, he linked up with his old friend and legendary striker Romário. The pair had once been best mates, even releasing an ill-judged rap tune together. But everything went pear-shaped when Edmundo was picked for the World Cup ahead of Romário…

Their feud was beautifully petty. Romário displayed unsavoury caricatures of Edmundo in his bar while The Animal resorted to some schoolboy taunting of his teammate, telling him he was ugly, had no game with the ladies and was only picked because he was mates with the club president.

On the pitch, the pair were far more harmonious, and were excellent as Vasco battered Man Utd in the Club World Cup. But the bad blood soon started to boil…

In a league match shortly after, Vasco won a penalty and Romário wrestled the ball away from regular taker Edmundo. He skied it, and The Animal told a reporter in the middle of the game, "I was training to take them. But it’s the king’s little prince who decides."

Edmundo was done. He left Vasco to embark on a nomadic swansong to his career that comprised ten clubs in eight years. And he still reckons that at his peak he was better than Ronaldo.