Defender Jadson, from Shandong Taishan, is competing for the “Magic Moment” award of the 2024/23 AFC Champions League season. Alongside Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo, the player is seeking to receive the award that is presented by the AFC – Asian Football Confederation.
In addition to the historic jersey number 7, Soufiane Rahimi, Asahi Uenaka, Mikael Severo, Salem Al-Dawsari (from Neymar’s team) and Mahmoud Eid are also competing for the award, which is decided by public vote.
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“It was one of the most beautiful goals of my career, for sure. Even more so because it was in the main competition of Asian football, so it left an even more special taste. I was very happy with the nomination. To be alongside one of the greatest players in the history of football, who is Cristiano Ronaldo, is a great honor,” said Jadson.
In addition to the beauty, the goal marked a super comeback by Shandong. The first match ended 3-2 for Kawasaki Frontale, but, away from home, Jadson’s team was able to reverse the score at 97 minutes with a goal from the player who also played for Vasco da Gama. Thus, they confirmed their participation in the quarter-finals.
“I think everything that involved this goal was special. We were behind in the aggregate score and had to reverse the score to advance. Usually the fans expect this goal from a striker, midfielder… so when the defender scores, it causes surprise (laughs). I hope to continue scoring and participate in new awards,” Jadson completes.
A native of Natal (RN), the 32-year-old defender left the city in search of greater opportunities in his career as a player. Thus, he moved to Rio de Janeiro (RJ) in 2011, still a boy. In the carioca capital, the native of Rio Grande do Norte worked as a mason’s assistant and, on weekends, played in the street football (várzea).
The great performances in the amateur category led him to Futebol 7, to defend Boavista. After standing out in the modality, the defender caught the attention of América (RJ) and turned professional in 2014, at the age of 23. From then on, his career took off.
The following year, he was the highlight of Bonsucesso in the dispute for the first division of the Campeonato Carioca and soon after, received a proposal to play for Portimonense, in Portugal, where he played between 2015 and 2020 and won the Portuguese Second League in the 2016/17 season. The defender also played for Vasco, in 2020, and Wuhan Three Towns, from the second division of China, in 2021, before arriving at Shandong Taishan.
Remembering Zagallo
Sambafoot Series launched a new documentary about the football legend Zagallo. Known as ‘Velho Lobo‘ and as superstitious as it gets, Zagallo helped shape what Brazilian football is nowadays — as a player and as a coach.
Watch the full series, available on Sambafoot’s Youtube channel.
