Ronaldo’s first striker at Cruzeiro also has an overcoming on his resume

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Striker Edu says without any hesitation that he was moved when he learned of a proposal from Cruzeiro a few days after the end of the last Série B, in early December. At the time, he didn’t even know he would work under the eyes of someone who knows his position well, Ronaldo.

“I wanted to close immediately. I told my manager to accept, I was convinced”, he tells sheet.

The 29-year-old player had a very vivid memory of a scene he had experienced on November 9, 2021, playing for Brusque, a team from Santa Catarina for which he was the competition’s top scorer with 17 goals.

In the year of its centenary, Cruzeiro needed to beat Brusque for the 35th round to ensure its permanence in the national second division. Edu was shocked by the support of about 32,000 fans still in the warm-up.

“The party they had was something that marked me, it was inexplicable. I would talk to my teammates on the field: on a weekday, with the team with no chance of going up and threatened with relegation, all that was not normal”, he says.

He saw at the time of Cruzeiro the portrait of his own overcoming in his career. Created in the basic categories of Vasco, Edu played for several smaller clubs until he found, almost after a decade and already at an advanced age for football, his best phase.

“My first salary at Brusque was R$ 600, barely enough to pay a bill at the time. I’m not ashamed to speak, but I had to work a lot to get something in football”, he says.

“I went through a lot of difficulties. I remember when I was in a small team that played in the Copa Rio semifinals. We arrived for lunch and the food was all sour, even spoiled. We had to go to the field with nothing in our stomachs, under 38 degrees sun.”

The modest salary in Santa Catarina is a memory of 2016. Before that, he passed through the base of clubs such as Botafogo, Portuguesa-RJ and Flamengo until he started to tour small ones in Rio, such as Boa Vista, São Gonçalo, Itaboraí and Nova Iguaçu. He almost gave it all up in 2013.

“My contract with Flamengo ended and a manager promised me something. I was waiting, waiting… I had already stopped for four months, very overweight. That’s when I received an invitation from São Gonçalo, from a former coach, and things started walking again. I went the way I could”, he explains.

Edu still played for Atlético Tubarão-SC before his second spell at Brusque, in 2020, a milestone for his career change.

Discredited at first, he said goodbye to Brusque as an idol, with the right to a memorable performance against Remo. He scored a goal and even saved a penalty as an improvised goalkeeper in the final minutes of the match.

“I wouldn’t change any street I entered on this route, no matter how long and difficult it has been. I have a lot to thank Brusque for, it’s a reciprocal love. I hope to live that on Cruzeiro too”, he says.

The dream of playing for Cruzeiro was in check when the club adopted the club-company model, the SAF (Sociedade Anônima do Futebol), bought by former player Ronaldo.

In its first actions, the working group established by the former striker reviewed contracts classified as “priceless and irresponsible”. Contracts such as goalkeeper Jailson, right-back Pará and defender Maicon were undone.

“When we got it right, it was directly with Alexandre Mattos [agora ex-diretor de futebol do clube] and with Vanderlei Luxemburgo [ex-técnico]. There was tension about which contracts would follow, but people connected to Ronaldo assured me that my situation would be maintained normally “, he says.

Backed by Phenomenon, he won from the historical idol, who has different types of overcoming in his trajectory, the chance to be the center forward. He responded with a great start: six goals in nine games played – the last of these matches, the classic against Atlético-MG, was unexpectedly interrupted, after a head-on clash with rival goalkeeper Everson.

Conversations with Ronaldo so far were quick and didn’t involve tips on positioning or typical position stuff. Even so, he says that the now manager often asks if there are day-to-day improvements to be made.

Cruzeiro and Edu are united by something in common: the obsession with Serie A and overcoming it. The Minas Gerais club has been away from the national football elite since 2020, and Edu has never played in the country’s main competition. His contract runs until the end of 2024.

“The goal is access to Serie A. We don’t give up on Mineiro and the Copa do Brasil, but the goal is to go up. By winning this access, we will mark our name in history for putting the club back in its place. elite, but if I’ve come this far, I’m sure my time will come. And Cruzeiro’s, too”, he concludes.

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