Brazil are the third-most successful team in Copa América history, only behind Argentina and Uruguay. They have won the competition on 9 occasions, despite the fact that they withdrew from Copa America for almost ten years between 1926 and 1935. Their most successful era was from 1997 to 2007, winning four out of five Copas during that time.
Several legendary players have contributed to their success in this tournament. Let us now look at the 5 best Brazilian goal scorers in Copa América history.
Ronaldo
Ronald R9, popularly known as O Fenômeno, had won the Copa América on 2 occasions with Brazil in 1997 and 1999. Brazil were runners up in the 1995 edition, which denied them a hat trick title win. Ronaldo is considered as the greatest striker in football history by many. If not for his devastating injuries, he may well have been the greatest player football had ever produced.
The Brazilian has scored a total of 280 goals in his career, and 10 of those have come from the Copa América.
Didi
Didi is a former Brazilian striker who was active during the early 2000's era of football. He spent the majority of his club football career at Brazil, Portugal, and Romania. He made over 219 appearances in his career, and scored a total of 60 goals. Coming to his performance in the Copa América, he has scored a total of 11 goals. Despite these heroics, he unfortunately never got to win the tournament.
Jair
The next Brazilian player in our list is Jair. He was an offensive midfielder, and one of Brazil's biggest stars of the 1940's and 1950's era. He is mostly remembered for his heroics during Brazil's 1950 FIFA World Cup, which saw the Seleção reach all the way till the finals. What made Jair stand out during his era was the Brazilian's free-role style of play. He combined this with his pace and technical ability to become a nightmare for defenders.
Jair had won the Copa América in 1949, and he has scored a total of 13 goals in the tournament throughout his career.
Ademir
Similar to Jair, Ademir is another player who scored a total of 13 goals in the Copa América throughout his career. Ademir is regarded as one of the finest forwards in football history, and is known for being the top scorer of the 1950 FIFA World Cup. His entire club career was based in Brazil, playing for the likes of Sport Recife, Fluminense, and Vasco da Gama. He was a fast and powerful striker, who was said to be equally dangerous with either feet. This made him a nightmare for defenders at the time.
Zizinho
Brazil's greatest ever goalscorer in Copa América history is none other than Zizinho. He is yet another player who rose to prominence after the 1950 World Cup. Zizinho was known to be the complete player, as he excelled in several departments. Whether it was dribbling, passing, shooting ability, accuracy, or even vision, Zizinho was the master of it all.
Another amazing fact of Zizinho is that he was Pelé's idol, which speaks volumes of how magnificent the former Brazilian attacking midfielder might've been.He is considered as one of the best Brazilian men's footballers of the pre-Pelé era.
Coming to the Copa América, he never won the tournament. With the closest being in 1949, when Brazil finished as runners up. However, his 17 goals in the tournament make him Brazil's greatest goalscorer in the tournament.
He also joins Argentinian legend Norberto Méndez at the top spot of the legendary competition's best ever goalscorers.
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