Gilberto (Angolan footballer)


Felisberto Sebastião da Graça Amaral, more commonly known as Gilberto, 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 represented the Angolan team at international level.

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. Shortly afterwards, he announced his retirement as a player 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 Angolan 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

International goals

GoalDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.21 April 2001Nchanga Stadium, Chingola, Zambia1–11–12002 FIFA World Cup qualification
2.29 March 2003Estádio da Cidadela, Luanda, Angola1–01–1Friendly
3.23 May 2004Stade des Martyrs, Kinshasa, DR Congo1–03–1Friendly
4.12 October 2008Estádio dos Coqueiros, Luanda, Angola2–13–12010 FIFA World Cup qualification
5.9 September 2009Estádio Municipal de Albufeira, Albufeira, Portugal1–01–1Friendly
6.10 January 2010Estadio 11 de Novembro, Luanda, Angola3–04–42010 Africa Cup of Nations
7.9 October 2010Estádio 11 de Novembro, Luanda, Angola1-01–02012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
8.13 June 2015Estádio Nacional da Tundavala, Lubango, Angola4-04–02017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification