All Brazilian players that were the best in the world

So now the conversation is suddenly over? That's usually what happens when someone runs out of answers. Before you walk away, there are still a few things that need correcting.

Your comparison with Alex and Ademir da Guia doesn't even address my point. Nobody said a player needs national team success to become a club legend. What I've been saying from the start is that Romário and Edmundo were fighting for the exact same position with Brazil in 1997. Romário won that battle comfortably and Edmundo stayed on the bench. If Edmundo really had the superior year, why couldn't he displace Romário when the competition was at the highest level?

And this idea that Edmundo was the second best player in the world ahead of Roberto Carlos, Zidane and Bergkamp is honestly impossible to take seriously. The Brasileirão was a great league, but it wasn't the center of the football universe. Treating an enthusiastic opinion from Brazilian media as if it reflected worldwide consensus is a huge stretch.

There's another problem with your reasoning. If Romário can't be considered Brazil's best player because he wasn't in the Brasileirão during the second half of the year, then Ronaldo couldn't have been Brazil's best player either since he was playing in Italy. Brazilian football didn't revolve exclusively around the domestic league. Romário dominated the Carioca, starred in Brazil's Copa América and Confederations Cup triumphs and finished the calendar year with 56 goals compared to Edmundo's 41.

What's funny is how this discussion has unfolded. You rushed to Google, got the Brasileirão calendar wrong, got Gonçalves wrong, claimed Edmundo became a starter for Brazil in 1998, used Gold Cup matches as evidence and now you're wrapping everything up by saying you've already proved your point with AI opinions and blog links.

At the end of the day, Edmundo had an epic five month Brasileirão. Romário had a world class calendar year. The numbers, Brazil's history and the timeline all point in the same direction. Enjoy your imaginary AI trophy. Take care.

 

It's funny how you keep yelling, throwing insults and declaring the debate over for the third time, yet you always come back because the facts I brought up keep getting in the way. Since you seem determined to keep this going, let's finish it properly.

Let's go back to the basic timeline. You keep acting as if 1997 started in July. From January through July, Romário and Edmundo were playing in the same country. During that period Romário scored twice as many goals as Edmundo in the Carioca, 18 to 9, and was the main man in Brazil's Copa América triumph. Meanwhile Edmundo spent the first half of the year playing a supporting role at Vasco and watching Romário start for Brazil from the bench.

Your argument about Valencia is also doing a lot of heavy lifting. Romário had one difficult three month spell because of injuries between September and November. By December he was back, lifting another trophy and finishing among the top scorers at the Confederations Cup for Brazil. Trying to erase a 56 goal season with major international titles because of twelve injury affected weeks in Spain is basically the only card you have left.

Then you started leaning on old patriotic opinions claiming Edmundo was "the best player in the world," which is hard to take seriously when Ronaldo was at his peak with Inter and won both the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player that year. On top of that you brought AI into the discussion because the numbers weren't helping your case. Once I pointed out that you got Gonçalves wrong, the 1997 calendar wrong and Edmundo's role with Brazil in 1998 wrong, you suddenly decided the debate was over.

So if you want to walk away, that's your choice. You can keep your five month Brasileirão sample. I'll stick with the full 1997 calendar year, Brazil's major international titles, Romário's 0.91 goals per game average and what actually happened on the pitch.

You're right about one thing. The case is closed. And it wasn't even close.

 

Lol... you got so rattled you couldn't even understand what I meant by "bairrismo". When I said calling Edmundo the second best player in the world in 1997 was pure ufanismo, I was talking about massively overrating the Brazilian domestic league over what players like Zidane, Roberto Carlos and Bergkamp were doing in Europe. It had nothing to do with nationality. The fact you completely missed that says more about your reading comprehension than anything else.

Then you hit the mute button. That's about as clear an admission as you'll ever get that you had nowhere left to go. You spent the whole discussion calling me "psycho" and "lunatic", but you never explained why Edmundo scored half as many goals as Romário in the 1997 Carioca against the exact same opponents, 9 compared to 18. You never backed up your claim that Edmundo became a starter for Brazil in 1998 when he was still behind Bebeto until Romário got injured. You never dealt with the fact Gonçalves actually started and won the 1997 Copa América. And you never addressed the simple math showing 56 goals and a 0.91 goals per game average over the full calendar year comfortably beat Edmundo's overall production in 1997.

Muting me and walking away was the only option you had left once those points fell apart. You're free to stay in your bubble with old radio opinions and AI searches if that's what makes you feel better. The numbers, the timeline and the historical record aren't going anywhere. Thanks for the discussion.

 

which years, do you think were the best for Friedenreich?

 

Something interesting to me, is Brazil sending State XI in representation of the country to International Tournaments, I think, it's happened more in prewar era.