Ten Worst: Metro Brazilians
March 7, 2013
While Colombia has been Metro's deepest well of international players, close second is Brazil. When Juninho stepped on the field in the opener, he became the 12th Brazilian to suit up for the club. And, if Rafhinha is to be signed, it will mark the first time in team history that three Brazilians are on the roster at the same time. That being said... Metro's luck with players from the land of samba has been pretty rotten. This list actually started out as Ten Best, but it quickly became clear in which direction was is headed.
So, who is spared? Rodrigo Faria, of course, as well as Juninho, who showed more in his first 90 minutes than most of these Brazilians did during their entire Metro career... Of course, some of these Brazilians didn't even make it to 90 minutes.
10) Gilberto Flores, 2004-05
What could have been... Gilberto had acquitted himself well after debuting in June of 2004. But a crippling injury from the Revs' Clint Dempsey derailed the career of the defensive midfielder. He was never the same after the return and was cut after brief appearances in 2005. More on him and his partner in crime (one spot below) in Obscure Metro Files.
9) Danilo da Silva, 2005
Speaking of what could have been... Did you know that Danilo was transferred in 2010 for a fee close to $5,000,000? Back in 2005, we had no idea that he would amount to anything, but he was a young player who showed potential in very limited time. An injury and some backroom shenanigans by Alexi Lalas and Mo Johnston prevented him from returning in 2006. He went back to Brazil and was transferred in 2010 to Ukrainian giants Dynamo Kyiv for those five million... the same Dynamo Kyiv that he and Gilberto helped defeat en route to the 2004 La Manga Cup. See, it all comes around. Sort of.
8) Guido, 1997
More Obscure Files fodder for a player bought by Carlos Alberto Parreira from Sao Paulo's youth team. He started nine games, got injured, and vanished from MLS. He... wasn't THAT bad.
7) Digao, 2012-
His brother is a pretty good player, we heard.
6) Thiago Martins, 2006
Best known for being a starting striker on the godawful Chivas USA team in 2005, Martins came to New York after the idiotic Lalas/Johnston team decided to trade Ante Razov. Martins' Metro career lasted all of 11 minutes, as he was shipped out to Colorado for Jean-Philippe Peguero... Or is it Peguero Jean-Philippe?
5) Nino Da Silva, 2000
One of the first failures of Project-40, much was expected of Da Silva back in the day. By the time he made it to Metro, he was pretty much written off. After three games off the bench for a total of 25 minutes, he was jettisoned. After leaving MLS, Da Silva became a US national teamer... in futsal. He also had a role in the film "The Game of Their Lives" that told the story about USA's victory over England in the 1950 World Cup. More in Obscure Files.
4) Marcos Paullo, 2011
Paullo never played in a regular season game. His two appearances came in the Open Cup, including the ill-fated loss in Chicago that "Clever" Hans Backe didn't bother attending. But Paullo did take up an international slot for the whole season... the same season Metro was forced to trade promising Austin da Luz to reclaim a slot.
3) Branco, 1997
Unlike the other players on this list, Branco, a World Cup winner for Parreira, actually scored a goal for Metro... In fact, he scored two. Also, he was fat. And lazy. And earned three red cards in 11 league matches. And spat on Columbus' Mike Lapper, dooming Metro's 1997 season. One of the biggest mistakes in Metro history.
2) Gilmar, 2001
Famously signed by Nick Sakiewicz after meeting him in an airport, Gilmar (more in Obscure Files) was atrocious. In all competitions, he played just eight games, made three starts, but managed to be sent off twice... including the dubvious honor of being the first Metro to get a red card in a playoff game.
1) Joao Luiz, 1997
Transfer fee: $1,000,000. Games played: Seven. Obscure Files, of course.
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