Grafite eyes Brazil WC spot
Grafite
Should Brazil coach Dunga be looking for an alternative to strikers Kaka and Robinho at next year's World Cup, Wolfsburg forward Grafite confidently believes he's the man for the job.
AC Milan's Kaka and Manchester City's Robinho have been Dunga's first-choice strikers in the South American zone of the World Cup qualification so far.
But Grafite's six goals in his last three Bundesliga games have brought some Brazilian colour to the German league and could lead to him adding to his single international cap.
Edinaldo Batista Libano - Grafite for short - is the German league's top-scorer with 20 goals in 17 games this season. He scored twice in Saturday's 5-1 hammering of Bayern Munich which put Wolfsburg top of the table.
The 30-year-old, who won his only cap for Brazil and scored on his debut in April 2005 in a 3-0 friendly win against Guatemala, is currently enjoying a purple patch and all his goals have a touch of typical Brazilian flair.
"I am a Brazilian, just like the others, but perhaps I play a bit like a German," said Grafite whose final goal against Bayern was straight from the samba textbook.
Having effortlessly beaten three defenders, Grafite rounded Bayern goalkeeper Michael Rensing and casually back-heeled the ball into an empty net.
"The fact he pulled that goal off immediately shows his quality," said Wolfsburg coach Felix Magath.
"He is a disciplined player who plays each match at 100 percent and he is important for team spirit, because he's always positive."
Grafite has just eight league games left this season so is unlikely to hit the extra 20 goals he needs to equal Gerd Muller's phenomenal record of 40 set in the 1971/72 Bundesliga season which few have ever got near breaking.
But although injury has restricted him to just 17 league games this season, Grafite has scored a goal on average every 70 minutes; Muller only managed one every 76.5 minutes.
"The Bundesliga suits me perfectly both in terms of its physicality and mentality," said the Brazilian. "For example, they expect attackers to attack and defenders to defend."
Grafite signed a four-year contract with Wolfsburg from French side Le Mans for 7.5 million euros (10m US dollars) in the summer of 2007.
The Brazilian has forged an exceptional strike-force alongside Bosnia forward Edin Dzeko, who has 15 goals, and playmaker Zvjezdan Misimovic, who has 16 assists in 25 games and six goals of his own.
"Without the team around me, I wouldn't be so successful," said Grafite. "And anyway, at the end it doesn't matter who scores the goals.
"I am experiencing something good at the moment, we can even think about the Bundesliga title, the Champions League or the UEFA Cup."
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