I was destroyed: I fell into alcohol and cocaine

The former Brazil striker reveals his 2002 World Cup omission triggered depression, alcohol and cocaine addiction, including a near-fatal overdose.

Mario Jardel has opened up about the personal crisis that followed his exclusion from Brazil's 2002 World Cup squad. The former striker, who was one of the most prolific forwards of the late 1990s and early 2000s, said the decision by coach Luiz Felipe Scolari marked the beginning of his self-destruction.

Jardel, a two-time European Golden Boot winner and star at Porto and Sporting Lisbon, struggled to understand why he was left out despite his extraordinary goal-scoring record. In the four years before the World Cup, he scored 168 goals in 175 matches for Porto, and 55 goals in 42 games for Sporting in the season leading up to Korea and Japan 2002.

"I scored more goals than anyone and I still don't understand why Scolari decided not to call me up," he said in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport.

After 2002, Jardel's career spiralled. He drifted through eight countries and struggled with depression. In summer 2003, he tried cocaine. "I liked it, it made me feel alive and not depressed," he confessed. He suffered an overdose and nearly died before a friend saved his life.

Though he never fully recovered mentally, Jardel says he is now reconciled with himself through psychiatric help and family support, and has left drugs behind.