Atlético Mineiro forward Jô has admitted it was hard to adjust when he returned to Brazil from Europe.
The 26 year-old spent three years with CSKA. They sold him to Manchester City in July 2008.
He subsequently had loan spells with Everton and Galatasaray, before signing with Internacional in July 2011.
His season at the Porto Alegre club was underwhelming. He left in May 2012, joining Atlético Mineiro.
“Adapting to Brazil again was really tough. When you play in Europe you have to be tactically disciplined,” he told fifa.com. “In Brazil it’s more about technique. Nowadays the game here is tactically more advanced, but two or three years ago it wasn’t the case.
“So it was difficult, even in terms of physical strength. I gave away a lot of free-kicks, because in Europe the game is more physical. Then there was the question of time on the ball, the pitches – everything was hard for me.
“I had some problems off the pitch too, and it all became too much. It was a bad time in my life. But I was lucky enough to find people that believed in me, here at Atlético.”
Jô has proven to be a successful purchase for Atlético Mineiro. He was a key player as they won this year’s Campeonato Mineiro and Copa Libertadores.
He has also returned to the Brazilian national team, winning the Confederations Cup in June.
