Élber de Souza (born 23 July 1972), commonly known as Giovane Élber, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a striker. A prolific goalscorer in various clubs, Élber's career was mostly spent in Germany, where he represented most notably Bayern Munich (six full seasons), scoring a total of 133 league goals in 260 matches for three clubs.

Club career

Born in

Londrina Londrina (, literally "Little London") is a city located in the north of the state of Paraná (state), Paraná, South Region, Brazil, and is 388 km (241 miles) away from the state capital, Curitiba. It is the second largest city in the state and f ...

, Paraná, Élber is a youth product of

AC Milan

At the age of 18, he signed for

AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

in 1990, Élber went almost unnoticed during his one-year spell with the

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

side.

Grasshoppers

Subsequently, he moved to Switzerland Grasshoppers, initially on

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

. He immediately started showing displays of offensive talent at his new club, namely in a 1992–93 UEFA Cup tie against

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

where, after a 1–2 home loss, he was influential in the club's 4–3 aggregate win, scoring twice.

VfB Stuttgart

After more than 50 official goals for Grasshoppers, Élber signed with

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V. (), commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German professional sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's Association football, football team is currently part of Germany's f ...

of Germany in the 1994 summer. He scored in his

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

debut, a 2–1 home win against

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), or HSV (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its Association football, football department. Though the current HSV was founde ...

, and finished his debut season with eight goals, which would be the only campaign he netted in single digits for the following seven years. In the 1996–97 season, Élber netted 20 official goals for Stuttgart, 17 in the league, and three in the cup, including both against Energie Cottbus in the final (2–0 win). At Stuttgart, he formed the so-called ''magic triangle'' (German: ''Magisches Dreieck'') with Krassimir Balakov and Fredi Bobic.

Bayern Munich

The following summer, he moved to fellow league team Bayern Munich where, save for one year, he was always crowned the club's top scorer ( Carsten Jancker prevented that honour); additionally, he was instrumental in the conquest of four leagues, the 2000–01 UEFA Champions League, scoring in both legs in the semi-finals against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

, and the 2001 Intercontinental Cup, whilst winning the ''Torjägerkanone'' award for 2002–03 with 21 goals; the

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

ns won the double.

Lyon

31-year-old Élber then spent the vast majority of the 2003–04 campaign (played four matches with Bayern) in France with

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, replacing compatriot Sonny Anderson who had left for Spain. In the 2003–04 UEFA Champions League, he scored against his former club Bayern Munich to win 2–1 in Germany. Later on, he scored in a 2–2 draw against

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

in the quarter-finals; however, Lyon were eliminated from the competition after losing 4–2 on aggregate. Eventually, he helped the club to the third of its seven consecutive

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

accolades, but then suffered a severe fibula and

tibia The tibia (; : tibiae or tibias), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two Leg bones, bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outsi ...

injury which put him out of action for more than one year.

Borussia Mönchengladbach

He made his comeback to professional football in Germany with

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e.V. Mönchengladbach, better known as Borussia Mönchengladbach () and colloquially known as just Gladbach, is a professional Association football, football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-W ...

, whom he joined in January 2005.

Cruzeiro

In January 2006, after nearly 15 years of absence, Élber returned to his country, finishing his career at Cruzeiro. After an emotional announcement, he retired from the club three months before the end of the season on 9 September, after injuries and the loss of his father.

International career

At the 1991 FIFA World Youth Championship, Élber scored four in six matches as the under-20s lost to hosts

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, on penalties. Due to stiff competition, Élber could not translate his club form to the Brazil national team. In his first year of international play, 1998, he scored six goals in as many games, but would only collect nine more caps in the following three years.

Post-playing career

upÉlber in a charity match in 2014 After announcing his retirement, he then returned to Bayern, where he began working for the club as a scout, searching in his country for young talents. Élber works as a pundit for German television station

Das Erste Das Erste (; "The First") is the flagship national television channel of the ARD (broadcaster), ARD association of public broadcasting corporations in Germany. ''Das Erste'' is jointly operated by the ARD (broadcaster)#Institutions and member org ...

. He provided expert analysis during the

2013 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup was the ninth FIFA Confederations Cup, which was held in Brazil from 15 to 30 June 2013 as a prelude to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The most recent winners of the six continental championships appeared in the tourn ...

and reappeared in this capacity during the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

Personal life

He is mostly referred to as ''Giovane Élber'' (sometimes also mistakenly as ''Giovanni Élber''), which is a German variation of his Italian nickname ''il giovane Élber'' ("the young Élber").

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Brazil's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Élber goal.''

Honours

Grasshoppers *

Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup competition that has been organised annually since 1925–26 season by the Swiss Football Association. The Swiss Cup final is usually the most important game of the year with a high attendance. The co ...

: 1993–94 Stuttgart *

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

: 1996–97 Bayern Munich *

: 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03 *

: 1997–98, 1999–2000, 2002–03 *

DFB-Ligapokal The DFL-Ligapokal (, officially Premiere Ligapokal , previously DFB-Ligapokal ) or the ''German League Cup'' was a German association football, football competition that took place before the start of the Bundesliga season, featuring the top five t ...

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

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 Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

: 2000–01 * Intercontinental Cup:

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

Lyon *

: 2003–04 *

Trophée des Champions The Trophée des Champions (, ) is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the Super cup, super cups found in many other count ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Cruzeiro *

Campeonato Mineiro The Campeonato Mineiro is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. It is run by the Minas Gerais Football Federation (FMF). The history of Campeonato Mineiro can be divided into two parts: bef ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

Individual * FIFA World Youth Championship: Silver Ball

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

Swiss League The Swiss League, also known as the Sky Swiss League for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the main professional ice hockey league in Switzerland, behind the National League (ice hockey), National League. The winners of the league each ...

: Top scorer 1993–94 *

: Best foreign player 1993–94 * '' kicker''

Team of the Season: 1996–97, 1998–99, 2002–03 *

Top scorer: 2002-03 (shared with Thomas Christiansen) *

Goal of the Year (Germany) The Goal of the Year in Germany is, like the '' Goal of the Month'' ( Tor des Monats), the ''Goal of the Decade'' and ''Goal of the Century'', an individual football award selected by spectators of the '' Sportschau'' ( ARD German TV), among spect ...

: 1999 * Bayern Munich All-time XI

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Elber, Giovane 1972 births Living people Footballers from Londrina Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Brazil men's international footballers Brazil men's under-20 international footballers 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Londrina Esporte Clube players Cruzeiro Esporte Clube players AC Milan players Swiss Super League players Grasshopper Club Zurich players Bundesliga players VfB Stuttgart players FC Bayern Munich footballers Borussia Mönchengladbach players Ligue 1 players Olympique Lyonnais players Kicker-Torjägerkanone Award winners FC Bayern Munich non-playing staff UEFA Champions League–winning players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in France