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Giovanni
Personal information
Full name	Giovanni Silva de Oliveira
Date of birth	February 4, 1972 (1972-02-04) (age 38)
Place of birth	Abaetetuba, Brazil
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position	Attacking Midfielder / Forward
Club information
Current club	Santos
Number	10
Youth career
1989-1991	Tuna Luso
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1990-1991 1992 1993 1993 1994 1994-1996 1996-1999 1999-2005 2005 2006 2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009 2010-	Taça Luz Tuna Luso Remo Paysandu Sãocarlense Santos FC Barcelona Olympiacos Santos Al-Hilal Ethnikos Sport Mogi Mirim Santos	047 0(24) 015 00(5) 012 00(6) 018 00(8) 104 0(69) 071 0(18) 129 0(61) 029 00(6) 020 0(17) 008 00(3) 015 00(4) 012 00(6) 005 00(1)
National team
1995-1999	Brazil	020 00(6)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Giovanni Silva de Oliveira (born February 4, 1972 in Abaetetuba), better known as Giovanni, is a football player from Brazil. He was also capped for the Brazilian national team. He currently plays at Santos

Club career

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.

Santos

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".

In 2005 Giovanni return to Santos, played alongside Robinho. With discrete performances in games, he left the club at the end of the season.

Recently, rumors saying that he came out of retirement to return to the club in 2010.

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 inventive dribbling, his passing range, 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 one of the most talented players in their team and love him as a 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.

Return to Santos

After passing the medical exams, Giovanni returned to Santos in January 2010.

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.^[1]

Personal Honours

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

References

External links

• sambafoot
• nft.com
• CBF

Brazil squad – Copa América 1997 Winners (5th Title) 1 Taffarel • 2 Cafu • 3 Aldair • 4 Márcio Santos • 5 Mauro Silva • 6 Roberto Carlos • 7 Giovanni • 8 Dunga • 9 Ronaldo • 10 Leonardo • 11 Romário • 12 Carlos Germano • 13 Djalminha • 14 Zé Maria • 15 Célio • 16 Gonçalves • 17 Zé Roberto • 18 César Sampaio • 19 Flávio Conceição • 20 Denílson • 21 Edmundo • 22 Paulo Nunes • Coach: Zagallo

Brazil squad – 1998 FIFA World Cup Runners-up 1 Taffarel • 2 Cafu • 3 Aldair • 4 Júnior Baiano • 5 César Sampaio • 6 Roberto Carlos • 7 Giovanni • 8 Dunga • 9 Ronaldo • 10 Rivaldo • 11 Emerson • 12 Carlos Germano • 13 Zé Carlos • 14 Gonçalves • 15 André Cruz • 16 Zé Roberto • 17 Doriva • 18 Leonardo • 19 Denílson • 20 Bebeto • 21 Edmundo • 22 Dida • Coach: Zagallo