| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gilberto da Silva Melo | ||
| Date of birth | 25 April 1976 | ||
| Place of birth | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | ||
| Height | 1.79 m (5 ft 10 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder Left Back |
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| Club information | |||
| Current club | Vitória | ||
| Number | — | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1993–1995 | América (RJ) | 44 | (4) |
| 1996–1998 | Flamengo | 67 | (2) |
| 1998–1999 | Cruzeiro | 25 | (3) |
| 1999–2000 | Internazionale | 2 | (0) |
| 2000–2001 | Vasco da Gama | 40 | (6) |
| 2002–2003 | Grêmio | 54 | (9) |
| 2003–2004 | São Caetano | 6 | (0) |
| 2004–2008 | Hertha BSC | 101 | (14) |
| 2008–2009 | Tottenham Hotspur | 7 | (1) |
| 2009–2011 | Cruzeiro | 44 | (9) |
| 2011– | Vitória | 10 | (2) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2003–2010 | Brazil | 35 | (1) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Gilberto da Silva Melo, (born 25 April 1976 in Rio de Janeiro), more commonly known as Gilberto, is a Brazilian professional footballer who currently plays for Esporte Clube Vitória. He has played at left back for the majority of his career. Gilberto's brothers Nildeson and Nélio are also footballers.
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Having started his career in his native Brazil, playing for América-RJ, Flamengo and Cruzeiro, then he moved for one season to Italy club Internazionale. However, he soon left for Vasco da Gama. He also played with Grêmio and São Caetano.
Gilberto returned to Europe in 2004 with Hertha BSC. He played four years in this club and for several years been one of the best left defenders of Bundesliga.[says who?] Gilberto combined a successful defense with permanent participation in the attacks from the left winger position. He had fast speed and good shot, and often threatened the goal, scoring six goals at the first season as a left back. In the first two seasons of his Berlin career Hertha finished fourth in 2004–05 and the following season finished sixth. In the 2004–05 season, Gilberto was named the best left back of Bundesliga.
Gilberto signed for Tottenham Hotspur from Hertha on 31 January 2008.[1] After an initial period out injured,[2] he made his Spurs debut against PSV in the UEFA Cup on 6 March 2008,[3] but was replaced by Jamie O'Hara at half-time, after he had made a mistake that allowed PSV to score the game's only goal.[4] Spurs manager Juande Ramos stated after the match that Gilberto was substituted not because of the error, but rather because he is still recovering from his calf injury.[5] Nevertheless, in playing, he became the first Brazilian to play for Spurs at first-team level, with their previous Brazilian players Rodrigo Defendi and Diego Bortolozzo only featuring in the reserve team.[6] In Spurs' next game, Gilberto came on as a substitute to score the team's third goal in a 4–0 win over West Ham United in the Premier League.[7] Gilberto played his first full Spurs match against Bolton Wanderers at White Hart Lane on 26 April 2008.
Gilberto only made three appearances for Spurs in the 2008–09 season. He started a league game against Portsmouth[8] and a UEFA Cup tie with Spartak Moscow. He was substituted at half time in both games.[9] His last appearance for Spurs came against Shakhtar Donetsk in the UEFA Cup on 26 February 2009.[10]
On 17 July 2009, Brazilian club Cruzeiro announced Gilberto will sign a 2-year contract after a medical.[11] Tottenham Hotspur announced his contract was mutually terminated on 24 July.[12] He was unveiled to press on 29 July after the medical on the same day.[13]
He confirmed that he had quit the team during the season after ongoing discord among fans and the other squad members, and the club terminated his contract on 20 September 2011.[14]
On 26 September 2011, Gilberto signed for the Campeonato Brasileiro Série B side Esporte Clube Vitória until the end of the season.
He played for Brazil in the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany and scored against Japan in the group stages,[15] his first goal for the national side, having made his debut for the team against Nigeria on 11 June 2003. Gilberto also featured as Brazil's first choice left back in the Copa America 2007. Due to club performance, he lost his place on the national team to Kléber, and then to André Santos, which both of them selected to 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and left Gilberto out. However, he has been called-up in February 2010 to a friendly match against Republic of Ireland since returned to Brazil.[16] But he played as unused bench as Michel Bastos's backup.
Moreover, most of the 22-men squad for the Ireland match (except Adriano and Carlos Eduardo), plus Elano, Luís Fabiano (who both pull out from the friendly by injury) and Heurelho Gomes, became the provisional 23-men squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[17][18] And 7 more players were call-up as backup players.[19] He played twice for the Seleção at the tournament, both as sub, including the match losing to the Netherlands in the quarter-finals. After the dismiss of Dunga, he never received any call-up again.
Flamengo
Cruzeiro
Vasco da Gama
São Caetano
Brazil
| International appearances and goals | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Result | Goal | Competition |
| 1. | 11 June 2003 | Abuja, Nigeria | Nigeria | 3–0 | 0 | Friendly |
| 2. | 23 June 2003 | St. Etienne, France | Turkey | 2–2 | 0 | 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup |
| 3. | 9 February 2005 | Hong Kong, China | Hong Kong | 7–1 | 0 | Lunar New Year Cup (Friendly) |
| 4. | 16 June 2005 | Leipzig, Germany | Greece | 3–0 | 0 | 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup |
| 5. | 19 June 2005 | Hanover, Germany | Mexico | 0–1 | 0 | 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup |
| 6. | 25 June 2005 | Nuremberg, Germany | Germany | 3–2 | 0 | 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup |
| 7. | 29 June 2005 | Frankfurt, Germany | Argentina | 4–1 | 0 | 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup |
| 8. | 9 October 2005 | La Paz, Bolivia | Bolivia | 1–1 | 0 | 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 30 May 2006 | Basel, Switzerland | FC Lucerne Selection | 8–0 | 0 | Unofficial friendly | |
| 9. | 4 June 2006 | Geneva, Switzerland | New Zealand | 4–0 | 0 | Friendly |
| 10. | 22 June 2006 | Dortmund, Germany | Japan | 4–1 | 1 | 2006 FIFA World Cup |
| 11. | 16 August 2006 | Oslo, Norway | Norway | 1–1 | 0 | Friendly |
| 12. | 3 September 2006 | London, United Kingdom | Argentina | 3–0 | 0 | Friendly |
| 13. | 5 September 2006 | London, United Kingdom | Wales | 2–0 | 0 | Friendly |
| 14. | 6 February 2007 | London, United Kingdom | Portugal | 0–2 | 0 | Friendly |
| 15. | 24 March 2007 | Gothenburg, Sweden | Chile | 4–0 | 0 | Friendly |
| 16. | 1 June 2007 | London, United Kingdom | England | 1–1 | 0 | Friendly |
| 17. | 27 June 2007 | Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela | Mexico | 0–2 | 0 | Copa América 2007 |
| 18. | 1 July 2007 | Maturin, Venezuela | Chile | 3–0 | 0 | Copa América 2007 |
| 19. | 4 July 2007 | Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela | Ecuador | 1–0 | 0 | Copa América 2007 |
| 20. | 7 July 2007 | Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela | Chile | 6–1 | 0 | Copa América 2007 |
| 21. | 10 July 2007 | Maracaibo, Venezuela | Uruguay | 2–2 (5–4 pen.) | 0 | Copa América 2007 |
| 22. | 15 July 2007 | Maracaibo, Venezuela | Argentina | 3–0 | 0 | Copa América 2007 |
| 23. | 9 September 2007 | Chicago, United States | United States | 4–2 | 0 | Friendly |
| 24. | 12 September 2007 | Foxborough, United States | Mexico | 3–1 | 0 | Friendly |
| 25. | 14 October 2007 | Bogota, Colombia | Colombia | 0–0 | 0 | 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 26. | 17 October 2007 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | Ecuador | 5–0 | 0 | 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 27. | 18 November 2007 | Lima, Peru | Peru | 1–1 | 0 | 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 28. | 21 November 2007 | São Paulo, Brazil | Uruguay | 2–1 | 0 | 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 29. | 31 May 2008 | Seattle, United States | Canada | 3–2 | 0 | Friendly |
| 30. | 6 June 2008 | Foxborough, United States | Venezuela | 0–2 | 0 | Friendly |
| 31. | 15 June 2008 | Asunción, Paraguay | Paraguay | 0–2 | 0 | 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 32. | 18 June 2008 | Belo Horizonte, Brazil | Argentina | 0–0 | 0 | 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 33. | 7 June 2010 | Dar es Salaam, Tanzania | Tanzania | 5–1 | 0 | Friendly |
| 34. | 28 June 2010 | Johannesburg, South Africa | Chile | 3–0 | 0 | 2010 FIFA World Cup |
| 35. | 2 July 2010 | Port Elizabeth, South Africa | Netherlands | 1–2 | 0 | 2010 FIFA World Cup |
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