Author: Barkha Roy
After a period of goal drought, Germán Cano has once again made a name for himself in the Fluminense shirt, regaining the title of top scorer in world soccer in 2023, alongside Belgian striker Hugo Cuypers of Gent-BEL, both of whom have scored an impressive 31 goals this season.
After a triumphant run of goals in the last three games in a row, the player who wears the number 14 shirt has once again surpassed Erling Haaland, of Manchester City-ENG, who reached 30 goals. As well as overtaking the Norwegian, who won the Champions League, Fluminense’s Argentinian striker leads the group ahead of stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Mbappé and Benzema.
In the Brazilian context, the closest candidate to Cano’s record is Flamengo’s Pedro, who scored 27 goals in 2023. This puts him one step ahead of Botafogo’s Tiquinho Soares, the current top scorer in Serie A of the Brazilian Championship, with 13 goals to his name.
Cano firmly took the title of top scorer in the Copa Libertadores, sharing that distinction with Atlético-MG’s Paulinho, both with an impressive tally of seven goals apiece. However, the Argentinian dynamo still have a game in hand on the horizon, as well as the potential of a place in the semi-finals. The road to that achievement was paved when Fluminense secured their place after a resounding 2-0 win over Olimpia-PAR at the venerable Maracanã stadium.
Since joining Fluminense, Cano has made 114 appearances, scoring an impressive 75 goals. The previous season, the No. 14 was Brazil’s top scorer with an incredible 44 goals. Adding versatility to his repertoire, Cano also contributed eight assists to Fluminense’s cause in those matches. In Serie A, he scored seven times, trailing Tiquinho’s lead by a margin of six goals.
The stage is now set for Fluminense’s resurgence as they prepare to enter the Ligga Arena in Curitiba on Sunday 27th. Their opponents will be Athletico, in the Serie A of the Brazilian Championship, with the match kicking off at 18:30 (Brasília time). With their determined efforts, Fluminense have taken a commendable 34 points from 20 closely contested matches in the competition.