Jo has disclosed that when he and his compatriot Robinho first went to play in the English top tier and came across the opponent players, they were confused that if they were indeed footballers or players of some other sports because they were all strapping lads.

Generally, in Brazil, soccer is associated with skill-set and artistry and not so much with physicality and that’s why, the footballers in that part of the world are not necessarily muscularly built, but, soccer in UK or in most parts of Europe for that matter is about physicality.

Sharing a conversation that happened between him and Robinho just minutes before they stepped on to the pitch to take on Portsmouth in a Premiership game of the 2008-09 Season, Jo said that as the sides entered the tunnel and Robinho got to see the players he was going to be up against, he was completely stunned by the way they were built and he quietly murmured in his ears that which sport they were supposed to play, was it soccer or rugby.

Jo burst into laughter at that question of Robinho and told him that it’s not the last time that he was seeing such players in the opposition camp. Till the time he’s in England, he would come across many such players because the top tier competition in England is like that only where a lot of focus is on the physical strength of the players.

As it unfolded in the long run, neither Jo nor Robinho proved to be a hit in the English top tier and both of them had to leave their team Manchester City with unimpressive numbers.

While Jo could play only 20 odd games in his 3-year tenure, Robinho played a little more than him, but, even he couldn’t establish himself as a regular feature for the Sky Blues.