Geovanni Deiberson Maurício Gómez (born 11 January 1980), known simply as Geovanni, is a Brazilian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

. He was mostly used as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, 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 #Cent ...

but was also able to play on both

wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expresse ...

and up front.

Club career

Early career

When Geovanni emerged from the youth set-up at Cruzeiro most Brazilian critics were intrigued by his talents and believed he could become a great player at the highest level. When Geovanni was 18 he enjoyed a successful loan spell at

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, scoring one goal in 15 games at the right wing position. He instantly commanded a first team place at the Brazilian team. Once his loan spell had finished he immediately found his way into the first team of Cruzeiro and was a fan favourite at the

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte (, ; ) is the sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population around 2.7 million and with a metropolitan area of 6 million people. It is the 13th-largest city in South America and the 18th-largest in the Americas. The metropol ...

club.

Barcelona

Geovanni was purchased by Barcelona for $18 million in summer 2001, signing a four-year deal, despite reported interest from

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

. Geovanni scored his first goal for Barcelona against

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at La ...

. Geovanni made 21

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's ...

appearances scoring 1 goal, mostly as a substitute. In his second season, he fell out with coach

Carles Rexach Carles Rexach i Cerdà (; born 13 January 1947) is a Spanish former football winger and manager. His career was mainly associated to Barcelona, spending 44 years at the club as a player (youth levels included) and coach. He formed a successful ...

and was not featured in Barcelona's starting 11 for the majority of the season and only played 5 league matches. Geovanni was then loaned out to Portuguese club Benfica the following season.

Benfica

In 2003 Geovanni agreed on terms with Benfica and was signed on a free transfer, agreeing to a four-year deal, after an impressive spell with Benfica on loan from

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 ...

. He scored his first goal for Benfica against

Braga Braga ( , ; cel-x-proto, Bracara) is a city and a municipality, capital of the northwestern Portuguese district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality has a resident population of 193,333 inhabitants (in ...

scoring a

free kick A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play. Association football In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offence ...

. He was a mainstay in the Benfica starting line-up and was hugely involved in winning 3 trophies for Benfica, the

Portuguese Cup Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

, Portuguese League and Portuguese Super Cup. Moreover, he was named "Benfica Player of the Year" in 2004 and 2005. Some of Geovanni's memorable goals include a late winning free-kick against

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

in the Lisbon derby at

Estádio José Alvalade Estádio José Alvalade is a football stadium in Lisbon, Portugal, home of Sporting Clube de Portugal. It was built adjacent to the site of the older stadium. The stadium is named after José Alvalade (1885–1918), the founder and first club mem ...

on 2 May 2004, helping giving Benfica access to the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League, as well as a diving header in the

2005–06 UEFA Champions League The 2005–06 UEFA Champions League was the 51st season of UEFA's premier European club football tournament, the UEFA Champions League and the 14th since it was rebranded from the European Cup in 1992. 74 teams from 50 football associations took p ...

against

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

at the

Estádio da Luz The Estádio da Luz (), officially named Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Lisbon, Portugal. It is used mostly for association football matches, hosting the home games of Portuguese club S.L. Benfica, its ...

on 7 December 2005. Despite having a successful spell at Benfica, Geovanni cancelled his contract after having family troubles and returned to Brazil.

Return to Brazil

In 2006 Geovanni rejoined Cruzeiro, signing a three-year deal. He was greeted at the airport by over 1,000 fans. Geovanni made his début scoring twice against

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 M ...

Manchester City

In July 2007, after being turned down by

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

following a trial, he decided to join

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

on a one-year deal on 17 July 2007. On 11 August, Geovanni scored on his début for City in a 2–0 victory over

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

. The following week, he started and scored the only goal in City's 1–0 win over local rivals

to continue Manchester City's 100% start to the season. Geovanni also scored against Wigan Athletic on 1 December 2007. On 3 July 2008, he was released by Manchester City.

Hull City

On 5 July 2008 it was announced that Geovanni would be joining

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...

on a two-year contract. He scored Hull's first ever

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

goal on his début against

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

on 16 August and was voted Man of the Match. On 27 September he scored his second Premier League goal for City with a 25-yard equalizer against

. Hull would go on to score again and record their first ever away win over Arsenal, defeating the London club 2–1. The following weekend, Geovanni scored a 30-yard free kick in a 1–0 victory against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a Association football, football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater i ...

. His form for Hull earned high praise from Hull chairman Paul Duffen and

Luis Felipe Scolari Luiz Felipe Scolari (; born 9 November 1948), also known as Felipão ("Big Phil"), is a Brazilian football manager and former player. He is the current manager of Athletico Paranaense. Scolari was a defender during his playing days, and not ...

. Geovanni went on to score goals against

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

, a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

against

in a seven-goal thriller, and during a 2–2 home draw against former club Manchester City on 16 November. He finished the season as Hull's top goalscorer as they narrowly avoided relegation. He signed a new two-year contract with Hull in September 2009, which would expire in June 2011. Geovanni started well in the 2009–10 season for Hull City scoring four goals in just seven games, including strikes against

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

, and league goals against

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, and

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

. On 31 October 2009, Geovanni was sent off against

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

after receiving two bookings. At the end of the season following Hull's relegation, he agreed to cancel his contract.

San Jose Earthquakes

On 16 August 2010, Geovanni agreed to terms with the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

, becoming the club's first

designated player The Designated Player Rule, nicknamed the Beckham Rule, allows Major League Soccer franchises to sign up to three players that would be considered outside their salary cap (either by offering the player higher wages or by paying a transfer fee ...

. On 20 August 2010, it was announced that Geovanni will wear the number 77 shirt and make his debut against the

Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began play ...

on 21 August 2010 in the

California Clasico California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the mo ...

. On 5 September 2010, Geovanni made his first start for the Earthquakes and notched a goal and an assist in a 2–1 away win against the

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo FC (formerly officially, but still commonly, called the Houston Dynamo) is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The Dynamo compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Establi ...

. Geovanni's option on his contract was not picked up by the club at the end of the 2010 season.

Vitória

On 30 January 2011, Geovanni was announced as the new player of Vitória. On 27 February, he scored twice in a 2–0 win against Bahia de Feira. Two weeks later, he netted a goal and delivered an assist in a 4–2 win against Juazeiro.

International career

Geovanni's first and only international appearance for

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

's was in a 1–0 defeat to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

in the

2001 Copa América The 2001 Copa América was held in Colombia, from 11 to 29 July. It was organised by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body. Colombia won the tournament for the 1st time without conceding a goal. Brazil national football team, Brazil ...

. Geovanni has also represented

in the 2000 Olympic football tournament.

Career statistics

Club

As of 14 May 2010

¹Including 3 matches in 2007–08 Football League Cup

²Including 1 match and 1 goal in 2009–10 Football League Cup

International

Honours

Club

Cruzeiro *

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 ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

Recopa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Recopa Sudamericana ( pt, CONMEBOL Recopa Sul-Americana), known also as the Recopa Sudamericana or CONMEBOL Recopa, and simply as the Recopa (, ; "Winners' Cup"), is an annual international club association football, football compe ...

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 ...

Benfica *

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

: 2004–05 *

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 seaso ...

: 2003–04 *

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese football match played since 1979 between the winners of the Portuguese League (Primeira Liga) and Portuguese ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

International

Brazil U17 *

South American Under-17 Football Championship The South American U-17 Championship (; ) is a football competition held every two years for South American under-17 teams. The tournament was born in 1985 out of a need for a classification tournament for the newly created FIFA U-16 World Cup (now ...

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 t ...

FIFA U-17 World Championship The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fédération ...

Brazil U23 *

CONMEBOL Men Pre-Olympic Tournament The CONMEBOL Preolímpico ( en, Pre-Olympic Tournament) is an international association football event in the South America region organized by CONMEBOL. It is the qualification tournament for the football tournament at the Olympic Games. In 1960, ...

: 1999

References

External links

*
Geovanni
at Futpédia * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Geovanni Deiberson Mauricio 1980 births Living people Sportspeople from Minas Gerais Association football midfielders Brazilian footballers Olympic footballers of Brazil Brazil international footballers Brazilian expatriate footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in Spain Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in England Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the United States América Futebol Clube (MG) players Cruzeiro Esporte Clube players S.L. Benfica footballers FC Barcelona players Manchester City F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players San Jose Earthquakes players Esporte Clube Vitória players Clube Atlético Bragantino players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players La Liga players Primeira Liga players Premier League players Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Major League Soccer players Designated Players (MLS)