Giovanny Patricio Espinoza Pabón (born 12 April 1977) is a former
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...
ian
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 ...
who played as a
defender.
Club career
His strong physique and speed helped his old club side
LDU Quito
Liga Deportiva Universitaria (), often referred to as Liga de Quito, LDU, is an Ecuadorian professional football club based in Quito. They play in the Serie A, the highest level of the Ecuadorian professional football league. They play their ho ...
win two league championships in 2001 and 2004. 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
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...
, Espinoza was nominated for a place in FIFA's ideal 11, which rewards the top players in each position.
On 25 January 2007, Giovanny Espinoza was transferred from LDU Quito to
Vitesse. There he has to replace
Ruud Knol
Ruud Knol (born 13 March 1981) is a Dutch former professional association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football)#Centre-back, centre back.
Club career
Knol was born in Zevenaar, in the province of Gelderland and star ...
. He signed for one-a-half-year until June 2008. On 10 February 2007, he made his
Eredivisie
The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...
debut for Vitesse against
SC Heerenveen
Sportclub Heerenveen (; West Frisian: Sportklub It Hearrenfean) is a Dutch football club from Heerenveen. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top level of football in the Netherlands.
History
Sportclub Heerenveen was founded on 20 July ...
. The following match, he made his first appearance at home in a 0–0 draw against
Roda JC
Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade (; Ripuarian: ), also known as Roda JC Kerkrade () or commonly Roda JC or Roda, is a Dutch professional football club based in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the Eerste Divisie. ...
, coming on as a substitute in the 66th minute for
Colin van Mourik. The following season, he became a regular starter.
On 14 January 2008, Espinoza was signed by Brazilian club
Cruzeiro. He captained of the side and showed some very impressive displays and leadership on the field.
There were many rumors swirling around in late 2008, some had Espinoza signing with Argentinian struggling giants,
River Plate and that unspecified English teams were also on the hunt for La Sombra. On 15 January 2009, it was confirmed that Espinoza would be playing for
Barcelona Sporting Club
Barcelona Sporting Club () is an Ecuadorian sports club based in Guayaquil, known best for its professional football team. Internationally known as Barcelona de Ecuador, in Ecuador it is simply referred as Barcelona, El Idolo (BSC) or Barce. T ...
and that his presence was asked by the head coach
Benito Floro
Benito Floro Sanz (born 2 June 1952) is a Spanish football manager.
Football career
Floro was born in Gijón, Asturias. During his professional career he managed Albacete Balompié (two spells, starting off in 1989 in Segunda División B and le ...
. His final club was
Deportivo Quito
Sociedad Deportivo Quito is an Ecuadorian non-professional club football club based in Quito. For most of its existence, it competed in Serie A, the highest level of the Ecuadorian professional football league. And currently competes in the Seg ...
.
Birmingham City
In June 2009, Espinoza's agent claimed that a fee had been agreed for the player to move to English
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 ...
club
Birmingham City
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...
, and the parties were only awaiting final paperwork for the deal to be completed. The two-year deal was confirmed on 24 June 2009, where he will play alongside compatriot
Christian Benítez
Christian Rogelio Benítez Betancourt (1 May 1986 – 29 July 2013), also known as Chucho, was an Ecuadorian professional footballer who played as a striker.
He began his career with El Nacional in Ecuador and then joined Santos Laguna, with ...
. Espinoza was an unused substitute in the league game against
Stoke City
Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...
on 22 August 2009, and made his Birmingham debut three days later, playing the whole of the 2–1 second round
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 ...
win away against
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
. On 12 January 2010 his contract with Birmingham was cancelled by mutual consent, having only made two League Cup appearances for the club.
Unión Española
In 2010, Giovanny Espinoza signed for
Unión Española
Club Unión Española S.A.D.P. is a professional association football, football club based in the Independencia, Chile, Independencia neighborhood, commune of Santiago, Chile. They currently participate in the Chilean Primera Division, Primera D ...
on loan for a contract of three years.
Deportivo Quito
In January 2012, he signed a contract with
Deportivo Quito
Sociedad Deportivo Quito is an Ecuadorian non-professional club football club based in Quito. For most of its existence, it competed in Serie A, the highest level of the Ecuadorian professional football league. And currently competes in the Seg ...
for the 2012 season.
International career
He was named in the
Ecuador national side for the
2002
File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
and
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...
s. He currently is the seventh highest capped player for his country behind
Luis Capurro
Luis Enrique Capurro Bautista (born May 1, 1961 in Esmeraldas, Ecuador) is a former football player. He played 100 games for the Ecuador national team with 100 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 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. In the 2006 edition of the
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...
, Espinoza was nominated for a place in FIFA's ideal 11, which rewards the top players in each position. He was also included in Ecuador's squad for the 2001, 2004, and
2007 Copas America.
References
External links
*
*
*
Giovanni Espinozaat PlayMakerStats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Espinoza, Giovanny
1977 births
Living people
People from Ibarra, Ecuador
Association football central defenders
Ecuadorian footballers
Ecuador international footballers
S.D. Aucas footballers
C.F. Monterrey players
L.D.U. Quito footballers
SBV Vitesse players
Cruzeiro Esporte Clube players
C.S.D. Independiente del Valle footballers
Barcelona S.C. footballers
Birmingham City F.C. players
Bristol City F.C. players
Unión Española footballers
S.D. Quito footballers
Ecuadorian Serie A players
Liga MX players
Eredivisie players
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players
Premier League players
English Football League players
Chilean Primera División players
2001 Copa América players
2002 FIFA World Cup players
2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup players
2004 Copa América players
2006 FIFA World Cup players
2007 Copa América players
Ecuadorian expatriate footballers
Ecuadorian expatriate sportspeople in Mexico
Ecuadorian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands
Ecuadorian expatriate sportspeople in Brazil
Ecuadorian expatriate sportspeople in England
Ecuadorian expatriate sportspeople in Chile
Expatriate footballers in Mexico
Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands
Expatriate footballers in Brazil
Expatriate footballers in England
Expatriate footballers in Chile