Giovanni Silva de Oliveira

Infobox Football biography
playername = Giovanni


fullname = Giovanni Silva de Oliveira
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1972|2|4
cityofbirth = Abaetetuba
countryofbirth = Brazil
height = height|m=1.90
position = Attacking Midfielder / Forward
currentclub = Sport
clubnumber = 10
youthyears = 1989–1991
youthclubs = Tuna Luso
years = 1990–1991
1992
1993
1993
1994
1994–1996
1996–1999
1999–2005
2005
2006
2006–2007
2007–
clubs = Taça Luz
Tuna Luso
Remo
Paysandu
Sãocarlense
Santos
Barcelona
Olympiacos
Santos
Al Hilal
Ethnikos
Sport
caps(goals) =
047 0(24)
015 00(5)
012 00(6)
018 00(8)
064 0(37)
071 0(18)
129 0(61)
027 00(4)
008 00(3)
nationalyears = 1995–1999
nationalteam = Brazil
nationalcaps(goals) = 020 00(6)
pcupdate =
ntupdate =

Giovanni Silva de Oliveira (born february 4, 1972), better known as Giovanni, is a football player from Brazil. He plays forward for Sport Club do Recife in the Brazilian National League A and he was also capped for the Brazilian national team.

Career in Brazil

Born in Abaetetuba, Giovanni started his career in 1991 at Tuna Luso. In 1993, he scored 24 goals, before joining Remo, Paysandu and Sãocarlense before moving to top Brazilian club Santos in 1995. Pelé himself paid for his transfer, and proclaimed him as the "new Pelé".

In his first season he scored in half of the games he played, while in his second he notched 25 goals in 19 games. The peak of his career wearing Pelé's number 10 jersey was when he led Santos to the second place in the Brazilian Championship. In the semi-finals against Fluminense, Santos lost 4-1 in the first leg away, and Giovanni dyed his hair red to show faith in the team.

He displayed a splendid game in the second leg and Santos managed to win 5-2, with Giovanni scoring twice and assisting on the final Marcelo Passos goal. Unfortunately, he could not help Santos overcome Botafogo in the final game. Nonetheless, he is still known to many Santos supporters as "Messias" (Messiah) and his fans named themselves "Giovanni's witnesses" - similar to a religion, "Jehovah's witnesses".

Barcelona

After Santos FC, he moved to the Catalan club FC Barcelona in 1996. He was a first team regular for two seasons and scored 18 goals overall. Barcelona fans still remember him for his ability to score game-winning goals against Real Madrid.

Olympiakos

He moved to the Greek club Olympiakos in the summer of 1999 and soon established himself as one of the best players in the history of the Greek league.

A flamboyant striker, he was known for his great dribbling and his ability to lob the goalkeeper and pass the ball through defender's legs (nutmeg). His technique and the variety of fascinating moves made Olympiakos' fans think of him as the most talented player from their team and loved him as a gifted hero. His skills earned him the nickname "magos" (wizard) in Greece.

He was the leading goalscorer in Greece in the 2003-2004 season with 21 goals. The highlight of his career was his contribution in the demolition of Panathinaikos at Rizoupoli stadium in 2003 (during the final game of the season, Panathinaikos did not need a single point to win the Championship, but simply needed to keep the score difference to less than two goals. Olympiakos won that game 3-0, and along with it their seventh consecutive title).

Return to Brazil

After six seasons he left the Piraeus club in 2005 to return to São Paulo and Santos FC.

In the beginning of 2006, he signed a one year contract with Saudi Arabia's leading team Al Hilal in what was thought to be the last stop of his career.

However, on August 15, 2006, Giovanni signed a one-year contract with 2nd division Greek club Ethnikos Piraeus for 400,000 Euros, and then on April 21 , 2007 he signed a contract with first division Brazilian side Sport Club do Recife until 15th December 2007.

National team

Giovanni has earned 20 caps with the Brazilian national team. He has scored 6 goals for the "seleção". He played during the 1998 World Cup in France.

Honors

*Copa America in 1997 with the Brazilian national team
*Stanley Rous Cup in 1997 with the Brazilian national team
*Campeonato Paraense (Pará State championship) in 1993 with Clube do Remo
*Cup Winners' Cup in 1997 with FC Barcelona
*European Super Cup in 1997 with FC Barcelona
*La Liga in 1998 and 1999 with FC Barcelona
*Copa del Rey in 1997 and 1998 with FC Barcelona
*Spanish Super Cup in 1996 with FC Barcelona
*Winner of Greek Championship in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2005 with Olympiacos
*Winner of Greek Cup in 2005 with Olympiacos
*Winner of São Paulo State Championship in 2006 with Santos FC

Personal Honors

*Brazilian Bola de Ouro (Placar): 1995 with Santos
*Greek league's top foreign player: 2000 with Olympiacos
*Greek Superleague Top Goalscorer: 2004

External links

* [http://www.sambafoot.co.uk/players/85_Giovanni.html sambafoot]
* [http://www.national-football-teams.com/v2/player.php?id=11007 nft.com]
* [http://200.159.15.35/registro/registro.aspx?s=114175 CBF]