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Brazil legend dubbed 'the animal' got a monkey drunk on whiskey at son's birthday
Blessed with spectacular footballing ability, trouble seemed to follow Brazilian ace Edmundo everywhere he went throughout his 17-year playing career across three continents
Brazilian legends Romario, Rivaldo and Ronaldo are rightly remembered across the globe for their marvellous footballing talents.
Yet there was another lesser known talent playing alongside them in that same era, one which drew attention for both his immense ability and wild behaviour on and off the pitch. Meet Edmundo Alves de Souza Neto - Brazil’s journeyman and biggest maverick of the 1990s.
Aptly nicknamed O Animal (The Animal) by commentator Osmar Santos, Edmundo’s quick, powerful, skilful and creative playing style was matched only by his violent temper. He slapped opponents, clashed with team-mates and even smashed a television camera after he missed a penalty in the Copa Libertadores.
Hailing from Niteroi just outside of Rio de Janeiro, the now 52-year-old began his career with Vasco da Gama. He would re-join the club five more times over the course of his playing days, eventually hanging up his boots in 2008.
Edmundo played for a staggering 13 different clubs over 17 years. Unsurprisingly, it often ended in tears and controversy.
He made his debut for Brazil in 1992 as a 21-year-old and went on to make 39 appearances for the Selecao, scoring 10 times. His most monumental feat in the famous yellow and blue was winning the 1997 Copa America alongside some of the aforementioned names, while he also suffered defeat as a substitute in the 1998 World Cup final to France.
His first major moment of controversy came in the early 1990s when he repeatedly clashed with manager Wanderley Luxemburgo at Palmeiras, his second club. The club decided enough was enough when he physically fought team-mate Antonio Carlos, who later rated Edmundo “10 as a player, 0 as a person”.
He’d go on to form a formidable strike partnership with Romario at Flamengo in 1995, even releasing a rap song together called Rap Dos Bad Boys. Despite their amicable start, the two party-loving stars fell out and would go on to exchange bitter words in the press for years to come.
In December 2015, Edmundo experienced the darkest moment in his life and career. He killed three people while behind the wheel of his Fiat on the way back from the Rio Carnival, including his passenger, who was a young woman.
Eyewitnesses claimed he was speeding, while others said they had seen him drink large quantities of alcohol at a nightclub beforehand. Initially convicted of ‘culpable homicide’, or involuntary manslaughter, he was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail but got away from doing serious time through appeals.
Edmundo left Flamengo less than a year in favour of Corinthians. But he soon walked out of Corinthians’ training ground never to appear again after a bust-up, having not made a single appearance.
Despite all of the on and off the field drama, the two best years of Edmundo's career would follow. He returned to boyhood club Vasco, winning the Brasileirao Serie A and finishing as top scorer with 29 goals in 28 matches. Incredibly, that came in the midst of seven red cards that season.
His form landed him a £6million move to Fiorentina around the time Inter Milan signed compatriot Ronaldo for £25m. Yet what Fiorentina’s president affectionately described as a “lion-like temper” soon came back to bite La Viola.
Edmundo, fuming at his lack of playing time, threw a strop and headed back to Brazil without permission to ‘sort legal issues’ resulting from his 1995 crash. Coincidentally, the Rio Carnival was on at the time.
The Brazilian bad-boy nonchalantly returned to Fiorentina and immediately scored against Napoli, adding after the game: “I dedicate my goal to myself after all I’ve been through in recent times. I think I deserve it.”
Three more goals followed and he earned a call-up to the 1998 World Cup, where he drove his team-mates nuts with incessant complaints about being behind Ronaldo in the pecking order. Still, Edmundo delivered for Fiorentina under Giovanni Trappatoni once the new season began, scoring goals against Napoli and Salernitana.
Yet constant rows with Trappatoni would soon fracture their relationship and, with Gabriel Batistuta’s injury requiring Edmundo to step in on the night of an AC Milan clash, the forward instead opted to head back home for the Rio Carnival festivities. “No-one asked me to stay and, even if someone did, I still would’ve gone,” he shrugged.
Unsurprisingly, his selfish behaviour did not go down well in Italy, but Edmundo could simply not care less. He revelled in a pro-celebrity foot-volleyball match at Ipanema beach, Rio, while his club were losing 1-0 to Udinese.
With Fiorentina unable to take anymore of his nonsense, 'The Animal’ was finally let out of the cage and left to his own devices in Brazil as he once more returned to Vasco. And he managed to live up to his nickname again in an outrageous incident at his son’s first birthday party.
Edmundo has hired an entire circus to pitch up in his garden for the occasion. Caught in the crossfire of his twisted humour was a chimpanzee wearing a full Adidas tracksuit, named Pedrinho, who he fed beer and whisky.
Animal rights campaigners were livid but Edmundo insisted he had done nothing wrong. Things on the pitch weren’t going much better, with Edmundo missing a crucial penalty in the FIFA World Club Championships Final, 2000. He was kicked out of Vasco by vice-president Eurico Miranda for disciplinary reasons.
A tumultuous eight-year period followed for the Animal which saw him play for 11 clubs across Brazil, Italy and even Japan. He returned to Vasco for one last dance in 2008, scoring 24 goals before finally saying goodbye to the not-so-beautiful game.
Edmundo has since worked as a pundit for various broadcasters, covering the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 amongst other competitions.
Daily Star Sunday
Blessed with spectacular footballing ability, trouble seemed to follow Brazilian ace Edmundo everywhere he went throughout his 17-year playing career across three continents
Brazilian legends Romario, Rivaldo and Ronaldo are rightly remembered across the globe for their marvellous footballing talents.
Yet there was another lesser known talent playing alongside them in that same era, one which drew attention for both his immense ability and wild behaviour on and off the pitch. Meet Edmundo Alves de Souza Neto - Brazil’s journeyman and biggest maverick of the 1990s.
Aptly nicknamed O Animal (The Animal) by commentator Osmar Santos, Edmundo’s quick, powerful, skilful and creative playing style was matched only by his violent temper. He slapped opponents, clashed with team-mates and even smashed a television camera after he missed a penalty in the Copa Libertadores.
Hailing from Niteroi just outside of Rio de Janeiro, the now 52-year-old began his career with Vasco da Gama. He would re-join the club five more times over the course of his playing days, eventually hanging up his boots in 2008.
Edmundo played for a staggering 13 different clubs over 17 years. Unsurprisingly, it often ended in tears and controversy.
He made his debut for Brazil in 1992 as a 21-year-old and went on to make 39 appearances for the Selecao, scoring 10 times. His most monumental feat in the famous yellow and blue was winning the 1997 Copa America alongside some of the aforementioned names, while he also suffered defeat as a substitute in the 1998 World Cup final to France.
His first major moment of controversy came in the early 1990s when he repeatedly clashed with manager Wanderley Luxemburgo at Palmeiras, his second club. The club decided enough was enough when he physically fought team-mate Antonio Carlos, who later rated Edmundo “10 as a player, 0 as a person”.
He’d go on to form a formidable strike partnership with Romario at Flamengo in 1995, even releasing a rap song together called Rap Dos Bad Boys. Despite their amicable start, the two party-loving stars fell out and would go on to exchange bitter words in the press for years to come.
In December 2015, Edmundo experienced the darkest moment in his life and career. He killed three people while behind the wheel of his Fiat on the way back from the Rio Carnival, including his passenger, who was a young woman.
Eyewitnesses claimed he was speeding, while others said they had seen him drink large quantities of alcohol at a nightclub beforehand. Initially convicted of ‘culpable homicide’, or involuntary manslaughter, he was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail but got away from doing serious time through appeals.
Edmundo left Flamengo less than a year in favour of Corinthians. But he soon walked out of Corinthians’ training ground never to appear again after a bust-up, having not made a single appearance.
Despite all of the on and off the field drama, the two best years of Edmundo's career would follow. He returned to boyhood club Vasco, winning the Brasileirao Serie A and finishing as top scorer with 29 goals in 28 matches. Incredibly, that came in the midst of seven red cards that season.
His form landed him a £6million move to Fiorentina around the time Inter Milan signed compatriot Ronaldo for £25m. Yet what Fiorentina’s president affectionately described as a “lion-like temper” soon came back to bite La Viola.
Edmundo, fuming at his lack of playing time, threw a strop and headed back to Brazil without permission to ‘sort legal issues’ resulting from his 1995 crash. Coincidentally, the Rio Carnival was on at the time.
The Brazilian bad-boy nonchalantly returned to Fiorentina and immediately scored against Napoli, adding after the game: “I dedicate my goal to myself after all I’ve been through in recent times. I think I deserve it.”
Three more goals followed and he earned a call-up to the 1998 World Cup, where he drove his team-mates nuts with incessant complaints about being behind Ronaldo in the pecking order. Still, Edmundo delivered for Fiorentina under Giovanni Trappatoni once the new season began, scoring goals against Napoli and Salernitana.
Yet constant rows with Trappatoni would soon fracture their relationship and, with Gabriel Batistuta’s injury requiring Edmundo to step in on the night of an AC Milan clash, the forward instead opted to head back home for the Rio Carnival festivities. “No-one asked me to stay and, even if someone did, I still would’ve gone,” he shrugged.
Unsurprisingly, his selfish behaviour did not go down well in Italy, but Edmundo could simply not care less. He revelled in a pro-celebrity foot-volleyball match at Ipanema beach, Rio, while his club were losing 1-0 to Udinese.
With Fiorentina unable to take anymore of his nonsense, 'The Animal’ was finally let out of the cage and left to his own devices in Brazil as he once more returned to Vasco. And he managed to live up to his nickname again in an outrageous incident at his son’s first birthday party.
Edmundo has hired an entire circus to pitch up in his garden for the occasion. Caught in the crossfire of his twisted humour was a chimpanzee wearing a full Adidas tracksuit, named Pedrinho, who he fed beer and whisky.
Animal rights campaigners were livid but Edmundo insisted he had done nothing wrong. Things on the pitch weren’t going much better, with Edmundo missing a crucial penalty in the FIFA World Club Championships Final, 2000. He was kicked out of Vasco by vice-president Eurico Miranda for disciplinary reasons.
A tumultuous eight-year period followed for the Animal which saw him play for 11 clubs across Brazil, Italy and even Japan. He returned to Vasco for one last dance in 2008, scoring 24 goals before finally saying goodbye to the not-so-beautiful game.
Edmundo has since worked as a pundit for various broadcasters, covering the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 amongst other competitions.
Daily Star Sunday