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Arsenal striker Eduardo ready to start making headlines for the right reasons
What do you do when you just don't get the breaks? Perhaps not the best turn of phrase when it comes to Eduardo but it does seem that this shy Brazilian has been treated particularly poorly by fortune since arriving in north London.
By Duncan White
Published: 8:03PM GMT 13 Feb 2010
Setting his sights: Arsenal striker Edurado believes that he and his team-mates can dominate European football for years to come if they stick together Photo: GEOFF PUGH
That horrific injury, exhausting rehabilitation, accusations of cheating, a series of further frustrating minor injuries, an understandable, if temporary, loss of confidence: not a run you would wish on anyone. Yet as he prepares to return from his latest injury, against Porto in the Champions League on Wednesday, Eduardo's luck might just be about to turn.
Meeting on a cold drizzly afternoon in Cockfosters, you wonder why he has not just given up and bolted for the year-round sun of his birthplace, Rio de Janeiro, or even to the Mediterranean comfort of his adopted home, Zagreb.
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Eduardo, though, is determined to put the past behind him and concentrate on what he is convinced is a glorious future. At 26 he is one of the eldest in this group of Arsenal players, a group he believes has extraordinary potential. During the whole interview he remains mild and quietly spoken, except when speaking about the future of this group. If they stick together, he sincerely believes they can make history.
"The hardest thing will be to keep this group together because as the players flourish and improve, other clubs are going to try and take them," he said. "But if we stay together for the next four or five years, and I say this with my heart, we can rule England and Europe.
"The group is growing up together and getting tighter. We are getting to know each other better. We have more confidence and this brings a stronger mental attitude.
"With everything going our way, we could have an amazing three seasons like Manchester United have had. Just look at this season. Even when luck hasn't gone our way, with the injuries we've had, we're still in a really good position in both the Premier League and the Champions League."
Arsene Wenger concedes that over the last few seasons his side have often looked more effective when playing European football, his technical virtuosos better suited to the slower tempo and less liberal refereeing. The players certainly seem to have more self-belief when taking on big clubs in Europe than they do taking on their rivals domestically. That is why many believe Arsenal's best chance of winning silverware this season will come in Madrid on May 22.
"The opportunity is there for us to achieve things," Eduardo said. "Two seasons ago we were in the quarters, last season in the semis, why shouldn't we make the final this year? If everything falls into place we have the potential in this group to win titles. We just need things to go our way."
It is clear what Eduardo means by that. The story of the club's season has been one of momentum punctured by injuries. They scrapped out a 1-0 win over Liverpool on Wednesday night but came away with more problems.
Andrei Arshavin has a hamstring injury and Alex Song a medial knee ligament problem. These are just the latest players to succumb in a season undermined by strained muscles and broken bones, with Robin van Persie's ankle injury the most damaging.
Eduardo picked up a series of irritating knocks and pulls over the winter, which prevented him getting a run of games together at a time when Wenger had noticed a return to the striker's old sharpness after what he saw as a temporary loss of confidence.
"We are seeing the old Eduardo again," he said before the latest hamstring problem. He is back fit now, however, and Wenger expects him to feature against Porto.
"I had a good pre-season things were going well," he said. "I had a good start to the season but then injuries started happening again. What I need now is a sequence of matches to show what I can do. With the trust of Arsene Wenger I'm sure I can go places. Every game is a new life with the chance to get better and better."
No wonder he thinks he needs a run of games. Since signing for the club from Dinamo Zagreb (for a fee in the region of £7.5 million) in July 2007 he has started just 25 Premier League games. That, of course, is largely down to the injury he suffered the following February.
It was no ordinary injury. He broke his leg and dislocated his ankle after Martin Taylor of Birmingham had badly mistimed a tackle. So distressing was the footage that it was deemed unfit for television replays. It was not mere media hyperbole when it emerged that Eduardo could have lost his leg.
The professionalism and dedication of Arsenal's medical team ensured that Eduardo was back playing football a week short of a year later. These days, Eduardo considers it a closed chapter, a nadir he would rather forget. "The worst has already happened," he said. "There has been time enough for me to move forward. It certainly can't get worse than that."
The beginning of this season had Eduardo back in the headlines for the wrong reasons. In August he was charged by Uefa for 'simulation' after diving against Celtic. The actual incident might not have been his finest moment but as Wenger was quick to point out, it was no different to the incidents that happened in every game in every country in Europe. Arsenal won their appeal.
"I did not think too much about what happened after the accusations were made, partly because I went away straight away with the Croatian national team," Eduardo said. "It helped to isolate me from it. When I came back I felt really protected by the group at Arsenal, though."
Eduardo clearly feels at home amongst this group of young players hungry for future succes. "Wenger does not buy stars, he builds stars.
"I love this philosophy, that he does not go out and spend lots of money on a player because of their reputation. He looks at players and sees qualities that other people cannot. This is rare in world football.
"Just look at what he has done with Bacary Sagna and Thomas Vermaelen – they are great examples of this, of spotting players that will fit at Arsenal, not just going for the money."
The implication is clear: if Wenger believes in Eduardo, and the patient Frenchman clearly does, then another star could be made.
Eduardo has had an unusual route to the elite level of football. "I grew up in a place in Rio called Villa Kennedy, where there is a small but traditional club called Bangu. I started training with their youth academy but it was really hard to get a chance to prove yourself. When I was 16 I was playing in what is called the Favela championship when I was spotted by a scout for this club in Croatia. One thing led to another and suddenly I was heading straight over to Croatia."
Villa Kennedy is far from the worst part in Rio, working class but with a sense of community. Eduardo still holds a strong affection for where he grew up and, after scoring against Wolves earlier this season he lifted his shirt to reveal the message "Peace to Villa Kennedy".
"Rio has its problems so I'm always thinking of people back home. There's no comparison between Rio and London – starting with the weather! Bangu, where I'm from, is the hottest part of Rio, too. It's always summer there. But there's a better quality of life here, everything is more organised. It is hard to compare the two cities," he said.
"I first went over to Croatia for a three-month trial with another Brazilian, called Leandro. I was still 16 so could not play for the first team so I spent the three months with the youth team. I flew back to Brazil at the end of the trial but then, at the end of January, I received a plane ticket to fly back to Croatia. Then they lent me out to a second division team, Inter Zaperesic.
"It's where Dinamo send their loan players – Luka Modric and Vedran Corluka both went there a couple of years after me. We got promoted in my first season and Dinamo called me back."
He laughs at the story that is circulated about him that he slept in a storeroom at Dinamo when he first arrived. "It was five-star hotels," he said. "Although I did spend 10 nights in one of the club dorms, I think the story of the storeroom was journalists adding some sugar to the coffee.
"It wasn't so hard to adapt to the culture, the weather is nice in Croatia and the food is Mediterranean, but the language was difficult because I didn't speak English, let along Croatian. I'm adapted so well though that it's hard to think about the past, before I arrived in Croatia."
Eduardo went on to score prolifically for Dinamo, took citizenship and was called up to the national team. So much did he adapt that he began to speak Portuguese with an accent. For Slaven Bilic's side he famously scored one of the goals in Zagreb as England lost 2-0 in their disastrous Euro 2008 qualifiers. He remains very close to his adopted compatriots.
"That family feeling, that kind of mentality is the driving force of Croatian football. It explains a lot about why they punch above their weight I international football, certainly if you look at a comparison of population size. If we had qualified for the World Cup we would have been considered as a probable seed, with all these bigger countries.
"I meet up with the other Croatian guys a lot. We try and get together every time we have a day off: Niko Kranjcar, Corluka and Modric. It is something that Bilic encouraged us to do when he visited. He would encourage us all to get together and it's something we've carried on doing. I'm always in touch with them."
Despite his success in Zagreb, the move to Arsenal came as a surprise, with Eduardo feeling he had somehow got ahead of himself.
"I only believed I had joined Arsenal when I signed the contract. It went against the usual way that Croatian players develop. They have three tiers. They start in Croatia. Then, if they are successful, they get the chance to play in a medium club in Germany or France. Only when they have succeeded there do they get the chance to join the best.
"I felt like I was jumping a whole stage – it surprised me to suddenly find myself at one of the top ten clubs in the world. I was so overwhelmed, I didn't believe it until I'd signed."
What do you do when you just don't get the breaks? Perhaps not the best turn of phrase when it comes to Eduardo but it does seem that this shy Brazilian has been treated particularly poorly by fortune since arriving in north London.
By Duncan White
Published: 8:03PM GMT 13 Feb 2010
Setting his sights: Arsenal striker Edurado believes that he and his team-mates can dominate European football for years to come if they stick together Photo: GEOFF PUGH That horrific injury, exhausting rehabilitation, accusations of cheating, a series of further frustrating minor injuries, an understandable, if temporary, loss of confidence: not a run you would wish on anyone. Yet as he prepares to return from his latest injury, against Porto in the Champions League on Wednesday, Eduardo's luck might just be about to turn.
Meeting on a cold drizzly afternoon in Cockfosters, you wonder why he has not just given up and bolted for the year-round sun of his birthplace, Rio de Janeiro, or even to the Mediterranean comfort of his adopted home, Zagreb.
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Eduardo, though, is determined to put the past behind him and concentrate on what he is convinced is a glorious future. At 26 he is one of the eldest in this group of Arsenal players, a group he believes has extraordinary potential. During the whole interview he remains mild and quietly spoken, except when speaking about the future of this group. If they stick together, he sincerely believes they can make history.
"The hardest thing will be to keep this group together because as the players flourish and improve, other clubs are going to try and take them," he said. "But if we stay together for the next four or five years, and I say this with my heart, we can rule England and Europe.
"The group is growing up together and getting tighter. We are getting to know each other better. We have more confidence and this brings a stronger mental attitude.
"With everything going our way, we could have an amazing three seasons like Manchester United have had. Just look at this season. Even when luck hasn't gone our way, with the injuries we've had, we're still in a really good position in both the Premier League and the Champions League."
Arsene Wenger concedes that over the last few seasons his side have often looked more effective when playing European football, his technical virtuosos better suited to the slower tempo and less liberal refereeing. The players certainly seem to have more self-belief when taking on big clubs in Europe than they do taking on their rivals domestically. That is why many believe Arsenal's best chance of winning silverware this season will come in Madrid on May 22.
"The opportunity is there for us to achieve things," Eduardo said. "Two seasons ago we were in the quarters, last season in the semis, why shouldn't we make the final this year? If everything falls into place we have the potential in this group to win titles. We just need things to go our way."
It is clear what Eduardo means by that. The story of the club's season has been one of momentum punctured by injuries. They scrapped out a 1-0 win over Liverpool on Wednesday night but came away with more problems.
Andrei Arshavin has a hamstring injury and Alex Song a medial knee ligament problem. These are just the latest players to succumb in a season undermined by strained muscles and broken bones, with Robin van Persie's ankle injury the most damaging.
Eduardo picked up a series of irritating knocks and pulls over the winter, which prevented him getting a run of games together at a time when Wenger had noticed a return to the striker's old sharpness after what he saw as a temporary loss of confidence.
"We are seeing the old Eduardo again," he said before the latest hamstring problem. He is back fit now, however, and Wenger expects him to feature against Porto.
"I had a good pre-season things were going well," he said. "I had a good start to the season but then injuries started happening again. What I need now is a sequence of matches to show what I can do. With the trust of Arsene Wenger I'm sure I can go places. Every game is a new life with the chance to get better and better."
No wonder he thinks he needs a run of games. Since signing for the club from Dinamo Zagreb (for a fee in the region of £7.5 million) in July 2007 he has started just 25 Premier League games. That, of course, is largely down to the injury he suffered the following February.
It was no ordinary injury. He broke his leg and dislocated his ankle after Martin Taylor of Birmingham had badly mistimed a tackle. So distressing was the footage that it was deemed unfit for television replays. It was not mere media hyperbole when it emerged that Eduardo could have lost his leg.
The professionalism and dedication of Arsenal's medical team ensured that Eduardo was back playing football a week short of a year later. These days, Eduardo considers it a closed chapter, a nadir he would rather forget. "The worst has already happened," he said. "There has been time enough for me to move forward. It certainly can't get worse than that."
The beginning of this season had Eduardo back in the headlines for the wrong reasons. In August he was charged by Uefa for 'simulation' after diving against Celtic. The actual incident might not have been his finest moment but as Wenger was quick to point out, it was no different to the incidents that happened in every game in every country in Europe. Arsenal won their appeal.
"I did not think too much about what happened after the accusations were made, partly because I went away straight away with the Croatian national team," Eduardo said. "It helped to isolate me from it. When I came back I felt really protected by the group at Arsenal, though."
Eduardo clearly feels at home amongst this group of young players hungry for future succes. "Wenger does not buy stars, he builds stars.
"I love this philosophy, that he does not go out and spend lots of money on a player because of their reputation. He looks at players and sees qualities that other people cannot. This is rare in world football.
"Just look at what he has done with Bacary Sagna and Thomas Vermaelen – they are great examples of this, of spotting players that will fit at Arsenal, not just going for the money."
The implication is clear: if Wenger believes in Eduardo, and the patient Frenchman clearly does, then another star could be made.
Eduardo has had an unusual route to the elite level of football. "I grew up in a place in Rio called Villa Kennedy, where there is a small but traditional club called Bangu. I started training with their youth academy but it was really hard to get a chance to prove yourself. When I was 16 I was playing in what is called the Favela championship when I was spotted by a scout for this club in Croatia. One thing led to another and suddenly I was heading straight over to Croatia."
Villa Kennedy is far from the worst part in Rio, working class but with a sense of community. Eduardo still holds a strong affection for where he grew up and, after scoring against Wolves earlier this season he lifted his shirt to reveal the message "Peace to Villa Kennedy".
"Rio has its problems so I'm always thinking of people back home. There's no comparison between Rio and London – starting with the weather! Bangu, where I'm from, is the hottest part of Rio, too. It's always summer there. But there's a better quality of life here, everything is more organised. It is hard to compare the two cities," he said.
"I first went over to Croatia for a three-month trial with another Brazilian, called Leandro. I was still 16 so could not play for the first team so I spent the three months with the youth team. I flew back to Brazil at the end of the trial but then, at the end of January, I received a plane ticket to fly back to Croatia. Then they lent me out to a second division team, Inter Zaperesic.
"It's where Dinamo send their loan players – Luka Modric and Vedran Corluka both went there a couple of years after me. We got promoted in my first season and Dinamo called me back."
He laughs at the story that is circulated about him that he slept in a storeroom at Dinamo when he first arrived. "It was five-star hotels," he said. "Although I did spend 10 nights in one of the club dorms, I think the story of the storeroom was journalists adding some sugar to the coffee.
"It wasn't so hard to adapt to the culture, the weather is nice in Croatia and the food is Mediterranean, but the language was difficult because I didn't speak English, let along Croatian. I'm adapted so well though that it's hard to think about the past, before I arrived in Croatia."
Eduardo went on to score prolifically for Dinamo, took citizenship and was called up to the national team. So much did he adapt that he began to speak Portuguese with an accent. For Slaven Bilic's side he famously scored one of the goals in Zagreb as England lost 2-0 in their disastrous Euro 2008 qualifiers. He remains very close to his adopted compatriots.
"That family feeling, that kind of mentality is the driving force of Croatian football. It explains a lot about why they punch above their weight I international football, certainly if you look at a comparison of population size. If we had qualified for the World Cup we would have been considered as a probable seed, with all these bigger countries.
"I meet up with the other Croatian guys a lot. We try and get together every time we have a day off: Niko Kranjcar, Corluka and Modric. It is something that Bilic encouraged us to do when he visited. He would encourage us all to get together and it's something we've carried on doing. I'm always in touch with them."
Despite his success in Zagreb, the move to Arsenal came as a surprise, with Eduardo feeling he had somehow got ahead of himself.
"I only believed I had joined Arsenal when I signed the contract. It went against the usual way that Croatian players develop. They have three tiers. They start in Croatia. Then, if they are successful, they get the chance to play in a medium club in Germany or France. Only when they have succeeded there do they get the chance to join the best.
"I felt like I was jumping a whole stage – it surprised me to suddenly find myself at one of the top ten clubs in the world. I was so overwhelmed, I didn't believe it until I'd signed."