Once Hailed As "The Brazil Zidane " Can Paulo Henrique Ganso Revive His Career In Sevilla?

By Ewah Chika.

Once hailed as the next big thing from Brazil, Paulo Henrique Ganso has fallen from grace to grass after bursting to the scene in 2008 in Santos. Ganso was already established in the Brazil league playing alongside  Neymar as Santos won the Copa Libertadores in 2011. Ganso at a time was so good that he was compared with legendary Zinedine Zidane at a time with his ball control, vision and exemplary passing top notch.


With his signing by Jorge Sampaoli's Sevilla on a four year contract this week , it is expected that the Brazil will recover his explosive form in Andalusia. Such has been Ganso's fall that he was not named in the final squad for Brazil in the FIFA 2014 World Cup which is contrary to the outcry that greeted his exclusion by Dunga for the 2010 FIFA World Cup while he was still 20 at the time.

"São Paulo will forever have a place in my heart . But I think the time was right to make the move to Europe," the attacking midfielder said after signing for Sevilla for four years for an undisclosed fee on Saturday .

Ganso is on a rescue mission in Sevilla while his former team mate Neymar is the pride of Barcelona. One of the reasons for the fall of the talented youngster is the persistent knee injury which he has constantly struggled with for years. The attacking midfielder fell out with Santos directors which led to his exit for São Paulo in an odd move in 2012. This was meant to start his revival as his then São Paulo coach Muricy Ramalho is renowned for bringing out the best in his players after winning the 2010 Campeonato Brasileiro with Fluminense. At São Paulo , Ganso again flopped even when paired with Alexandre Pato and Luis Fabiano. The former Vila Belmiro player was later banished to the bench after publicly criticising Ramalho's tactics before he was permanently put out of sight by the signing of Alan Kardec from Palmeiras.

In the national team , Mano Menezes gave the youngster his chance after taking over from Dunga in a bid to help him recover his prolific form. This was Menezes' greatest undoing  as Ganso flopped with the rest of the Brazil squad in the 2011 Copa America in Argentina as Brazil crashed out to Paraguay on penalties in the quarter-final. The attacking midfielder was given another chance by Menezes during the London 2012 Olympics but like in the Copa America, Ganso failed to shine and this saw Oscar take his place in the first team as Brazil reached the final before losing to Mexico.

With the exit of Unai Emery and the recruitment of Argentine Jorge Sampaoli as the new coach in Sevilla and a great number of South American players in Sevilla, Ganso will not find it difficult to revive his fledging career. At 26, he still has time and will only need to be patient and bid his time as he gradually works hard concentrating on his greatest strengths which are dribbling , perfect shot accuracy , vision and passing which he has consistently failed to deliver on a daily basis. Already he is in a league that doesn't require much physical contact, pace or high energy (English Premier League) but in a league that will allow him show his qualities with little emphasis on tactics ( Italian Seria A).