Carlos Gilberto Nascimento Silva (born 12 June 1987), commonly known as Gil (), is a Brazilian 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 lea ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for Santos.

Club career

Early career

Born in

Campos dos Goytacazes Campos dos Goytacazes () is a city located in the northern region of Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, with a population of 483,540 inhabitants. It is the largest city in Rio de Janeiro (state) outside of the Greater Rio de Janeiro metropolitan ar ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, Gil began his career with hometown side Rio Branco-RJ. In 2004, aged 17, he moved to Americano; after arriving as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

, he was converted into a

by head coach Paulo Marcos. After making his first team debut for Americano during the 2007 Campeonato Carioca, Gil spent a trial period at

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea. Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

before being loaned out to Série C side Jaguaré in April of that year; at the club, he was known as Gilberto Balói. Despite not featuring in any league matches during their first stage elimination, he won the Copa Espírito Santo with the side as a starter. Back to Americano for the 2008 season, Gil established himself as a first-choice at the club as they reached the Copa Rio finals. In June 2008, he was loaned to fellow third division side

Atlético Goianiense Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico *Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy *Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic Cl ...

for the remainder of the year. A regular starter at ''Dragão'', Gil was bought outright by the club ahead of the 2009 campaign, and was a target of

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; ), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian multi sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea. It was founded and named after the Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Flamengo n ...

Fluminense Fluminense Football Club () is a Brazilian sports club based in the neighbourhood of Laranjeiras, in Rio de Janeiro, being the oldest football club in the state since its foundation in 1902. It competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, th ...

and Cruzeiro.

Cruzeiro

On 1 August 2009, Gil was announced at Cruzeiro. He made his club – and Série A – debut four days later, starting in a 2–0 home loss to

Atlético Paranaense Club Athletico Paranaense (abbreviated CAP, commonly known as Athletico Paranaense and up to 2019 known as Atlético Paranaense) is a Brazilian football team from the city of Curitiba, capital city of the Brazilian state of Paraná, founded o ...

. Gil started the 2010 season as a backup to Leonardo Silva and Caçapa, but soon overtook the latter. He scored his first

goal A goal or objective is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan, and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to ...

for the club on 20 February of that year, netting the opener in a 3–1 away win over rivals

Atlético Mineiro Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico *Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy *Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic Cl ...

Valenciennes

In August 2011, Gil moved abroad for the first time in his career, after agreeing to a three-year deal with French

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 ...

side

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; ; or ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced ...

, for a rumoured fee of

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

3 million. He made his debut abroad late in the month, starting in a 3–2 away loss to

Dijon Dijon (, ; ; in Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Digion'') is a city in and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eas ...

, for the season's

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was established in 1993 and, unlike the Coupe de France ...

Corinthians

On 1 January 2013, Valenciennes reportedly accepted an €3.5 million offer from

Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians () 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-author, Sosthenes, and is addressed to the Christian church in C ...

, and was presented at his new club fifteen days later. He made his debut for the club on 23 January, starting in a 1–0

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Run by the São Paulo State Football Federation (FPF), ...

home loss to Ponte Preta. An immediate first-choice, Gil only scored his first goal for ''Timão'' on 26 February 2014, netting his side's third in a 3–0 home win over Comercial-SP. On 31 July 2014, he signed a new three-year contract with the club. On 22 September 2015, still a key unit, Gil renewed his link with Corinthians until 2019.

Shandong Luneng

On 21 January 2016, Gil moved to Chinese club

Shandong Luneng Shandong Taishan Football Club () is a Chinese professional football club based in Jinan, Shandong, that competes in . Shandong Taishan plays its home matches at the Jinan Olympic Sports Center Stadium, located within Lixia District. Their c ...

on a four-year contract, earning a rumoured monthly wage of

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

400,000. A regular starter, he left the club on a mutual agreement on 30 June 2019, to return to his former club.

Corinthians return

On 3 July 2019, Gil was announced back at Corinthians on a contract until the end of the year. The following 9 January, his link was extended until the end of 2022. On 26 January 2022, still a first-choice, 34-year-old Gil renewed his contract with Corinthians for a further year. On 14 December 2023, he left the club after his contract was due to expire; he amassed 444 matches for ''Timão'', scoring 19 goals.

Santos

On 27 December 2023, Gil was announced at Santos on a one-year contract. He made his debut for the club the following 20 January, starting in a 1–0 away win over

Botafogo-SP Botafogo Futebol Clube, commonly referred to as Botafogo-SP or Botafogo de Ribeirão Preto is a Brazilian association football club in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo. They currently play in the Série B, the second tier of Brazilian football, as ...

. Gil scored his first goal for ''Peixe'' on 15 May 2024, netting the opener in a 2–1 away win over Ponte Preta.

International career

On 19 August 2014, Gil was called up to play for the Brazil national team by new manager

Dunga Carlos Caetano Bledorn Verri (born 31 October 1963), known as Dunga (), is a Brazilian football manager and former professional player who played as a defensive midfielder. Under his captaincy, Brazil won the 1994 FIFA World Cup and he lifte ...

for two friendlies against

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

and

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

. He made his full international debut on 10 September, coming on as a late substitute for

Danilo Danilo is a given name found in Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Serbian. Notable people with the name Danilo include: Athletes Footballers * Danilo (footballer, born 1979), Brazilian footballer Danilo de Andrade * Danilo (footballer, born ...

in a 1–0 win over the latter at the

MetLife Stadium MetLife Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States, 5 mi (8 km) west of New York City. It opened in 2010, replacing Giants Stadium, and serves as the home for the ...

East Rutherford, New Jersey East Rutherford is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is an inner suburb, inner-ring suburb of New York City, located west of Midtown Manhattan. As of the 2020 Unit ...

. Gil was also called up to the

2014 Superclásico de las Américas The 2014 Superclásico de las Américas – Copa Doctor Nicolás Leoz was the 3rd edition of the Superclásico de las Américas, an annual friendly football match between the national teams of Argentina and Brazil. The match was played at Beijing ...

, coming on in the stoppage time for

David Luiz David Luiz Moreira Marinho (born 22 April 1987) is a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football), defender for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Fortaleza Esporte Clube, Fortaleza. H ...

as Brazil beat

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

2–0. He was placed in the standby list for the

2015 Copa América The 2015 Copa América was the 44th edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South America, and took place in Chile between 11 June and 4 July 2015. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, ...

. In May 2016, Gil was included in Dunga's 23-man squad for the

Copa América Centenario The Copa América Centenario (, , ; literally ''Centennial America Cup'') was an international men's soccer tournament that was hosted by the United States in 2016. The competition was a celebration of the centennial of CONMEBOL and the Copa Am� ...

. He featured in all three matches of Brazil's group stage exit. In June 2017, after nearly a year away from international duties, Gil was recalled to the national team by Tite, who included the defender on his list for the first time. He made his return to the national team after nearly a full year in the

2017 Superclásico de las Américas The 2017 Superclásico de las Américas – Copa Doctor Nicolás Leoz was the fourth edition of the Superclásico de las Américas, an annual friendly football match between the national teams of Argentina and Brazil. The match was played at the M ...

, which ended in a 1–0 defeat to Argentina.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Club

;Jaguaré * Copa Espírito Santo: 2007 ;Atlético Goianiense *

Campeonato Brasileiro Série C The Campeonato Brasileiro Série C, commonly known as the Série C or the Brazilian Série C to distinguish it from the Italian Serie C, is the third tier of the Brazilian football league system. Unlike the first and second divisions, the Sér ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

;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 ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

;Corinthians *

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

Recopa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Recopa Sudamericana (), also known as Recopa Sudamericana or CONMEBOL Recopa, and simply as Recopa (, ; "Winners' Cup"), is an annual international club Association football, football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1988. It ...

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian" or "Great Brazilian"), the Série A or the Brazilian Série A (to distinguish it from the I ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

;Santos *

Campeonato Brasileiro Série B The Campeonato Brasileiro Série B (commonly referred to as the Brasileirão Série B, the Série B or the Brazilian Série B to distinguish it from the Italian and the Ecuadorian Serie B), and currently officially called Brasileirão Série B ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

International

;Brazil *

Superclásico de las Américas The Superclassic of the Americas (, ), was an annual Exhibition game, friendly association football, football match between the national teams of Argentina national football team, Argentina and Brazil national football team, Brazil. Established ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Individual

* Best Centre-back in Brazil:

* Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Team of the Year:

Team of the Year:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gil 1987 births Living people Footballers from Campos dos Goytacazes Footballers from Rio de Janeiro (state) Brazilian men's footballers Brazil men's international footballers Men's association football central defenders Americano FC players Associação Jaguaré Esporte Clube players Atlético Clube Goianiense players Cruzeiro Esporte Clube players Valenciennes FC players Sport Club Corinthians Paulista players Shandong Taishan F.C. players Santos FC players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Campeonato Brasileiro Série C players Ligue 1 players Chinese Super League players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in China Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in France Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in China Copa América Centenario players 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen