Sylvio Mendes Campos Júnior (born 12 April 1974), commonly known as Sylvinho (sometimes alternatively spelled Silvinho), is a Brazilian football manager and former player, currently managing

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

. Formerly a left back, he began his career at

Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians ( grc, Α΄ ᾽Επιστολὴ πρὸς Κορινθίους) is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-aut ...

. He was signed by Arsenal of the

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 Fo ...

in 1999, and was a popular player in his two seasons at the club. He left for

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues ...

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' ...

, before joining

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...

in 2004, with whom he won the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

in 2006 and 2009 among other honours. He returned to England to spend his final season as a player with Manchester City in 2009–10.

Club career

Corinthians

Born in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

, Brazil, Sylvinho started his career at

in 1994. With Timão, Sylvinho won the

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 P ...

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

. He was also victorious with Corinthians in 1998's edition of Brazil's top flight league, the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A. Sylvinho as well won the Campeonato Paulista in

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 ...

& 1999 with Corinthians altogether.

Arsenal

In 1999, he became the first ever Brazilian player to sign for English club Arsenal, whom he signed for ahead of North London

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

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

who had made numerous offers for him. Before long he was first choice at left back, displacing long-time fan-favourite

Nigel Winterburn Nigel Winterburn (born 11 December 1963) is an English former professional footballer, coach and current television personality for BT Sport. He played primarily as a left back from 1981 to 2003. He is best known for his role alongside the li ...

. He had a setback early on in his first season when he missed a penalty in a shootout as Arsenal crashed out of the League Cup to

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

, and that season finished in similar heartbreak as Arsenal lost 4–1 on penalties against Turkish club

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

in the

2000 UEFA Cup Final The 2000 UEFA Cup Final was a football match that took place on 17 May 2000 at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, Denmark to decide the winner of the 1999–2000 UEFA Cup. The game event pitted Galatasaray of Turkey and Arsenal of England, and was th ...

, although this time he did not take a penalty. During his second season at the club he was displaced by Ashley Cole. His stay only lasted for two years but in his short spell there he gained many friends and admirers and scored several spectacular goals including ones against

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

and

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. He also scored twice in the Champions League for Arsenal against

Sparta Prague ) but refer to Spartans as "''Rudí''" ( en, The Dark Reds/The Maroons).'' Letenští'' , ground = Generali Česká pojišťovna Arena , capacity = 19,416 , clubname = Sparta Prague , image = Sparta Praha logo.png , image_size = 160px , fu ...

and

Spartak Moscow Spartak Moscow may refer to the following teams based or formerly based in Moscow, Russia: * FC Spartak Moscow, an association football club * HC Spartak Moscow, a professional ice hockey team * Spartak GM Moscow, a semi-professional rugby club * WB ...

. In the 2000–01 season, Sylvinho was included in the PFA Team of the Year.

Celta Vigo

In 2001, he moved to

Celta Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), ...

, and played there for three years, scoring once in the league against Barcelona on 26 January 2003, his future club. He became a popular figure with the club's fans, helping the team to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in their history during the 2003–04 season. Sylvinho obtained a Spanish passport in 2004, granted to him after completing three years' residency in Spain. It allowed him to bypass the non-EU player restrictions in

Barcelona

In 2004, after a transfer fee of €2 million, he was signed by

, where he won three domestic leagues, in 2005, 2006 and 2009, as well as the Champions League in 2006 and 2009. After a series of good performances in 2008, he was given an extension until 2009. He played the entire match in Barcelona's 2–0 victory over defending champions Manchester United in the 2009 UEFA Champions League Final, ahead of the suspended

Eric Abidal Eric Sylvain Abidal (; born 11 September 1979) is a French former professional footballer who played as a left-back or centre-back. In his career, he played mainly for Lyon and Barcelona, winning 18 trophies with both teams combined, including t ...

, previously having been an unused substitute in the final three years earlier. This was his final game for the Catalan club.

Manchester City

Manchester City visited the Camp Nou on 19 August 2009 and, having beaten Barcelona 1–0 in a friendly, held discussions about Sylvinho joining them at the end of the month, thereby joining up with countryman

Robinho Robson de Souza ( or , born 25 January 1984), known as Robinho (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. In 1999, at 15 years of age, Robinho was picked by Brazil legend Pelé as his heir apparent and, in 2002 ...

. It was announced on 24 August 2009 that he had signed for City on a free transfer, with a one-year contract. He made his debut against Scunthorpe United in the League Cup. His first league appearance came on 12 December 2009 against Bolton Wanderers, following the absence of an injured

Wayne Bridge Wayne Michael Bridge (born 5 August 1980) is an English former footballer who played as a left back. A graduate of the Southampton Academy where he made his debut in 1998, Bridge also played for Chelsea, West Ham, Manchester City, Fulham and ...

. He scored his first goal for Manchester City in a 4–2 win against Scunthorpe in the FA Cup on 24 January 2010, with a spectacular long range strike. On 8 June 2010, it was announced that Sylvinho's contract had expired and that he would be leaving the club, along with Benjani Mwaruwari, Jack Redshaw, Karl Moore and Martin Petrov.

International career

After receiving his first international call-up in 1997 under Mario Zagallo for a match against

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, Sylvinho formed part of Brazil's squad for the

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Ameri ...

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 s ...

wherein as they eventually finished in third place, he thus won a bronze medal with the team. He thereafter made his international debut 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 ...

in a friendly match against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

on 23 May 2000, which ended in a 3–0 win. Four days later, he played in a friendly match against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in London, which ended in a 1–1 draw. He went on to achieve a total of 6 international caps, as a backup to

Roberto Carlos Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha (born 10 April 1973), commonly known as Roberto Carlos, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who now works as a football ambassador. He started his career in Brazil as a forward but spent most of his car ...

at the left-back position. His last appearance with Brazil was on 28 March 2001 in a World Cup qualifier against

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: ' ...

Managerial career

On 7 July 2011, Sylvinho announced he would be retiring from football. He was hired as Cruzeiro's assistant manager on 27 September 2011. After a stint on

Sport Recife Sport Club do Recife, (; known as Sport Recife or Sport, is a Brazilian sports club, located in the city of Recife, in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco. Founded in 1905, the club currently plays in Série B. In football, the club has w ...

and Náutico, he returned to Corinthians on 5 July 2013, as assistant manager to Tite. On 13 December 2014, he was appointed as

Roberto Mancini Roberto Mancini (; born 27 November 1964) is an Italian football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of the Italy national team. As a player, Mancini operated as a deep-lying forward, and was best known for his time at Sa ...

's assistant coach by Italian club

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is ...

. On 20 July 2016, he joined the Brazil national team as an assistant once again to Tite. On 9 April 2019, he was appointed as manager of the Brazil national under-23 team ahead of the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

, but did not take charge.

Lyon

On 19 May 2019, Sylvinho was announced as the replacement for Bruno Génésio at Olympique Lyonnais. He was sacked on 7 October 2019.

Corinthians

On 23 May 2021, Sylvinho's return to Corinthians as their new manager was announced. On 3 February of the following year, with only three matches into the new season, he was sacked after a 1–2 home defeat to rivals Santos.

Albania

On 2 January 2023, The

Albanian Football Association The Albanian Football Association ( sq, Federata Shqiptare e Futbollit; FSHF) is the governing body of football in Albania. The association is based in Tirana, Albania. It organises the national football leagues of the Albanian Superliga, the F ...

announced that it had reached an agreement with Sylvinho to be the new head coach of the Albania national team and that

Pablo Zabaleta Pablo Javier Zabaleta Girod (; born 16 January 1985) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a right back. Zabaleta could operate on both sides of the pitch as a full-back and was known for his tenacious style of play, an ...

and Doriva will join him as assistant coaches. Seven days later, he was officially appointed as the head coach and signed an 18-month contract, where the goal of the contract was to qualify for

UEFA Euro 2024 The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, will be the 17th edition of the UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football cham ...

Style of play

A quick, reliable, and technically gifted attacking left back, Sylvinho was known in particular for his overlapping runs, as well as his crossing ability with his left foot; he also possessed good tactical awareness, defensive attributes, and concentration, which also enabled him to play as a

midfielder A midfielder is an 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 central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, as a wing-back, or even as a winger occasionally.

Career statistics

Club

International

Managerial statistics

Honours

Corinthians * Campeonato Paulista:

, 1999 * Campeonato Brasileiro Série A:

Arsenal * FA Community Shield: 1999 Barcelona *

: 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09 *

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

: 2008–09 * Supercopa de España: 2005, 2006 *

: 2005–06, 2008–09 Brazil *

third place:

Individual *

PFA Team of the Year: 2000–01

References

External links

Sylvinho at Official FC Barcelona UK Penya
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sylvinho 1974 births Living people Brazilian footballers Footballers from São Paulo Association football fullbacks Sport Club Corinthians Paulista players Arsenal F.C. players RC Celta de Vigo players FC Barcelona players Manchester City F.C. players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Premier League players La Liga players UEFA Champions League winning players Brazil international footballers 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Brazilian expatriate footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in England Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Spain Naturalised citizens of Spain Brazilian football managers Olympique Lyonnais managers Sport Club Corinthians Paulista managers Albania national football team managers Ligue 1 managers Campeonato Brasileiro Série A managers Brazilian expatriate football managers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate football managers in France Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Albania Expatriate football managers in Albania