Our connections with Brazil date back from the recent past to 1908. In this series we will recall those various Brazilians who have played for Tottenham. The club sides we have met and some of the international links. There is also two occasions when we nearly played there. So where better to start than White Hart Lane. Where on 5th September 2006 Brazil played a friendly international game with Wales. Which they won 2-0. In the 74th minute they brought on a substitute at left back who would later become the first man from that country to play for us. Gilberto played for the Hertha Berlin club and joined us on deadline day in January 2008.
At 31 years of age he had won 27 caps for his country. He had been a member of the national squad in the Copa America in 2004 and 2007 as well as the 2005 Confederations Cup. In 2006 he had been part of the squad for the 2006 World Cup and scored his first international goal in that competitions finals. He had European experience having spent three and a half years in Germany where he had made 101 appearances for his club with 14 goals. Before moving to Berlin he had been playing for the Sao Caetano club in Brazil.
Gilberto made his league debut three days after his European game. Coming on as a substitute and playing in midfield he turned sharply and shot home his first and only goal for the club into the net at the Paxton Road end to help us set up a victory over West Ham by four goals to nil. He would only make five more appearances that season, two of them from the bench, and mostly at the end of the season when our mid-table status was confirmed.
As for that Brazilian game at White Hart Lane. the Welsh included a 17 year old winning his second cap, Gareth Bale. This was the last time to date the two sides have met. The first time they played each other was in the quarter finals of the World Cup in 1958. The Brazilians won by the only goal and Spurs had Cliff Jones and Mel Hopkins in their side, (1). The first South American club to play at White Hart Lane was Canto do Rio in April 1958. The then Rio Champions from the 1956/57 season. They were on a European tour having previously played in Spain, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland before finishing with three games in England. Tottenham won the game 4-1 with goals from Blanchflower, Smith and two from Clayton.
The good and bad at Tottenham, He once saved two penalties in a game at Sunderland in 2010 and later the same year he was sent off in the first ten minutes away to Inter Milan in the Champions League. In part 2- The first Spurs players to go to Brazil, another Brazilian club visits Tottenham and another ex-player. http://www.indiaspurs.com/blog/connections-brazil-part-two COYS Keith Harrison. t- Keith 16024542 f - https://www.facebook.com/keith.harrison.9659 You can my full archive at - View Full Bio Notes - 1 - The Welsh at 1958 World Cup see - http://www.indiaspurs.com/blog/flying-down-to-rio-flight-five
4 Comments
Suraj
20/12/2013 04:42:31 am
Brilliant write up Keith, insightful as always!
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keith
26/2/2017 02:08:03 pm
Revised and updated Feb 2017
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keith
7/3/2017 12:26:50 pm
links to other parts http://www.indiaspurs.com/blog/connections-brazil-part-two
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keith
24/3/2017 09:46:25 am
Part 3 added march 2017
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