Djalminha was capped by Brazil only 14 times (still managing five goals). That's less than what Freddy Adu, Conor Casey, Break Shea, Chris Wondolowski, etc. have accumulated with the USMNT. It's with this realization that you begin to understand the enormity of the gulf in talent between Brazil and the United States.
Djalminha was the precursor to Ronaldinho. He had a pretentious amount of skill, but he also made Ronaldinho’s, at times, questionable behavior look like grounds for canonization into sainthood.
Djalminha was going to be called up for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, but he head-butted his own coach during training just days before Luiz Felipe Scolari announced the squad. A 20-year-old talent named Kaka would take his place.
In these 25 seconds against Real Madrid, he completes an impossible rainbow flick, gets crunched by his own teammate’s tackle and provides a perfect assist. The man was a genius.