This is a Portuguese name; the first family name is Da Silva and the second is Melo.

Gilberto da Silva Melo, (born 25 April 1976 in Rio de Janeiro), more commonly known as Gilberto is a Brazilian football player, who is currently playing for Brazilian club Cruzeiro. He has played at left back for the majority of his career. Gilberto's brothers, Nildeson and Nélio, are also football players.

[edit] Career

[edit] Club career

Having started his career in his native Brazil, playing for América-RJ, Flamengo and Cruzeiro, Ronaldo recommended him to Italian Serie A club Inter, who responded by buying him.^{[citation needed]} However, he soon left for Vasco da Gama. He also played with Grêmio and São Caetano.

[edit] Hertha BSC

Gilberto returned to Europe in 2004 with Hertha BSC.

This section requires expansion.

[edit] Tottenham Hotspur

Gilberto signed for Tottenham Hotspur from Hertha on 31 January 2008.^[1] After an initial period out injured,^[2] he made his Spurs debut against PSV in the UEFA Cup on 6 March 2008,^[3] but was replaced by Jamie O'Hara at half-time, after he had made a mistake that allowed PSV to score the game's only goal.^[4] Spurs manager Juande Ramos stated after the match that Gilberto was substituted not because of the error, but rather because he is still recovering from his calf injury.^[5] Nevertheless, in playing, he became the first Brazilian to play for Spurs at first-team level, with their previous Brazilian players Rodrigo Defendi and Diego Bortolozzo only featuring in the reserve team.^[6] In Spurs' next game, Gilberto came on as a substitute to score the team's third goal in a 4-0 win over West Ham United in the Premier League.^[7]

Gilberto played his first full Spurs match against Bolton Wanderers at White Hart Lane on 26 April 2008. He then played potentially his last match on 19 December 2008 against Spartak Moscow: Gilberto was taken off at half time.

[edit] Cruzeiro

On 17 July 2009, Brazilian club Cruzeiro announced Gilberto will sign a 2-year contract after a medical.^[8] Tottenham Hotspur announced his contract was mutually terminated on 24 July.^[9] He was unvieled to press on 29 July after the medical on the same day.^[10]

[edit] International career

He played for Brazil in the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany and scored against Japan in the group stages,^[11] his first goal for the national side, having made his debut for the team against Nigeria on 11 June 2003. Gilberto also featured as Brazil's first choice left back in the Copa America 2007. Due to club performance, he was not call-up to national team since June 2008, lost his place to Kléber then André Santos.

[edit] Honours

[edit] Club

Flamengo

• Rio State Championship: 1996
• CONMEBOL Copa Oro: 1996

Cruzeiro

• Minas Gerais State Championship: 1998

Vasco da Gama

• Brazilian National Championship: 2000
• Mercosur Cup: 2000

São Caetano

• São Paulo State Championship: 2004

[edit] International

Brazil

• FIFA Confederations Cup: 2005
• Copa América: 2007

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] International statistics

International appearances and goals
#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Result	Goal	Competition
1.	11 June 2003	Abuja, Nigeria	Nigeria	3–0	0	Friendly
2.	23 June 2003	St. Etienne, France	Turkey	2–2	0	2003 FIFA Confederations Cup
3.	9 February 2005	Hong Kong, China	Hong Kong	7–1	0	Lunar New Year Cup (Friendly)
4.	16 June 2005	Leipzig, Germany	Greece	3–0	0	2005 FIFA Confederations Cup
5.	19 June 2005	Hanover, Germany	Mexico	0–1	0	2005 FIFA Confederations Cup
6.	25 June 2005	Nuremberg, Germany	Germany	3–2	0	2005 FIFA Confederations Cup
7.	29 June 2005	Frankfurt, Germany	Argentina	4–1	0	2005 FIFA Confederations Cup
8.	9 October 2005	La Paz, Bolivia	Bolivia	1–1	0	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
	30 May 2006	Basel, Switzerland	FC Lucerne Selection	8–0	0	Unofficial friendly
9.	4 June 2006	Geneva, Switzerland	New Zealand	4–0	0	Friendly
10.	22 June 2006	Dortmund, Germany	Japan	4–1	1	2006 FIFA World Cup
11.	16 August 2006	Oslo, Norway	Norway	1–1	0	Friendly
12.	3 September 2006	London, United Kingdom	Argentina	3–0	0	Friendly
13.	5 September 2006	London, United Kingdom	Wales	2–0	0	Friendly
14.	6 February 2007	London, United Kingdom	Portugal	0–2	0	Friendly
15.	24 March 2007	Gothenburg, Sweden	Chile	4–0	0	Friendly
16.	1 June 2007	London, United Kingdom	England	1–1	0	Friendly
17.	27 June 2007	Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela	Mexico	0–2	0	Copa América 2007
18.	1 July 2007	Maturin, Venezuela	Chile	3–0	0	Copa América 2007
19.	4 July 2007	Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela	Ecuador	1–0	0	Copa América 2007
20.	7 July 2007	Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela	Chile	6–1	0	Copa América 2007
21.	10 July 2007	Maracaibo, Venezuela	Uruguay	2–2 (5-4 pen.)	0	Copa América 2007
22.	15 July 2007	Maracaibo, Venezuela	Argentina	3–0	0	Copa América 2007
23.	9 September 2007	Chicago, United States	United States	4–2	0	Friendly
24.	12 September 2007	Foxborough, United States	Mexico	3–1	0	Friendly
25.	14 October 2007	Bogota, Colombia	Colombia	0–0	0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
26.	17 October 2007	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	Ecuador	5–0	0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
27.	18 November 2007	Lima, Peru	Peru	1–1	0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
28.	21 November 2007	São Paulo, Brazil	Uruguay	2–1	0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
29.	31 May 2008	Seattle, United States	Canada	3–2	0	Friendly
30.	6 June 2008	Foxborough, United States	Venezuela	0–2	0	Friendly
31.	15 June 2008	Asunción, Paraguay	Paraguay	0–2	0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
32.	18 June 2008	Belo Horizonte, Brazil	Argentina	0–0	0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Gilberto FIFA competition record
• Gilberto career stats at Soccerbase

Brazil squad v • d • e Brazil squad – 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup 1 Dida • 2 Belletti • 3 Lúcio • 4 Juan • 5 Emerson • 6 Gilberto • 7 Ronaldinho • 8 Kléberson • 9 Adriano • 10 Ricardinho • 11 Gil • 12 Júlio César • 13 Maurinho • 14 Fábio Luciano • 15 Edu Dracena • 16 Kléber • 17 Eduardo Costa • 18 Dudu Cearense • 19 Adriano Souza • 20 Alex • 21 Ilan • 22 Luís Fabiano • 23 Fábio • Coach: Parreira v • d • e Brazil squad – 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup Winners (2nd Title) 1 Dida • 2 Maicon • 3 Lúcio • 4 Roque Júnior • 5 Emerson • 6 Gilberto • 7 Robinho • 8 Kaká • 9 Adriano • 10 Ronaldinho • 11 Zé Roberto • 12 Marcos • 13 Cicinho • 14 Juan • 15 Luisão • 16 Léo • 17 Gilberto Silva • 18 Juninho • 19 Renato • 20 Júlio Baptista • 21 Oliveira • 22 Edu • 23 Gomes • Coach: Parreira v • d • e Brazil squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Dida • 2 Cafu • 3 Lúcio • 4 Juan • 5 Emerson • 6 Roberto Carlos • 7 Adriano • 8 Kaká • 9 Ronaldo • 10 Ronaldinho • 11 Zé Roberto • 12 Rogério Ceni • 13 Cicinho • 14 Luisão • 15 Cris • 16 Gilberto • 17 Gilberto Silva • 18 Mineiro • 19 Juninho • 20 Ricardinho • 21 Fred • 22 Júlio César • 23 Robinho • Coach: Parreira v • d • e Brazil squad – Copa América 2007 Winners (8th Title) 1 Helton • 2 Maicon • 3 Alex • 4 Juan • 5 Mineiro • 6 Gilberto • 7 Elano • 8 Gilberto Silva • 9 Vágner Love • 10 Diego • 11 Robinho • 12 Doni • 13 Daniel Alves • 14 Alex Silva • 15 Naldo • 16 Kléber • 17 Josué • 18 Fernando • 19 Júlio Baptista • 20 Anderson • 21 Afonso Alves • 22 Fred • Coach: Dunga