Jardel says missed 2002 World Cup call-up led to depression, cocaine and overdose

Missed 2002 World Cup call-up

Mário Jardel, the former FC Porto and Sporting striker, told La Gazzetta dello Sport that being left out of Luiz Felipe Scolari's Brazil squad for the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan was the moment his life started to fall apart. He said he still asks himself why he was not picked and that nobody has ever given him an explanation. SAPO reports he has 10 caps for Brazil and that he believes he deserved at least one call-up. He pointed to his scoring record: 168 goals in 175 games for Porto over four seasons, and 55 goals in 42 games for Sporting in the season before the tournament. Notícias ao Minuto notes that he won the Golden Boot twice, in 1999 with Porto and in 2002 with Sporting.

FC Porto, four seasons (175 games)168

Sporting, season before 2002 World Cup (42 games)55

FC Porto, four seasons (175 games)

168 goals

Sporting, season before 2002 World Cup (42 games)

55 goals

Data from the article text

Depression, alcohol and cocaine

Jardel said he sank into depression after the snub and began drinking heavily. His first marriage ended and a dispute over custody of his children followed, which left him feeling that everything was slipping away. In the summer of 2003, while on holiday, he tried cocaine, which he said made him feel alive rather than depressed. He recounted staying awake for an entire week at one point, then suffering an overdose that nearly killed him before a friend who was with him saved him. He said that was when he hit rock bottom and that he spent months in psychiatric consultations afterwards. He believed he could take the drug then because no doping controls applied during the break. Today he says he is reconciled with himself, crediting psychiatric help and his family, and SAPO reports that he credits his second wife, Sandra, with helping him understand life.

Ancona and a career in decline

Jardel also described his spell with Ancona in the 2003-04 season, a move he said was arranged with help from Jorge Mendes, whom he called a close friend rather than an agent. He played only three matches for the club and went six months without a salary. He said the squad was overcrowded and badly run before the club went bankrupt at the end of the year, and El Periódico reports that the club folded a few months later. He recalled a gesture to the wrong stand before a match against Perugia, which upset some fans and led to a mocking nickname, 'Lardel'. Notícias ao Minuto reports he was once sought by Barcelona and Milan, but after 2002 he played for eight countries, mostly at smaller clubs.

Life today and political career

Notícias ao Minuto reports that Jardel is now 53 and works in real estate. He admits he never fully recovered mentally, but says he has made peace with himself with the help of psychiatric care and his family. He was elected federal deputy for Rio Grande do Sul in 2014, and the following year he was removed from that office over accusations of criminal organization and embezzlement (peculato).