Image: Richard Heathcote
He may have failed to pull up many trees at Real Madrid or Manchester City while his return to Santos didn’t last long before he fell back on his feet at Milan — but whatever his club record Robinho has become a fixture with the Boys from Brazil.
As Brazil head to the Copa America in Argentina seeking a third straight win in the world’s oldest continental tournament Robinho appears to have exorcised the demons of inconsistency which marred his time first at the Bernabeu then with City in a somewhat ill-starred Premier League stint.
He landed the title with Milan and scored almost a goal every other game and that has bolstered morale as he looks to net a second Copa winners medal after 2007, in which he ended up tournament top scorer.
Now 27, Robinho — full name Robson de Souza — is entering what should be the peak of a career which has already yielded two league titles apiece with first Santos then Real before his Italian exploits.
At international level his 84 caps make him ostensibly the perfect candidate to take on the role of “big brother” to emerging talents such as Neymar, a teammate at Santos last year.
Coach Mano Menezes has confidence in a player who can appear diffident to a fault but whose talent came close to reaping rewards at last year’s World Cup.
His goal against Holland looked set to secure a semi-final place before the Dutch turned the match on its head with a double riposte.
But since that defeat Robinho has bounced back with Milan and was, along with Dani Alves, the only other survivor of the loss to play in the first match of Menezes’ reign, after he had replaced Dunga as coach, in a friendly against the United States in August.
His stature has grown such that he has also taken the captain’s armband in several recent internationals as Menezes looks to him to provide leadership in the cycle which will take the ’selecao’ up to the 2014 World Cup which they will host for the first time since 1950.
When Inter Milan defender Lucio is around he is still the first choice skipper but Robinho has clearly shown he can step into the role when required.
With 27 goals to his name for his country, Robinho is the top active scorer in the Brazil squad.
“Being the ’artilheiro’ of the team gives me extra motivation. I hope I can turn in some good showings and score the goals we need to get to the top at the Copa,” he told reporters.
Earlier in his career, at Santos, a talking point was Robinho’s penchant for “pedaladas” — or stepovers, feinting this way and that before haring forward, shuttling the ball at speed between his two feet, the kind of trick which brought comparisons with former club idol Pele.
But in more recent years he has let the showboating take more of a backseat and worked on his finishing and overall work rate, while also contributing to the development of youngsters such as Neymar and Ganso, who have long looked up to him in the big brother role which the now retired Ronaldo played for him.
“Ronaldo always gave me plenty of advice — he was the one who taught me how to score when I lacked the killer touch in front of goal.
“All those good things he passed on to me I now need to pass on to youngsters such as Neymar, Lucas or Ganso,” Robinho declared ahead of the recent friendly win over Romania which saw Ronaldo make a swansong appearance.