Born in Jundiaí, Edinaldo Libânio grew up in modest circumstances in the hinterland of the State of São Paulo. He made his first money with the door to door sales of rubbish bags. His talent as football player however earned him his first professional contract in 1999 with the Matão based club SE Matonense with which he played in the first division of the State Championship. In the beginning of 2000 he moved from there for a brief period to the fourth division club Ferroviária in the neighboring town of Araraquara – a club that actually had seen some quite gifted players in its teams in better seasons.