Giovanny Espinoza

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Giovanny Espinoza (born April 12, 1977) is a footballer from Ecuador. He plays as a defender for Dutch football club Vitesse. He currently is the second highest capped player for his country behind Ivan Hurtado with 95 caps. He made his international debut in 1996 just a week after his 19th birthday in a World Cup qualification match where Ecuador beat Peru 4-1.

Espinoza is a strong and experienced centre back noted for his strength and determination. He was named in the Ecuador national side for the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cups.

Espinoza and Hurtado together hold the international record for the longest unbroken pairing in the position of centre half - they have played the last 65 games together, dating back to 1999. This is partly due to South American nations playing more international qualification matches than any other region. It is the belief of many that Espinoza and Hurtado's understanding alone is responsible for Ecuador's recent success of qualifying for the last two World Cup tournaments.

His strong physique and speed helped his old club side LDU Quito win two league championships in 2001 and 2004. He was also included in Ecuador's squad for the 2001 and 2004 Copa America. His nickname is La Sombra, which translates as "the shadow", because of his size, he creates large shadows.

In the 2006 edition of the FIFA World Cup, Espinoza was nominated for a place in FIFA's ideal 11, which rewards the top players in each position.

On the 25th of January 2007 Giovanny Espinoza is transfered from LDU Quito to Vitesse. There he has to replace Ruud Knol. He signed for 1.5 year till June 2008.

On February 10, 2007 he played his first Eredivisie match for Vitesse against SC Heerenveen ^[1]

[edit] References

^ Tactical Formation. Football-Lineups.com. Retrieved on February 14, 2007.

	Ecuador squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup
1 Cevallos \| 2 Porozo \| 3 Hurtado \| 4 de la Cruz \| 5 Obregón \| 6 Guerrón \| 7 Asencio \| 8 L. Gómez \| 9 Kaviedes \| 10 Aguinaga \| 11 Delgado \| 12 Ibarra \| 13 Fernández \| 14 Burbano \| 15 M. Ayoví \| 16 Chalá \| 17 Espinoza \| 18 C. Tenorio \| 19 Méndez \| 20 E. Tenorio \| 21 Sánchez \| 22 Viteri \| 23 W. Ayoví \| Coach: H. Gómez

	Ecuador squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup
1 Villafuerte \| 2 Guagua \| 3 Hurtado \| 4 de la Cruz \| 5 Perlaza \| 6 Urrutia \| 7 Lara \| 8 Méndez \| 9 Borja \| 10 Kaviedes \| 11 Delgado \| 12 Mora \| 13 Ambrosi \| 14 Castillo \| 15 Ayoví \| 16 Valencia \| 17 Espinoza \| 18 Reasco \| 19 Saritama \| 20 E. Tenorio \| 21 C. Tenorio \| 22 Lanza \| 23 Benítez \| Coach: Suárez