Felisberto Sebastião da Graça Amaral, more commonly known as Gilberto (born 21 September 1982), is an Angolan 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 lea ...

who played as a

left winger 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. ...

left 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 played professionally for Egypt's

Al Ahly Al-Ahly Sporting Club (), commonly known as Al-Ahly, is an Egyptian professional sports club based in Cairo, Egypt. The club is mainly known for its professional football team which currently plays in the Egyptian Premier League, the highest ...

, Belgian club Lierse, Cypriot club

AEL Limassol Athlitiki Enosi Lemesou () is a Cyprus, Cypriot sports club based in the city of Limassol, most famous for its football team. AEL Limassol also maintains a AEL Limassol B.C., men's and AEL Limassol B.C. (women), women's basketball teams, a wom ...

, and for Benfica de Luanda in his native country. He played for the Angola national team at international level.

Club career

Al Ahly

While playing for

in Egypt, Gilberto was well known for fitting into the team's tactic. The tactic was that Gilberto would run on the side of the pitch and then cross the ball at the end to

Flavio ''Flavio, re de' Longobardi'' ("Flavio, King of the Lombards", Händel-Werke-Verzeichnis, HWV 16) is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel. The Italian-language libretto was by Nicola Francesco Haym, after Matteo Noris's ''Flavi ...

who would score with a header. With Al Ahly, Gilberto played against many world class teams such as

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

and

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

. He helped his team to domestic success before helping them become the only team in the world to qualify to Club World Cup twice in a row.

2015 incident and retirement

On 26 July 2015, during a match of Benfica de Luanda, Gilberto was knocked out following a tackle by an opponent from Progresso do Sambizanga. He subsequently remained unconscious for about twenty minutes, before being resuscitated by medical service and immediately carried to the hospital. A doctor stated that no injuries were detected in medical tests. Shortly afterwards, he announced his retirement as a player and that he was taking an office position with Benfica de Luanda.

International career

An Achilles tendon injury made him miss the

2006 African Cup of Nations The 2006 Africa Cup of Nations was the 25th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa. It was hosted by Egypt, from 20 January to 10 February. Just like in 2004, the field of sixteen teams was split in ...

and the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

in Germany. He was part of the Angola national team during the

2008 African Cup of Nations The 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the MTN Africa Cup of Nations due to the competition's sponsorship by MTN, was the 26th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial football tournament for nations affiliated with the Confeder ...

in Ghana. In the

2010 African Cup of Nations The 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange (telecommunications), Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 27th Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial association football, football championship of Africa (Confederat ...

opening game against Mali on 10 January in Luanda Gilberto made assist for 1–0 lead to

Flávio Amado Flávio da Silva Amado (born 30 December 1979), better known as Flávio, is an Angolan former professional footballer who played as striker. He is the assistant of Angolan side Petro Atlético. Club career Flávio helped his team Al Ahly to p ...

in the first half. In the second half he scored from penalty-kick for Angola 3–0 lead and later in the game

Seydou Keita Seydou Keïta (; anglicised to Keita; born 16 January 1980) is a Malian former professional footballer. A versatile midfielder, he operated as both a central or defensive midfielder. He is both the record appearance holder and scorer of the Ma ...

penalised him for another penalty kick for Angola.

Manucho Mateus Alberto Contreiras Gonçalves (born 7 March 1983), commonly known as Manucho, is a former Angolan professional footballer who played as a striker. Manucho moved from Petro Atletico to Manchester United in January 2008. Before playing ...

scored for 4–0 but the match finished 4–4 after four consecutive goals for

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

in the last 15 minutes of the game.

Career statistics

International

:''Scores and results list Angola's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Gilberto goal.''Felisberto Sebastião de Graça Amaral "Gilberto" - International Appearances
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilberto Living people 1982 births Footballers from Luanda Angolan men's footballers 21st-century Angolan sportsmen Angola men's international footballers Angolan expatriate men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Atlético Petróleos de Luanda players Al Ahly SC players Lierse S.K. players AEL Limassol players S.L. Benfica (Luanda) players Egyptian Premier League players Belgian Pro League players Cypriot First Division players Expatriate men's footballers in Egypt Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players 2010 Africa Cup of Nations players 2012 Africa Cup of Nations players 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players Angolan expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Angolan expatriate sportspeople in Egypt Angolan expatriate sportspeople in Belgium