Edmundo Alves de Souza Oliveira, better known simply as “Edmundo”, also went by the nickname “The Animal.” When it comes to being a football rogue, Edmundo was in a class of his own.
Where do we start with the Brazilian wildman? There are simply too many stories to back up Edmundo’s rogue status. They range from the bizarre to serious. Rather than start with the one about the monkey, the one about the “carnival clause” in his contract or the many, many punch-ups, we’ll begin with the most serious.
Whilst playing for Flamengo in 1995, an evening at a nightclub ended with the striker driving home. On his way he collided with another vehicle, killing three people in the other car. He barely served any time in jail for the collision for which he was found guilty and sentenced to four-and-a-half-years in prison.
Now, let us talk about the monkey. In 1999, Edmundo wanted to do something memorable for his son’s first birthday. The Brazilian frontman did the obvious thing and hired an entire circus. Not only did he hire the circus, he had it pitch up in his back garden. Whilst the circus came to visit, Edmundo was pictured feeding whisky and beer to a chimpanzee. The tale of the drunken monkey may have fallen into that of mythology if not for the photographic evidence. Pictures of the striker feeding alcohol to the circus chimp led to calls for prosecution from animal rights campaigners. Meanwhile, the chimpanzee apparently had a great time!
Edmundo did not have an easy upbringing. Life was difficult growing up in one of Rio de Janeiro’s poorest areas. Like others before him, football was an escape route. He was called up to a local youth set up at 15, before being expelled for streaking across the facility grounds.
It was a trip back to his home country that got him in bother again whilst at Fiorentina. The club had started the season well and were in contention for the Serie A title. Edmundo then decided to exercise the “carnival clause” in his contract, which allowed him to return to Brazil for the Rio Carnival. On his return, his furious team-mates had slipped behind in the title race and Edmundo’s popularity in the dressing room was gone.
Then there were the fights… the many fights. He was sacked from Palmeiras after getting into a punch-up with his team-mate Antonio Carlos. He signed for Corinthians but left without playing a game after - guess what - a training ground fight.
His apparent enjoyment for physical altercations was not confined to the training pitch. Before his sacking by Palmeiras he had been given a 40-day suspension for shoving a referee in the face. He later sparked a huge brawl on the field in a different match by punching two opponents, which led to six players being sent off.
Even his good friends were not safe: Edmundo’s former team-mate Romario fell foul to his no-nonsense approach. The two not only played together, they also released a rap song together. All was forgotten when Edmundo fell out with the Brazil legend when he found out that Romario had an unflattering caricature drawing of “The Animal” on the wall in his bar.
Edmundo was also a very good footballer and may have been even better had the fights, car crashes and drunken chimpanzees not got in the way.