With the footballing calendar now roughly halfway in between Sevilla's inevitable triumph in the Europa League and Brazil's assault on the surprisingly elusive Copa América, it is perhaps the ideal time to explore a link between the two.

When a Sevilla side containing Dani Alves, Jesús Navas and Javier Saviola won the first of their recent flurry of UEFA Cup and Europa League titles in 2006, it was Luís Fabiano who opened the scoring in the final, nodding home the first in an emphatic 4-0 drubbing of Middlesbrough.

And when, eight years later, Brazil were on the receiving end of a frankly comical 7-1 mauling from the Germans, it was rather nonsensically the hapless centre-forward Fred who took most of the flak.

Fred was perhaps the most un-Brazilian striker the national side has ever seen, and his very inclusion in the squad served to emphasise Luiz Felipe Scolari's need for a 'proper' striker.

In last year's World Cup, Brazil had no obvious goalscorer outside of the Golden Boy Neymar, who has recently had the expectations of his nation clamped around his arm and called the captaincy. In truth, Brazil have lacked a truly world-class striker since the days of Ronaldo (the proper one) and Adriano, with Alexandre Pato and Robinho just two in a long list of dazzling prospects who fizzled out before their mid-twenties. Fabiano is the closest they have come.

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About the author
Sam France
Former Deputy Editor-in-Chief and Features Editor at VAVEL UK, part of the VAVEL team 2014-2018.