adminEdmundo is the Brazilian party animal who makes even Ronaldinho look tame in comparison.
The retired forward made 37 appearances for the Brazilian national team, scoring 10 goals and winning the 1997 Copa America along the way.
However, it was his poor discipline and off-field antics which often landed Edmundo in the headlines during his playing career, which consisted of spells in Japan, Italy and his native Brazil.
Nicknamed “The Animal”, Edmundo’s bonkers behaviour included punching opponents and getting animals drunk. The latter occurred at his son’s first birthday when he gave a chimp named Pedrinho a beer.
He was also seen handing the chimpanzee a bottle of whiskey, much to the anger of animal rights campaigners in Brazil, who went public with their criticism of Edmundo’s behaviour.
Edmundo later shared a pint with the monkey as they appeared on the cover of FHM. The retired forward’s intense party lifestyle and on-field antics made him a cult hero prior to his retirement.
His life had started under difficult circumstances, with Edmundo raised in the slums of Rio de Janeiro before finding success on the football pitch. His father was a barber, while his mum worked long hours as a cleaner during his upbringing.
In his breakthrough season for Vasco da Gama in 1991/92, Edmundo scored 29 goals in 28 appearances, but was also sent off no fewer than seven times.
He was then sacked by the club in 1993 after fighting with team-mate Antonio Carlos. In a 2017 interview, Carlos described Edmundo as “10 as a player and 0 as a person”.
After forming a strong friendship with Brazil legend Romario, the pair released a rap song in 1995 and became known for their party lifestyle. Edmundo was even pictured alongside Argentina legend and fellow party king Diego Maradona.
Edmundo was also sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison after being convicted of “culpable homicide”. The conviction came after he had been behind the wheel of a Jeep Cherokee that collided with a Fiat in December 1995.
The crash killed three people, including his passenger, a young woman. Despite being sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison, appeals meant Edmundo barely spent any time in jail.
1995 proved an eventful year for Edmundo, with the Brazil star detained during the Copa America in Ecuador. Edmundo had kicked a local cameraman after missing a penalty and was only released when the Brazilian government intervened.
With off-field controversies following Edmundo throughout his career, one Brazilian journalist once posed the question whether he was “a liability to mankind” or “simply a deeply flawed human being, a man who struggled to reconcile a blessed gift with a cursed temperament?”
Edmundo went on to retire in 2008 and has since forged a career in television, appearing on coverage of football in Brazil in the years since. – Daily Star.
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter