Al Shabab’s new Brazilian signing Jo vowed to get his career back on track and work his way back into the Brazilian squad at his unveiling at Raffles Hotel on Tuesday.
The 28-year-old striker, who has joined âThe Hawks’ on an undisclosed three-year deal from Brazil’s Atletico Mineiro to replace outgoing Brazilian Edgar Bruno, had recently gone a year without scoring having fallen out with his old club due to a spate of indiscipline.
But now the former Manchester City and Everton marksman is hoping to make up for that in the Arabian Gulf League where he hopes to go down in history.
“It was a really difficult year for me,” said Jo. “Obviously no striker likes to go a full year without scoring, but thank God with the help of my family, I have started to turn it around recently.
“I come here to face a new challenge and have aspirations to stay in the history of the club and the league, I hope to have very good seasons with Al Shabab and make sure my name is in history when I leave.”
Jo has scored five goals in 20 appearances for Brazil, but failed to earn a recall after featuring in the ill-fated 2014 Fifa World Cup squad which Brazil lost 7-1 in the semi-final to eventual champions Germany on home soil last summer. With his move to the UAE, however, he still hopes to stay in contention for a call-up.
“Of course, I still want to take part in the national team,” he added. “It’s great to see [Al Ahli striker] Everton Ribeiro still able to participate in the Copa America and get called up to the Brazilian squad. That shows the league is growing. There are many good players in the UAE and I hope my performance here will eventually lead me back to the national team.”
Jo added that Al Shabab’s Brazilian coach Caio Junior also played a big part in bringing him here. “I believe this is the right decision and I have no regrets. I came here after talking to my family and Caio. He explained how the league is growing and how the club works and what my role within the team would be. I am happy and confident everything will work out as planned. Caio was very excited last season and believes the club can keep growing, he played a big part in me coming to Al Shabab.
“I came here to be part of the team, I’m just one more player, but I hope to have a good season and play as much as I can. Being a striker I plan to score goals. That’s the objective and I hope that happens and we have a good season as a team.”
