Flavio Amado was on the verge of leaving Ahli after being subjected to heavy criticism from media and the club's fans, yet a scintillating form in the Egyptian League has proved his doubters wrong. The Angolan striker, to the surprise of everybody, notched 17 goals to finish as the league's top scorer this season and help Ahli grab their third successive triumph. He also became the third foreigner to finish on top of the scorers' chart after Zamalek's Omani striker Ali Mohsen in 1962 and former Ismaili striker John Utaka in 2000. Flavio joined Ahli from Angola's Petro Atletico in 2005, but couldn't make the impact his compatriot Gilberto has had after arriving in Cairo three years earlier. The 27-year-old's first season turned out to be a disastrous campaign for him with the Cairo giants, scoring just once, an opportunist strike against Ghazl Mahalla, and wasting a host of chances in almost every match he participated in. Some people blamed his bad luck, some pointed out to the lack of harmony between him and his teammates and others accused Ahli's Portuguese boss Manuel Jose of bringing a below-par player. "A competition for all readers: when will Flavio score for Ahli? 1-soon 2-don't know 3-impossible!," Hassan Al-Mestekawi, Al-Ahram sports critic, said at that time. Al-Mestekawi, sarcastically, said that Flavio's situation with Ahli is a phenomenon and has to be studied, calling it 'Flaviozy', the name which became very common with people whenever they saw the short forward wastes an easy chance.
His form with Angola in the World Cup was a turning point Egyptian fans were stunned at Flavio's fine display in the 2006 African Cup of Nations in Egypt in which he scored three goals for Angola although his country were eliminated from the first round. They began to feel sympathy for Flavio, whose bad luck continued with Ahli even after returning from the African Cup, failing to add to his only goal with the five-time African champions. However, a definite turning point in Flavio's career was last summer's World Cup finals in Germany. He sat out Angola's first two matches and looked like he will not have the honor of representing his country in the world's most high-profile tournament. Flavio was introduced as a second-half substitute against Iran and managed to notch his side's first ever goal in the World Cup finals with a neat header past keeper Ebrahim Mirzapour before the match ended in a 1-1 draw. The morale-boosting goal turned Flavio into a hero among Ahli fans as he kicked off the new season in style, scoring a brace against Asyut Petroleum in August, a year since his last strike against Mahalla. He then went on to produce dazzling displays, helping Ahli in their bid towards a second consecutive CAF Champions League title, playing a pivotal role in the team's third-place finish in the FIFA Club World Cup and leading the Cairo powerhouse to the league title.
