Gilberto (footballer, born 1982)

Felisberto Sebastião da Graça Amaral, more commonly known as Gilberto (born 21 September 1982), is an Angolan former professional footballer who played as a left winger or left midfielder. He played professionally for Egypt's Al Ahly, Belgian club Lierse, Cypriot club AEL Limassol, and for Benfica de Luanda in his native country. He played for the Angola national team at international level.

Gilberto
Gilberto with Angola in 2014
Personal information
Full name Felisberto Sebastião da Graça Amaral[1]
Date of birth (1982-09-21) 21 September 1982[1]
Place of birth Luanda, Angola
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Position(s) Left winger, left midfielder
Youth career
2001–2002 Petro Atlético
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2010 Al Ahly 121 (7)
2010–2011 Lierse[2] 29 (0)
2012–2013 AEL Limassol[3] 16 (1)
2013–2015 Petro Atlético[3] 23 (6)
2015 Benfica de Luanda[3] 11 (2)
Total 365 (15)
International career
1999–2015 Angola 78 (8)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Al Ahly

While playing for Al Ahly 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 who would score with a header. With Al Ahly, Gilberto played against many world class teams such as FC Barcelona and Roma. 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.[4] Shortly afterwards, he announced his retirement as a player[5] 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 and the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. He was part of the Angola national team during the 2008 African Cup of Nations in Ghana.

In the 2010 African Cup of Nations opening game against Mali on 10 January in Luanda Gilberto made assist for 1–0 lead to Flávio Amado 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 penalised him for another penalty kick for Angola. Manucho scored for 4–0 but the match finished 4–4 after four consecutive goals for Mali in the last 15 minutes of the game.

Career statistics

International
Appearances and goals by national team and year[3]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Angola 199920
200000
200181
200220
200331
200451
200560
200610
200710
2008111
200971
201082
201130
201240
201330
201490
201551
Total788
Scores and results list Angola's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Gilberto goal.[6][7]
List of international goals scored by Gilberto
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
121 April 2001Nchanga Stadium, Chingola, Zambia Zambia1–11–12002 FIFA World Cup qualification
229 March 2003Estádio da Cidadela, Luanda, Angola Algeria1–01–1Friendly
323 May 2004Stade des Martyrs, Kinshasa, DR Congo DR Congo1–03–1Friendly
412 October 2008Estádio dos Coqueiros, Luanda, Angola Niger2–13–12010 FIFA World Cup qualification
59 September 2009Estádio Municipal de Albufeira, Albufeira, Portugal Cape Verde1–01–1Friendly
610 January 2010Estadio 11 de Novembro, Luanda, Angola Mali3–04–42010 Africa Cup of Nations
79 October 2010Estádio 11 de Novembro, Luanda, Angola Guinea-Bissau1–01–02012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
813 June 2015Estádio Nacional da Tundavala, Lubango, Angola Central African Republic4–04–02017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

References
  1. "FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2008 Presented By TOYOTA — List Of Players" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 5 December 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 December 2008.
  2. "Gilberto » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  3. "Gilberto". National Football Teams. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  4. "Gilberto passes out in game against Progresso". ANGOP.com. 27 July 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  5. "Midfielder Gilberto officially announces retirement from football". ANGOP.com. 5 November 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  6. Gilberto at Soccerway. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  7. Felisberto Sebastião de Graça Amaral "Gilberto" - International Appearances
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