Giovanni Silva de Oliveira (born 4 February 1972), better known as Giovanni, is a Brazilian football manager and former player. He played as either an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

or a forward. At club level, Giovanni most notably played for Spanish side

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, Greek side

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

, and Brazilian club Santos. Internationally, he played for the Brazilian national team, gaining 18 caps and scoring 6 goals; he was part of the Brazilian team that reached the 1998 FIFA World Cup Final. In his prime, Giovanni was one of Barcelona's most valuable players, but after the arrival of

Louis van Gaal Aloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal (; born 8 August 1951) is a Dutch former football player and manager. At club level, he served as manager of Ajax, Barcelona, AZ Alkmaar, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, as well as having three spe ...

at the club, he got into conflict with the Dutch manager, along with fellow Brazilians

Rivaldo Rivaldo Vítor Borba Ferreira (born 19 April 1972), known simply as Rivaldo (), is a Brazilian former footballer who played mainly as an attacking midfielder but also as a second striker, and on occasion deployed as a wide midfielder or as a ...

(whom van Gaal wanted to use as a left winger, despite his protests) and

Sonny Anderson Anderson da Silva (born 19 September 1970), better known as Sonny Anderson, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a striker. A prolific goalscorer at the club level, he was best known for his spells with Lyon, Monaco (he pl ...

. He famously called van Gaal "a Hitler for Brazilians, and an egomaniac". At Olympiacos Giovanni had the happiest and most successful days of his career, and is still remembered as a club legend by supporters.

Club career

Early career

Born in

Belém Belém (; Portuguese for Bethlehem; initially called Nossa Senhora de Belém do Grão-Pará, in English Our Lady of Bethlehem of Great Pará) often called Belém of Pará, is a Brazilian city, capital and largest city of the state of Pará in t ...

but raised in

Abaetetuba The city of Abaetetuba is located in Pará State, Brazil. The population of the municipality is 159,080 (IBGE figure 2020). The city is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Abaetetuba, and home of the Our Lady of the Conception Cathedral. ...

Pará Pará is a state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas and Roraima. To the northwest are the borders of Guyana ...

, Giovanni started his career with lowly amateurs Taça Luz in 1990, and moved to Tuna Luso shortly after. After impressing in the youth setup, he made his first team debut in a 2–1

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil ( en, Brazil Cup) is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de P ...

win over

CSA CSA may refer to: Arts and media * Canadian Screen Awards, annual awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television * Commission on Superhuman Activities, a fictional American government agency in Marvel Comics * Crime Syndicate of Amer ...

, scoring a brace. Giovanni scored 17 goals in the 1992

Campeonato Paraense The Campeonato Paraense, nicknamed Parazão, is the top flight professional football league in the Brazilian state of Pará Pará is a state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilia ...

, with five of them coming in a 8–0 home routing of . In 1993, he was loaned to Série A side

Remo Remo Inc. is an American musical instruments manufacturing company based in Valencia, California, and founded by Remo Belli in 1957. Products manufactured include drum kits, drumhead A drumhead or drum skin is a membrane stretched ov ...

, but could not repeat the same success. In 1994, after a very brief period where he featured in two friendly matches for Paysandu (where he considered quitting the sport), Giovanni played for Sãocarlense in the

Campeonato Paulista Série A2 Campeonato Paulista Série A2 is the second level of the São Paulo state professional football championship, one of the Brazilian state championships. This tournament is played by 16 teams, in which the two best teams are promoted to Série A1 ...

. He played only four matches in two months, and was subsequently set to move to

Palmeiras Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes. Palmeiras is one of the most popular clubs in South America, with around ...

; however, after becoming ill while waiting for his medical, he returned to his hometown and the move never materialized.

Santos

As his last match for Sãocarlense was televised, Giovanni impressed Santos president Samir Abdul-Hak, who decided to sign him on loan until the end of the year. He made his debut for the club on 25 September, replacing Ranielli in a 4–1 away success over former club Remo, and scored his first goal on 30 October in a 1–0 win over Paraná. For the 1995 season, Giovanni was bought by Santos, with club legend Pelé himself funding his transfer. A starter during the 1995 Campeonato Paulista, he scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in a 4–1 home routing of Ponte Preta. He repeated the feat on 20 October, in a victory over Grêmio for the same scoreline. Giovanni scored 17 goals in the 1995 Série A as Santos finished runners-up in the tournament; in the semi-finals against

Fluminense Fluminense Football Club (), known as Fluminense, is a Brazilian sports club best known for its professional football team that competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the first tier of Brazilian football and the Campeonato Carioca, th ...

, 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 the club's final goal, which was scored by Marcelo Passos. Unfortunately, he could not help Santos overcome

Botafogo Botafogo (local/standard alternative Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: ) is a beachfront neighborhood ('' bairro'') in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a mostly upper middle class and small commerce community, and is located between the hills of ...

in the final game. Nonetheless, he is still known to many Santos supporters as "Messias" (

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...

) and his fans named themselves "Giovanni's Witnesses" – a reference to the religion " Jehovah's Witnesses". On 7 April 1996, Giovanni scored four goals in a 8–2 win over

União São João União is the Portuguese word for Union. It may refer to: *the Brazilian federal government *União do Vegetal, a church known for its usage of Hoasca as tea * Brazilian frigate ''União'' (F45), a general-purpose ''Niterói'' class frigate launc ...

. He scored two hat-tricks against Ferroviária and Araçatuba, and finished the 1996 Paulista as the top scorer with 24 goals.

Barcelona

On 18 June 1996, Giovanni moved abroad for the first time in his career, after signing with Spanish club

, for a rumoured fee of

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

7.8 million. 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

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

Real Madrid. In his first year with Barcelona he won the 1996–97 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup under manager

Bobby Robson Sir Robert William Robson (18 February 1933 – 31 July 2009) was an English footballer and football manager. His career included periods playing for and later managing the England national team and being a UEFA Cup-winning manager at Ipswich ...

. When

took the lead in his third year at the club, however, he eventually fell out of favour with the Dutch manager, along with compatriot

, despite scoring crucial goals in games such as the

1997 UEFA Super Cup The 1997 UEFA Super Cup was a two-legged football match played on 8 January 1998 and 11 March 1998 between Borussia Dortmund of Germany, winner of the 1996–97 UEFA Champions League, and Barcelona of Spain, winner of the 1996–97 UEFA Cup Win ...

second leg game against

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional fo ...

. Due to his poor relationship with van Gaal, Giovanni left for Greek club

in the summer of 1999, for a record transfer fee of £10,800,000. Later on in his career, he caused some controversy, by referring to van Gaal as a Hitler for Brazilians, and an egomaniac.

Olympiacos

In Greece, Giovanni soon established himself as one of the best players of the Greek league. A flamboyant striker, he was known for his inventive dribbling, passing range, and ability to

lob Lob may refer to: Sports * Lob (pickleball) * Lob (tennis) * Lob (association football), a lofted pass or shot in association football * Lob bowling, an archaic bowling style in cricket People * Lob Brown, American college football player * L ...

the goalkeeper, as well as for having a penchant to beat opposing defenders by passing the ball through their legs (a move known as the

nutmeg Nutmeg is the seed or ground spice of several species of the genus ''Myristica''. ''Myristica fragrans'' (fragrant nutmeg or true nutmeg) is a dark-leaved evergreen tree cultivated for two spices derived from its fruit: nutmeg, from its seed, an ...

). His technique on the ball and the variety of fascinating moves he deployed during matches saw him become a highly popular player and a heroic figure to the Olympiacos fans, and he is regarded as one of the club's best ever players. His talent and skills earned him the nickname "magos" (''μάγος'') "wizard" in Greece. On 20 May 2002, Giovanni renewed with Olympiacos for three years. He was the leading goalscorer in Greece in the 2003–04 season with 21 goals.

Santos return

On 27 May 2005, Santos confirmed the return of Giovanni. During the season, he appeared in 29 games and scored four goals, but after only one match into the 2006 campaign, he was told to leave by manager

Vanderlei Luxemburgo Vanderlei Luxemburgo da Silva (born 10 May 1952) is a Brazilian professional football coach and former player. He is currently a free agent. A left wingback, Luxemburgo represented Flamengo, Internacional and Botafogo before retiring in 1980. ...

Late career

After his short return to Brazil, Giovanni played for several clubs abroad, such as Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal, Greek club Ethnikos, before returning to Brazil to play for

Sport Recife Sport Club do Recife, (; known as Sport Recife or Sport, is a Brazilian sports club, located in the city of Recife, in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco. Founded in 1905, the club currently plays in Série B. In football, the club has w ...

in April 2007. However, weeks after arriving at the latter, he left the club as manager

Alexandre Gallo Alexandre Tadeu Gallo (born 29 May 1967), known as Alexandre Gallo or just Gallo, is a Brazilian football coach and former player who played as a defensive midfielder. He is the current head coach of Londrina. Career Gallo started his career ...

also departed. In November 2008, after more than a year without playing, Giovanni was convinced to come out of retirement by his friend

, and signed for Mogi Mirim.

Second return to Santos

After passing the team's medical exams, Giovanni returned to Santos on 13 January 2010, with a contract until August. Although he played very few matches for the club, he finally managed to win his first title with Santos, the Campeonato Paulista. In June 2010 season, he announced his retirement from professional football.

International career

Giovanni earned 18 caps with the Brazilian national team, scoring six goals for the "seleção". He was a member of the team that won the

1997 Copa América Bolivia hosted the Copa América for the second time in its 38th edition. It was held from 11 to 29 June. It was organized by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body. There is no qualifying for the final tournament. All South Ameri ...

, and also represented his Country during the 1998 World Cup in France, where Brazil went on to reach the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

, only to suffer a 3–0 defeat to the host nation.

Style of play

A versatile playmaker, his natural and favorite position was as an

, but he could also play as a forward, being an exceptional goalscorer. He was predominantly known for his world-class technique, his exceptional

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. A ...

skills, and his outstanding flair and creativity on the ball, which saw him employ a variety of crafty moves, as well as his passing accuracy and goalscoring ability.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

Honours

Club

Barcelona *

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

: 1997–98, 1998–99 *

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

: 1996–97, 1997–98 * Supercopa de España: 1996 *

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tourn ...

: 1996–97 *

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was original ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

Olympiacos *

Alpha Ethniki The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

: 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2004–05 *

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most ...

: 2004–05; runner-up: 2000–01, 2001–02, 2003–04 Al-Hilal *

Saudi Crown Prince Cup The Saudi Crown Prince's Cup ( ar, كأس ولي العهد) was the Saudi Arabian annual cup competition. It was the oldest domestic football competition in Saudi Arabia, its first edition was held in 1956–57, but was not crowned from 1975 unti ...

: 2005–06 * Prince Faisal Bin Fahad Cup: 2005–06 Santos *

: 2010 * Campeonato Paulista: 2006, 2010

International

Brazil * Copa América:

Umbro Cup The Umbro Cup was a friendly international football competition, which took place in June 1995 in England. The trophy was sponsored by the sports brand Umbro, the manufacturers of England's kit. Host nation England, Sweden, Japan and world ch ...

: 1995 *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

runner-up:

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

Individual

Bola de Ouro The ''Bola de Ouro'' (Golden Ball) is an annual award given each year, since 1973, by Brazilian sports magazine '' Placar'' to the best player in the Campeonato Brasileiro. A group of sports journalists watch every match of the competition and ra ...

: 1995 * Bola de Prata: 1995 * Greek Championship Foreign Footballer of the Year: 1999–2000, 2003–04 * Greek Championship Top Goalscorer: 2003–04 (21 goals) * The Golden Greek football Rosters: Decade 2000–2010

References

External links

*
Giovanni Silva de Oliveira
{{DEFAULTSORT:Giovanni 1972 births Living people Brazilian footballers Association football midfielders Association football forwards Campeonato Brasileiro Série C players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players La Liga players Super League Greece players Saudi Professional League players Tuna Luso Brasileira players Clube do Remo players Paysandu Sport Club players Grêmio Esportivo Sãocarlense players Santos FC players FC Barcelona players Olympiacos F.C. players Al Hilal SFC players Ethnikos Piraeus F.C. players Sport Club do Recife players Mogi Mirim Esporte Clube players Brazil international footballers 1997 Copa América players 1998 FIFA World Cup players Copa América-winning players Brazilian expatriate footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Greece Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia Sportspeople from Belém