About Mário Jardel
Mário Jardel de Almeida Ribeiro (Brazilian Portuguese: [ˈmaɾiu ʒaʁˈdɛw]; born 18 September 1973) is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He was most noted for his positioning on the field and his heading ability. In spite of only representing Grêmio on loan for a single season, he is highly regarded by the club's fanbase for playing a major part in the squad that won the 1995 Copa Libertadores. With his exceptional positioning ability, he was able to become one of Europe's most prolific strikers during his time at Porto, Galatasaray, and Sporting CP, scoring 206 goals in 274 matches for those clubs. He won two European Golden Shoes, remaining the only Brazilian to do so. After leaving Sporting CP in 2003 at age 29, Jardel had a succession of brief and unsuccessful stints at clubs in England, Italy, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Argentina and Australia. He then played for several smaller clubs in Brazil before retiring in 2011. Jardel made his debut for the Brazil national team in 1996, making a total of 10 appearances and being selected for the 2001 Copa América. == Club career == === Brazil === Jardel played first for Vasco da Gama, but moved in 1995 to Grêmio, where he played a major role in the squad that won the 1995 Copa Libertadores, scoring 12 goals to be crowned the tournament's top goal scorer, including a hat-trick in the quarter-finals against Roberto Carlos' Palmeiras, and a goal in the final against Atlético Nacional. === Porto === In 1996, Jardel was linked to several teams, and after failing to transfer to Benfica and Rangers (due to the strict British rules involving non-EU players), he signed with Portuguese side Porto, where with help from players such as Zlatko Zahovič, Sérgio Conceição and Ljubinko Drulović, he was the top goalscorer in Europe for three years (1998–99, 1999–00, 2001–02), with a goal average of slightly over one goal per match (129 goals in 125 matches for an average of 1.03 per match).
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.