Giovanni Hernández

Football player infobox
playername = "Giovanni Hernández"


fullname = Giovanni Hernández Soto
nickname = Principe
dateofbirth = Birth date and age|1976|6|16|df=y
cityofbirth = Cali
countryofbirth = Colombia
height = 5'8" (172 cm)
currentclub = Atlético Junior
clubnumber = 10
position = Midfielder
youthyears =
youthclubs = Boca Juniors de Cali
years = 1993
1994-1996
1996-1999
2000-2003
2003-2006
2007
2008-
clubs = Once Caldas
América de Cali
Independiente Medellín
Deportivo Cali
Colón de Santa Fe
Colo-Colo
Atlético Junior
caps(goals) = 28 (11)
58 (2)
111 (20)
132 (30)
119 (13)
27 (12)
14 (2)
nationalyears = 1995-
nationalteam = Colombia
nationalcaps(goals) = 35 (5)
pcupdate = 18 August 2007
ntupdate = 5 June 2008

Giovanni Hernández (born June 16, 1976 in Cali) is a Colombian football (soccer) midfielder. He played for América de Cali, Independiente Medellín, Deportivo Cali, Colón de Santa Fe, Colo-Colo and now is player of Atlético Junior. He is famous for his technical ability to create plays, pace, and ability to create goals out of free kicks. He also is known by being very Christian, also he does show it when celebrating goals in his under-shirts.

History

1995-2000

Giovanni Hernández first appeared in the Copa Mustang, in 1995 for America de Cali. He scored 5 goals during this season. He continued to play for America de Cali during the 1996 Copa Libertadores where he scored 2 goals. Although America de Cali made it to the final match, Hernández only played the home game. He played with America de Cali the following year, and then he played for Independiente Medellín during 1998. At the end of that year, he was bought by Deportivo Cali. He played for Deportivo Cali in the 1999 Copa Libertadores as a bench warmer, but after a few goals, he was brought on to the starting team for the 2000 season, where he scored 12 goals.

2000-2003

In 2001, Giovanni Hernández made his biggest leap from being a small club player to a big National Team player. He was called up alongside with his teammate Jairo Patino to the Colombian national team for the Copa America 2001. He played several games and started goal scoring in Colombias 3-0 route of Peru and struck again when Colombia beat Chile. After Colombia won the Copa America, he continued to play with Deportivo Cali and the Colombian national team in several high profile qualifiers. Colombia did not qualify for the 2002 FIFA World Cup but did qualify for the 2003 Confederations Cup where Giovanni was called up again. Giovanni shone scoring 5 goals in 5 games he was considered the best of the best at the tournament and although Colombia lost in the semifinals it was all the better for the stars career. In 2003, Giovanni Hernández also played alongside of now famous teammates Elkin Murillo and Jairo Patino to form one of the strongest midfield sides ever to grace Deportivo Cali in the 2003 Copa Libertadores but they did not make it past quarterfinals.

2003-2005

In the Second half of 2003 Giovanni Hernández was sold to Argentine club Colon de Santa Fe and ended up scoring a goal and an assist in his first game. He quickly became one of the favorites in the Argentine league racking up a total of 12 goals that season. He played in the 2003 Gold Cup with a lacklustre performance ,not scoring a single goal. In 2004, Giovanni Hernández continued playing for his club Colon de Santa Fe, although he had a bad year at the Colombian national team. To make things worse, the Colombian national team began World Cup qualifiers with a loss 2-1 in Colombia to Brazil. Three days later they lost 4-0 to Bolivia in Bolivia, and a month later 1-0 to Venezuela in Colombia. This time was known as the great meltdown to Colombian national team supporters. In the second half of 2004, the whole Argentine league sagged as Giovanni Hernández was only able to score 6 goals in the league and many big famous clubs had bad performances from stars as unknowns took the cup. Despite this Giovanni Hernández future looks bright at the beginning of 2005 Boca Juniors, 5 time Copa Libertadores Champion, offered 5 million dollars for the Colombian player. Colon de Santa Fe wanted 8 million dollars for the player which would be one of the biggest sales ever inside the Argentine league. Colon de Santa Fe would not let Giovanni go; much to his dismay Giovanni later was quoted by newspapers saying he was unhappy with the decision and felt like he was being forced by the club to stay where he is.

2007

Before the 2007 Apertura in Chile, Giovanni joined Chilean club Colo-Colo. He was a vital part of the team that would eventually win the championship. Giovanni was the second leading scoring on the team with seven goals. After a three year absence from the Colombian national team, Giovanni was recalled for an August 22 match versus Mexico

2008

Giovanni goes back to Colombia to play for Junior de Barranquilla with the pressure of being the most expensive transaction made by the team of Barranquilla and also the pressure that he carries because he was brought to save Junior from its actual situation that is to fail to second division. Giovanni is now one of the most loved players in Junior but the difficult situation of the team makes everything more difficult.

Titles