The former Everton striker, who burned brightly and briefly during a loan spell, turns 38 today
Comments
Sport
Everton's Brazilian forward Jo waits for the ball against Bolton Wanderers during their English Premier League football match at Goodison Park in Liverpool, north west England on February 7, 2009. Everton won 3-0. AFP PHOTO/PAUL ELLIS - FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY Additional licence required for any commercial/promotional use or use on TV or internet (except identical online version of newspaper) of Premier League/Football League photos. Tel DataCo +44 207 2981656. Do not alter/modify photo. (Photo credit should read PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
Everton's Brazilian forward Jo waits for the ball against Bolton Wanderers during their English Premier League football match at Goodison Park in Liverpool, north west England on February 7, 2009. Everton won 3-0. AFP PHOTO/PAUL ELLIS - FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY Additional licence required for any commercial/promotional use or use on TV or internet (except identical online version of newspaper) of Premier League/Football League photos. Tel DataCo +44 207 2981656. Do not alter/modify photo. (Photo credit should read PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
Everton debutant Jo waits for the ball against Bolton Wanderers(Image: PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
Jo was something of an enigma as a footballer and his time at Everton ultimately ended in tears. Here was a player who arrived at nouveau riche Manchester City as their record transfer signing at the time but struggled to make an impact at the Etihad Stadium.
His colourful club career also took him to Russia, Turkey, UAE, China and Japan while he represented his country on home soil in the 2014 World Cup finals.
Article continues below
Jo's first loan spell at Goodison Park was fruitful, as he netted five times in his first seven outings but after returning the following season, he failed to register in 15 Premier League matches, ensuring David Moyes had no qualms about suspending and fining him after an unauthorised trip to South America over the Christmas period.
READ MORE: 'It's unlikely' - Everton sent Carlos Alcaraz transfer warning as clarity nears over £15m dealREAD MORE: Don't underestimate what Harrison Armstrong is doing at Derby - the Everton youngster is pure class
"Jo will back at the club next week following his suspension," Moyes said. "He has been fined heavily and he knows the situation. We will look at it more next week. I don't think it is a big discussion point. We have dealt with it and should now move on."
A £19million purchase from CSKA Moscow the previous summer, after a tough start to life in the Premier League at City under Mark Hughes, the former Blues striker despatched the 21-year-old to Merseyside on deadline day of the winter window in 2009.
It was the perfect welcome for Jo as he stepped inside the Everton dressing for the first time to meet his new team-mates as they celebrated Dan Gosling's FA Cup fourth-round replay winner over Liverpool in the last minute of extra-time. Despite that success the Blues would go on to reach the final that season before succumbing to Frank Lampard and Chelsea at Wembley, Moyes was without long-term injury absentees up front Ayegbeni Yakubu and James Vaughan, while Louis Saha and Victor Anichebe had both been struggling for fitness, hence the loan man's acquisition.
Jo slotted straight into the side at home to Bolton Wanderers and after some false dawns from his compatriots in royal blue jerseys, the ECHO's David Prentice was delighted to see him get off to a flier.
He wrote: "It's been a long drawn out process for Everton to get a Brazilian into their starting line-up. A 25-year process. For a football club which once basked in the description of 'The School of Science', a footballer from the home of the step-over and the banana free-kick seemed a logical step. Except there always seemed to be an obstacle in the way. Nunes never got further than the back page of the Daily Post in the early 80s.
"When Mirandinha was pulling up trees on Tyneside, his fellow international vowed to follow him to England and even dedicate his first Everton goal to the memory of John Lennon. Sadly he never even made it across the Atlantic.
"A decade later a man named Muller did actually arrive at Goodison. But the bright scarlet blazer should have aroused suspicion even before his tax demand hit Jim Greenwood's desk. He was back on a flight to Sao Paulo inside 24 hours.
"Then there was Rodrigo. All Hollywood smile and an apparent liking for surfboards, he did actually make it onto a football pitch at the outset of David Moyes' managerial career four times, all from the bench. With Brazilians renowned for their set-piece expertise, fans licked their lips when he came on and demanded a free-kick at Maine Road, but those bottom lips wobbled when his effort went out for a throw in.
"An admirable experiment, a cruciate knee ligament injury sustained on a Bellefield training pitch ensured it ended disastrously. So Jo didn't exactly have a sparkling heritage to follow."
His debut proved to be a 3-0 romp against the Trotters, though, as the new boy won Everton's penalty for Mikel Arteta's opener five minutes before the break before bagging a brace himself in the second half, netting on 48 minutes before despatching a spot-kick of his own three minutes into stoppage time.
Dominic King wrote for the ECHO: "Brought down for the penalty which started the ball rolling, Jo's afternoon got better and better, the stellar moment being his opening goal a twist and finish that screamed 'Copacabana'. Is there such a thing as hapless Brazilian forward? On this evidence, you would have say to 'no chance' and while he needs to prove that this display is not a flash in the pan, Jo could not have wished for a brighter start to life in these parts.
"Perhaps the key to unlocking that ability is camaraderie and spirit. Jo was overwhelmed when he walked into the dressing room after Liverpool's FA Cup hopes had been extinguished."
"He was taken aback as his new colleagues celebrated the moment. His esteem for them will have grown further after Phil Neville gave him the responsibility to take the second penalty of the game, every outfield player coming to celebrate after he smashed his effort from 12 yards past Jussi Jaaskelainen.
New gaffer Moyes felt there was still much more to come from his latest acquisition but we'll leave the last words to Jo himself: "Everything was beautiful from the start. I had forgotten what it was like to walk off the pitch at the end of a game feeling so good. Things really could not have gone any better for me and I am delighted."