Welcome to MLS, Denilson, and thank you for providing the inspiration for this week's First XI. Brazilians have a long and sometimes successful, sometimes amusing history in our league. I'd guess you don't know all these stories, Denilson, or any of them, but we swear they're all true:
11. Right names, wrong guys. The phone was ringing off the hook in preseason of 1996 when the MetroStars announced via press release that they'd drafted two Brazilians, Juninho and Tulio in the 1996 supplemental draft. I should know, I was the Metros PR guy. "You guys signed Juninho? Awesome," most of the calls began. "And I've seen that guy Tulio on Latin Football Weekly, too!" Ah, turns out, and I knew it all along (obviously) that while the footballers the Metros drafted that day had the same names as a couple of well-known Brazilians, they were hardly the originals. The Juninho and Tulio the Metros had signed were a couple of youngsters who did not make it past the first cut. Doh!
10. One in a million. The name thing came into play again in 1997, when the MetroStars brought in Brazilian World Cup-winning coach Carlos Alberto Parreira to coach the squad. No, this wasn't the wrong Carlos Alberto Parreira, but when I asked him if he'd ever seen New England's speedy striker Welton play in Brazil, CAP looked at me and said, "There must be one million boys named Welton playing in Brazil. One million." Welton, who was a bit of an enigma, did go on to have one huge season for the LA Galaxy in '98 and, last I saw, was still playing for Seattle in the USL First Division.
9. The Professor. Parreira was a wonderful, friendly man, who seemed to enjoy his stint with the MetroStars, although when he went to France for the World Cup draw, telling us he'd see us later, I had my doubts. See, I set up an interview for Parreira with a famous soccer writer named Patrick Barclay in London and in the interview CAP spoke of the big money he expected the Middle Eastern teams to be throwing around at the draw. Hmmm. Sure enough, Parreira left the Metros for the head job with Saudi Arabia at the 1998 World Cup, where he didn't even make it to the third game of group play before he was fired. Here's hoping he got paid. I'm sure he did.
8. We hardly knew ya ... When he came to the Metros in '97, Parreira said he'd bring in some young, talented players from his homeland. Enter Guido and Joao Luiz, a defensive midfielder and center back, who came over to be instant starters. I remember, however, on the day Joao Luiz reported, standing nearby as he jogged around the field. I could hear this clicking noise, I swear, every time he jogged by. Turns out Joao and Guido both came to the States with some knee issues. Neither lasted a full season. Both got surgery.
7. Blame it on Rio. Who can ever forget the man who scored the game-winning goal for San Jose in perhaps the Greatest MLS Playoff Game Ever? It was none other than Rodrigo Faria, a Brazilian striker who played college ball at Concordia College in New York. Faria, a scrappy, opportunistic player, was the league's rookie of the year in 2001, and led the Metros in scoring twice. His claim to fame, however, may have been that he always used to report to spring camp late, because, I'm told, he would rather quit playing soccer than miss any of Carnivale in Rio. Hey, if the guy's scoring goals ...
6. Strange to meet you here. One pretty good Brazilian from MLS's early days was a Tampa Bay Mutiny player named Gilmar. A skinny, unorthodox attacking midfielder or forward, Gilmar outperformed many of the league's early Brazilian signings (eight goals in 16 games for the 1997 Mutiny), but his career did not last long. He was with the Mutiny in 1997 and '98 then left the league for two full seasons before Nick Sakiewicz, the Tampa Bay GM back in the day, who became the Metro GM, saw him in the Tampa airport, learned he was on vacation and without a team. Soon enough, Gilmar was playing four regular season games and one playoff game for the '01 MetroStars. Those were, however, his final games in the league.
5. Another famous name. Another player who came bearing the same nickname as a famous Brazilian was San Jose forward Zico, who actually played most of his career in Mexico. His real name was Milton Antonio Nunez and he scored one goal in seven MLS games for the Clash in '97. I also remember Zico being taken out with a two-legged tackle by another Brazilian. Metro fans surely remember him ... he's next on the list.
4. Seeing red. Yes, the man who took out Zico was none other than Branco, probably the most famous Brazilian player to ever join MLS prior to the Denilson signing. In 1997, after Joao Luiz went on injured reserve, Parreira brought Branco into the mix. Famous for his left-footed free kicks, Branco looked like a man who'd settle in perfectly for Parreira's MetroStars. Only one little problem: he got three red cards in 11 matches. He was instrumental in the Metros, a team that fielded as many as nine players with World Cup experience in their starting 11, failing to reach the playoffs. On the positive end, Metro fans will never forget Branco's 35-yard free kick goal in the Open Cup, vs. Dallas, at Columbia University. It was a bomb ... though the Metros lost the game 2-1 in extra time.
3. Quite a story. When it comes to Brazilian back stories, it's hard to beat the story of Thiago Martins, who came to the U.S. thinking he'd be doing anything but playing soccer for a living. He was, in fact, homeless for a spell, living on the beach in California, before he was spotted playing in a park, was asked if he wanted to play some college soccer and ended up playing for several MLS teams, and scoring some pretty good goals. Martins, while not the best finisher the league has ever seen, always seemed to be a real fighter.
2. That's more like it. In recent seasons, better Brazilian talent has made its way in to the league. The first player who comes to mind is Chicago's little engine Thiago, who had six goals and seven assists for the 2005 Fire, only to battle a lot of nagging injuries the past few seasons. Nevertheless, Thiago proved there are good, young Brazilian players out there who can make an impact in MLS.
1. Saving the best for last? Denilson will have his work cut out for him if he wants to be the best Brazilian in MLS this season because, right now, that award goes hands down to Golden Boot front-runner Luciano Emilio of D.C. United. The 28-year-old Sao Paolo native has Juan Pablo Angel, Eddie Johnson and Taylor Twellman on his tail, but you've got to like his chances to become the first Brazilian ever to lead the league in goals. With three more goals, he'll pass Welton for the best single-season goals total by a Brazilian in MLS. And he doesn't look like he's going to be a one-year wonder, either.
Jeff Bradley is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. Send your comments and complaints (200 words or less, please) to Jeff at jbradleyespn2003@yahoo.com and he promises to read (but not respond to) all of them. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com.
