Mário Jardel

Mário Jardel
Personal information
Full name	Mário Jardel de Almeida Ribeiro
Date of birth	18 September 1973 (1973-09-18) (age 36)
Place of birth	Fortaleza, Brazil
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Ferroviário
Number	9
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1989–1990 1991–1995 1995–1996 1996–2000 2000–2001 2001–2003 2003–2004 2004 2004 2005 2005–2006 2006–2007 2007 2007–2008 2008 2009	Ferroviário Vasco da Gama Grêmio Porto Galatasaray Sporting CP Bolton Wanderers Ancona Newell's Old Boys Deportivo Alavés Goiás Beira-Mar Anorthosis Famagusta Newcastle Jets Criciúma Ferroviário	000 00(0) 050 0(26) 042 0(31) 125 (130) 024 0(22) 049 0(53) 007 00(0) 003 00(0) 003 00(0) 000 00(0) 004 00(1) 012 00(3) 007 00(2) 011 00(0) 017 00(6)
National team
1996–2001	Brazil	007 00(1)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Mário Jardel de Almeida Ribeiro (born 18 September 1973) is a Brazilian professional footballer who is currently a free agent. Despite not possessing extreme technical ability, Jardel was most noted for his positioning on the field and 'being at the right place at the right time. With this exceptional positioning ability, Jardel was able to become one of Europe's most prolific strikers during his time at FC Porto, Galatasaray, and Sporting Clube de Portugal.

Club career

Brazil

Jardel played for Vasco da Gama, but moved in 1995 to Grêmio Porto Alegre, where he won the Libertadores Cup.

Porto

In 1996, he was linked to several teams, and after failing to transfer to Benfica and Rangers (due to the strict British rules involving non-EU players), he signed with Portuguese side FC Porto, where with help from players such as Zlatko Zahovič, Sérgio Conceição, and Ljubinko Drulović, he was the top goalscorer in Europe for three years (1998–99, 1999–00, 2001–02), with a goal average of slightly over one goal per match (130 goals in 125 games, avg: 1.04). Although he was top scorer three times, due to the use of coefficients based on each European league's standards, he only won twice, the 1998–99 and 2001–02 European Golden Boots. He lost out to Kevin Phillips in 1999–00 despite Phillips having scored six goals less than Jardel.

Porto Statistics:

Galatasaray

Jardel's future seemed bright enough. Before the 2000–01 season he was traded to the Turkish club Galatasaray, winners of UEFA Cup in 2000, for exactly $16 million.

Scoring five goals in his debut match suggested he would adapt well to his new club, but towards the end of the season injuries and growing personal problems hinted he was soon going to leave Turkey again. Regardless, he was part of the Galatasaray team that won the UEFA Super Cup, himself scoring twice to beat Real Madrid 2-1 in the SuperCup final, and reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League, with Jardel scoring six goals in the competition in victories against teams such as Milan and Real Madrid. He was also a favorite of Galatasaray fans, who called him "Super Mário" Jardel. He ended the season with 22 goals.

Galatasaray Statistics:

Sporting CP

In 2001–02, he tried to return to Portugal. The first team interested in his contract was Benfica, and was a major key in Manuel Vilarinho's campaign, but talks failed. He then returned to FC Porto, but his transfer was refused by coach Octávio Machado. Sporting Clube de Portugal appeared last and signed him.

The 2001–02 season proved hugely successful to Jardel — he scored 42 goals in 30 games, and Sporting won both the Portuguese Liga and the Portuguese Cup. He also won the Prize "Player of the Year" by the Portuguese newspaper Record — one of the only two foreign players to achieve this, the other being Lisandro López.

Sporting Statistics:

Decline

While the 2001–02 season was arguably the best of Jardel's career, the following 2002–03 season proved to be the beginning of the end. Left off the Brazilian national team again, this time for the 2002 FIFA World Cup (despite his tremendous goal-scoring abilities he was rarely called up), and unfit at the start of the season, he spent the most of it on the injury list.

In the Christmas break, he returned to his native Fortaleza, where he injured his knee in a swimming pool fall.^{[citation needed]} He scored only nine goals that season. He was granted, alongside Deco, Portuguese citizenship on February 2003.^[1]

He was released by Sporting before the start of the 2003–04 season. He moved to English side Bolton Wanderers, but failed to score a league goal for the club. He did, however, score three goals in the English League Cup, where Bolton were eventually losing finalists. These goals came in games against Walsall, where Jardel scored twice,^[2] and against Liverpool at Anfield.^[3] During the winter break, he moved to Italian side Ancona, but could not convince the staff of his physical capabilities. Ancona supporters called him lardel (Italian for "fat man") due to him being overweight; an Italian journalist, about his debut opposite Milan, said "We stretch a veil of silence in respect of what he has been"^[4] By the end of the season, he quit European football, and tried to return to Palmeiras, but failed to pass physical examinations.^{[citation needed]}

In July 2004, Jardel signed a contract with Rosario side Newell's Old Boys in Argentina, after rumours about a possible return to Portugal, to play in the newly promoted Penafiel, where his former team mate Ljubinko Drulović played and António Oliveira (his first Porto manager) assumed the chairman position.

In August 2005, Jardel returned to Turkey in order to sign a contract with Ankaragücü. The signing could not be completed, however, because Jardel arrived late in Ankara and Ankaragücü found another player for his position in the meantime.

As of January 2006, Jardel was playing for Brazilian first-division side Goiás Esporte Clube.

Jardel was signed by Beira Mar for the 2006–07 season. Despite arriving at the club overweight, he worked hard and trained specifically to lose weight and gain physical form and scored one goal on his debut for Beira-Mar in a 2–2 draw against Desportivo das Aves.

In the winter transfer season, Jardel signed for the Cypriot team Anorthosis Famagusta.

On 14 July 2007, Jardel played for Scottish Premier League club St. Mirren, as a trialist in a 3–0 win over first division side Stirling Albion.

Newcastle Jets

On 14 August 2007, Australian A-League side Newcastle United Jets officially announced at a press conference in Newcastle that they had signed Jardel on a one year contract as their marquee player.^[1] Jardel was rumoured to join the club for weeks before the official announcement was made.^[5] He arrived in Australia on 12 August 2007 and traveled to Newcastle on 13 August.^[6]

Jardel worked hard on his fitness before arriving in Newcastle.^[7] He was unable to play for the Jets in the first three rounds as he was in Australia on a tourist visa.^[8] He eventually had his sport visa approved before the start of Round 4.^[9]

He made his debut as a substitute in the 70th minute at EnergyAustralia Stadium against Adelaide United in Round 4. Newcastle won the match 1–0 with a strike from Mark Bridge in the 81st minute.^[10]

After joining the Jets, Jardel saw little game time, usually making an appearance as a late substitute. Owner of Newcastle Jets Con Constantine, who brought Jardel to Newcastle, expressed his desire for Jardel to stay on the field for longer. Newcastle coach Gary van Egmond, however, was reluctant to give the Brazilian a larger role.^[11][12]

On 3 November 2007, Jardel played nearly 20 minutes against Sydney FC. He showed some positive signs, nearly equalising for Newcastle with a trademark header from a Joel Griffiths corner kick. Sydney keeper Clint Bolton saved the initial header before Jardel's follow-up was cleared off the line.^[13]

However, after showing glimpses of class, manager van Egmond perceived Jardel to be surplus to requirements and was told he could leave the club half-way through the season. He was reportedly being paid $3,000 a week by club owner Con Constantine. He left the club on 24 January 2008 to be with his sick mother in Brazil.

The Jets went on to win the 2008 A-League Grand Final without him, becoming the first club to win an A-League title without a marquee player.

Criciúma

On 29 June 2008, Jardel joined Campeonato Brasileiro Série B club Criciúma.^[14] He scored four goals in the Brazilian Serie B season 2008. Unfortunately for Jardel his club, was relegated from Serie B; finishing 18th with 41 points from 38 games.^[14]

Ferroviário

The former Porto and Galatasaray striker has joined to Ferroviário on 4 February 2009. On 11 March 2009, Jardel made his Ferroviário debut with a very classy goal, a reminder of his past years of glory as one of the best finisher ever to play on the Portuguese Liga.^[15]

"Super Mario" is a free agent now. He told a newspublisher: "I think I have the necessary conditions to play at least three more years. I just need an opportunity, I have been taking care of myself. I hope I will be wanted by some big club." However, the former Galatasaray star, who claims he has rejected an offer from a Greek outfit, noted that it will be hard to find a club due to his image being damaged after confessing his past cocaine addiction.^[16]

Honours

Club

• Rio de Janeiro State League: 1992, 1993, 1994
• Rio Grande do Sul State League: 1995, 1996
• Libertadores Cup: 1995
• Recopa Sudamericana: 1996
• Portuguese Supercup: 1996, 1998, 1999
• Portuguese League: 1997, 1998, 1999, 2002
• Portuguese Cup: 1998, 2000, 2002
• UEFA Supercup: 2000
• Argentinian League: 2004
• Goiás State League: 2006
• Cypriot Cup: 2007

Individual

• Portuguese Liga Top Goalscorer: 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002
• European Golden Boot: 1999, 2002
• Champions League Top Goalscorer: 2000, 2001
• Portuguese Footballer of the Year: 1997, 1999, 2002

References

External links

• Yahoo! Sport profile

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