Nádson Rodrigues de Souza

Club

International

21-year-old striker Nádson proved his potential in 2003, spending his best year. He helped Vitória won the Campeonato Baiano and the Copa do Nordeste, and became the top goalscorer of both competitions. He also played the leading role in Vitória's historical match, scoring four goals in a 7–2 Copa do Brasil win over Palmeiras. His performances led him to represent Brazil at the 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup. On 7 August 2003, K League club Suwon Samsung Bluewings paid $2.7 million, which consisted of a transfer fee of $1.5 million, the wage of $1 million for five years, and a deposit of $0.2 million, for Nádson. The sum was the highest ever for a foreign player in South Korea at the time. He was nicknamed "Nadgoal" by Suwon fans due to his impressive scoring ability. In the 2004 season, he contributed to winning the K League, and became the first foreign player to receive the K League Most Valuable Player Award. In 2005, he won the A3 Champions Cup and the Korean Super Cup. He scored two goals in every match of the 2005 A3 Champions Cup, being selected as the Most Valuable Player of the competition by scoring a total of six goals. He also scored the winning goal in a 1–0 Super Cup win over Busan IPark. In the middle of the 2005 season, however, Nádson had injured his left achilles tendon and right ankle, and had operations and rehabilitation training in Brazil. In 2006, after recovering from the injuries, he refused to return to Suwon, and stayed at Vitória's training ground until…

Despite having a small stature, Nádson threatened opponents with clever movement and accurate shots. He was skilled in sharp sense rather than power.

Nádson was selected for the Brazil national team for the 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup. He played as a substitute in a group stage match against Mexico and the semi-final match against the United States.