Gervinho playing for Côte d'Ivoire in a match against Poland |
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gervais Yao Kouassi | ||
| Date of birth | 27 May 1987 | ||
| Place of birth | Anyama, Côte d'Ivoire | ||
| Height | 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)[1] | ||
| Playing position | Forward/Winger | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Arsenal | ||
| Number | 27 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1998–2002 | Mimosas | ||
| 2002–2004 | Toumodi | ||
| 2004–2005 | Beveren | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2005–2007 | Beveren | 61 | (14) |
| 2007–2009 | Le Mans | 59 | (9) |
| 2009–2011 | Lille | 67 | (28) |
| 2011– | Arsenal | 17 | (4) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2007– | Côte d'Ivoire | 29 | (7) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 2 January 2012. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Gervais Yao Kouassi (born 27 May 1987) is an Ivorian footballer who plays as a forward or as a winger for English Premier League club Arsenal.
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Gervinho was born in Anyama.[2]He began his career in the famed ASEC Abidjan youth academy, where he spent five years. At ASEC Abidjian, he was given the Brazilian style nickname "Gervinho", derived from his first name Gervais.[3]
Following this, he moved to Ivorian Deuxieme Division Zone Four side Toumodi F.C., where he turned professional.[4]
Gervinho played for two seasons at Belgian side Beveren, where he made 61 appearances for the club and scored 14 goals.
At the end of the 2006–07 season Gervinho moved to French Ligue 1 side Le Mans, where he played alongside Ivorian international midfielder Romaric. He scored two goals in his debut season in Ligue 1,[2] with one of them coming against AS Nancy.[5] Gervinho scored 9 times in 59 Ligue 1 appearances over 2 seasons with the French side.
On 21 July 2009, Gervinho joined Lille for a reported fee of about €6 million (8.5 million USD) on a three year contract.[6] Gervinho scored 13 times in 32 appearances in his debut season for the club.[2] His first goal for Lille came in a 3-2 victory away to US Boulogne on 4 October 2009.[7]
Gervinho had an even more successful second season with Lille. He scored 18 goals in all competitions, 15 in Ligue 1,[8] to help Lille win the Ligue 1 for the first time in 56 years.[9] His side were also crowned Coupe de France champions, with Gervinho scoring a goal in the 2-0 semi-final victory over Nice on 20 April.[10][11] At the end of the season, Gervinho was linked with clubs like Arsenal[12], Paris Saint Germain[13], Atletico Madrid[14] and Newcastle United.[15]
On 12 July 2011 Gervinho completed a transfer from Lille to Arsenal for a fee believed to be around £10.8 million.[16][17][18] He made his debut in a pre-season friendly match against 1. FC Köln, in which he scored a brace within the first 15 minutes.[19] He was sent off on his Premier League debut against Newcastle United for slapping Joey Barton. The game finished 0–0.[20] This resulted in a standard three-match ban for violent conduct.[21] Alan Pardew (manager of Newcastle United) accused Gervinho of diving when Cheick Tioté challenge inside the box.[22] He scored his first league goal in a 4–3 loss to Blackburn Rovers.[23] On 23 October 2011 Gervinho followed this up by contributing to all three goals in Arsenal's 3–1 win over Stoke City, scoring the first and assisting both of Robin van Persie's goals.[24] He then scored his third goal for Arsenal on 3rd December 2011, in a 0-4 win at Wigan Athletic, scoring the third goal of the match in a comfortable victory. He scored his fourth goal of his time at Arsenal on the 27th of December 2011 in the 9th minute against Wolves.
Gervinho captained Côte d'Ivoire at U21 level.[4]
He was named in the Ivorian senior squad for the first time for the friendlies against Angola and Qatar in November 2007, and was picked for the Ivorian squad for their 2008 African Cup of Nations campaign in Ghana where he was given the number 10 shirt. He made his competitive debut for the Ivorian club during the 2008 Nations Cup where he made two substitute appearances.
He represented his country at the 2008 Olympic tournament where he was captain.[3] After Côte d'Ivoire lost to Argentina in the first match, Gervinho scored one goal and set up two others in a 3–2 victory over Serbia.[25]
On 15 January 2010, Gervinho scored his third international goal in the African Nations Cup group stage game against Ghana.[26] He made a total of three appearances in the tournament, scoring once.[27]
Gervinho made only three appearances, all as a substitute, in qualifying for the 2010 World Cup but still scored twice.[3] On 15 June 2010, he played his first match in a World Cup. He played 82 minutes in Côte d'Ivoire's opening match in Group G against Portugal, which ended 0–0.[4] In total he made three appearances in the World Cup.[3]
| Gervinho – goals for Côte d'Ivoire | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
| 1 | 14 November 2009 | Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan | Guinea | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2010 World Cup qualifying |
| 2 | 2–0 | |||||
| 3 | 15 January 2010 | Estádio Chimandela, Cabinda | Ghana | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2010 Africa Cup of Nations |
| 4 | 17 November 2010 | Stadion Miejski, Poznań | Poland | 1–1 | 1–3 | Friendly |
| 5 | 5 June 2011 | Stade de l'Amitie, Cotonou | Benin | 3–0 | 6–2 | 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification |
| 6 | 5–2 | |||||
| 7 | 3 September 2011 | Stade Amahoro, Kigali | Rwanda |
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2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification |
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Total | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | ||
| Le Mans | 2007–08 | 26 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 6 | 5 |
| 2008–09 | 33 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 8 | 3 | |
| Total | 59 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 67 | 14 | 8 | |
| Lille | 2009–10 | 32 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 40 | 18 | 5 |
| 2010–11 | 35 | 15 | 10 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 53 | 18 | 10 | |
| Total | 67 | 28 | 14 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 18 | 5 | 0 | 93 | 36 | 15 | |
| Arsenal | 2011–12 | 17 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 24 | 4 | 7 |
| Total | 17 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 24 | 4 | 7 | |
| Career total | 143 | 41 | 27 | 17 | 8 | 0 | 24 | 5 | 2 | 184 | 54 | 30 | |
Gervinho often starts out from either sides of the wings, more often on the left, and takes a more attacking role than a typical midfielder, and not quite as a general attacker. He is considered a very direct player. Gervinho possesses decent dribbling skills which, coupled with short burst of acceleration, meant he could get past opposing defenders sometimes and trying to cut into the penalty area to get shots at goal or killer balls to a striking partner. In a 4-4-2 formation, Gervinho can take on a little more central role, but he has been utilised on either sides of the wings in 4-3-3 formations at both his previous and current club, Gervinho is favoured on the wing because of his speed.
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