Gilberto Ribeiro Gonçalves

Football player infobox
playername = Gil


fullname = Gilberto Ribeiro Gonçalves
height = height|m=1.72
nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1980|9|13
cityofbirth = Andradina
countryofbirth = Brazil
currentclub = Botafogo
clubnumber =
position = Attacking midfielder
youthyears = 1995-1999
youthclubs = Corinthians
years = 2000–2005
2005
2006
2006–2007
2007-2008
2008
clubs = Corinthians
Tokyo Verdy
Cruzeiro
Gimnàstic
Internacional
Botafogo (Loan)
caps(goals) = 133 (31)
16 (2)
14 (2)
19 (0)
10 (1)
13 (1)
nationalyears = 2003
nationalteam = Brazil
nationalcaps(goals) = 4 (1)
pcupdate = February 21, 2007
ntupdate = August 12, 2006

Gilberto Ribeiro Gonçalves or simply Gil (born September 13, 1980 in Andradina), is a Brazilian footballer, usually playing as an attacking midfielder. He currently plays for Botafog.

Early years

Gil grew up in a small town, Andradina, where his talent was recognised at a very early age. His main attributes as a youngster were his natural agility, and his ability to accelerate quickly, and some believed that he would one day become a famous sprinter, but instead he chose football and managed to use his vast pace to his advantage. He was discovered by Corinthians scouts when he was only 15.

Corinthians

His time at Corinthians was terrible, even with the impressive report from the scouts the coaches claimed that he was not properly built and that without enough strength he wasn't yet ready to become a footballer, nevertheless the Corinthians coaching staff kept him at the club and helped him become an all-round player and he was soon playing in the reserve league, where he scored 77 goals in two seasons. He was voted Best 'Reserve' Player Of The Year, at Corinthians and went onto score 35 more goals the next season. While he was at Corinthians the coaches noticed that for a striker his crossing was very accurate and usually pin-point on target he topped the assist charts every season at Corinthians, and so he was deployed as a wing-forward for the rest of his Corinthians career, and he is still that position today.

Tokyo Verdy 1969

His time in Japan was very unsuccessful, he was relegated to the reserves bench after only 10 appearances for Tokyo Verdy 1969, in total he made 35 reserve team appearances with 28 goals, along with 21 assists, even so it still wasn't enough and soon he was relegated from the subs' bench, and sold to Cruzeiro for free in the summer of 2006.

Cruzeiro

He had a miserable time at Cruzeiro not making a reserve appearance, and make only one first-team appearance, in which he scored a fantastic 25-yard volley, his early promise had for some reason not been seen by anyone yet and he was struggling to get a game, the coaches apparently never noticed him, and he was yet again relegated to the subs reserve bench. Only 4 months at Cruzeiro and he was shipped out to Gimnastic de Tarragona.

Gimnastic de Tarragona

Although he demonstrated a great technical skill, the season he made in Tarragona was not so good as the team expected. He played 19 matches and he did not score any goals.

National team

Gil appeared in the last Confederations' Cup, and scored on his Brazil debut with a splendid half-volley from 30-yards out, he may also feature in this years Copa America.

Honours

*São Paulo's Cup (U 20): 1999
*São Paulo State League: 1999, 2001, 2003
*Tournament Rio - São Paulo: 2002
*Brazilian Cup: 2002
*Minas Gerais State League: 2006

Personal Honours

*Brazilian Bola de Prata (Placar): 2002

Contract

*4th September 2007 to 30th August 2010

External links

*en icon [http://www.sambafoot.com/en/players/510_Gil.html Sambafoot]
*pt icon [http://200.159.15.35/registro/registro.aspx?s=135814 CBF]
*pt icon [http://www.zerozero.pt/uk/jogador.php?id=5170 zerozero.pt]