Geovanni Deiberson

Geovanni redirects here. For other people with a similar name, see Geovani
Geovanni Deiberson Maurício, often known as Geovanni, (born 11 January 1980) is a Brazilian football (soccer) player, who currently plays for Hull City. He is mostly used as an attacking midfielder but is also able to play on both wings and up front.
He is also known to be the uncle of the Girondins de Bordeaux player, Wendel Geraldo Maurício da Silva.

Biography

Geovanni was tipped as one of Brazil's hottest prospects in the year 2000 after his success at the Olympics, Geovanni won four caps for Brazil and scored one goal for them against Bolivia in a friendly in the year 2003. Geovanni played in Football at the 2000 Summer Olympics and was part of Brazil national football team 2001 Copa America squad. His one cap at the tournament came in Brazil's 1-0 defeat to Mexico national football team. Geovanni cost Barcelona 18 million Euros in 2001, he went on to have a relatively quiet spell at Barcelona, although Geovanni has done little to tarnish his reputation as a dangerous and skillful attacker he has also done little to prove his worth of the £11 million price-tag he has had at both SL Benfica and FC Barcelona.

When Geovanni emerged from the youth set-up at Cruzeiro most Brazilian critics were intrigued by his talents and believed he could become a great player at the highest level. When Geovanni was 18 he enjoyed a successful loan spell at América Futebol Clube (MG) scoring one goal in 15 games at the right wing position, he instantly commanded a first team place at the Brazilian team. Once his loan spell had finished he immediately found his way into the first team of Cruzeiro and was a fan favourite at the Belo Horizonte club. Barcelona proved that they were keen admirers of the Brazilian playmaker and they made the signing of him after a huge transfer fee. Geovanni proved that he was a talented player in his first performance for FC Barcelona where he was awarded man of the match after a terrific display against Athletic Bilbao. After a few games at Barcelona local pundits were tipping Geovanni to be one of Brazil's most important players in the future. Geovanni has enjoyed plenty of interest throughout his career, more recently, when Geovanni's contract expired a year ago at Benfica he opted for a move back to Cruzeiro despite reported interest from Arsenal F.C., Everton F.C., Racing Club de Lens and Udinese.

Manchester City

After a short trial at Portsmouth F.C. in July 2007 he decided to join Manchester City F.C. on a one year deal on July 17 2007. On August 11 2007 Geovanni scored on his debut for City in a 2-0 victory over West Ham United. Soon after, he played as a starter and scored the only goal in Manchester City F.C.'s 1-0 win over local rivals Manchester United F.C. to continue Manchester City's 100% start to the season with three wins in a row, their best start to a Premier League campaign. But Geovanni's only other goal in the Premiership came against Wigan Athletic on December 1 2007. On July 3 2008, Geovanni was released from Manchester City F.C..

Hull City

On 4 July 2008 it was announced that Geovanni would be joining Hull City A.F.C. subject to passing a medical. The deal was confirmed the following day. He scored Hull's first ever Premier League goal on his debut vs. Fulham F.C. on 16 August 2008 and was voted Man Of The Match. Hull went on to win the game 2-1 after a Caleb Folan winner.

On 27 September 2008 he scored his second Premier League goal for City with a superb 30 yard equaliser against Arsenal F.C.. Hull City would go on to score again and record their first ever away win over Arsenal, defeating the London club 2-1. On 5 October 2008 Geovanni scored an outstanding 30 yard freekick in a 1-0 victory against Tottenham Hotspur F.C. at White Hart Lane.