I met Gilberto once.
Gary Jacob knows him quite well and we went to a Street League event about five years ago.
Street League is a charity which organises teams of homeless people to play each other, and it was typical of a humble guy from village of Usina Luciana, in the rural south-east region of Minas Gerais, that he should support such an iniative.
Gilberto has really seen the ups and downs of life, far more than most footballers. After his father died, and when his mother was ill, he worked in a quarry, and in a sweet factory, to support his family.
Called up by Big Phil Scolari to understudy Emerson, the captain of Brazil, Gilberto got lucky when Emerson got unlucky in 2002.
Larking about in goal while Brazil were training the day before the World Cup started, Emerson dived to his right to save a shot, fell awkwardly and dislocated his shoulder. Gilberto came in as anchorman and was the only player to play every minute of the seven games as Brazil won the World Cup without once having to resort to extra-time or penalties.
That summer Arsene Wenger had been phoning Harry van Raaj every day about Mark van Bommel but the PSV president wanted £15 million, so Arsene signed Gilberto, 25, from Atletico Mineiro for £4.5 million.
Gilberto scored in his first game in Cardiff and became an Invincible in 2004 before spending two months in a back brace in 2005. He was injured in the first game of the season but played another seven games before a second scan revealed a fractured vertebrae.
He said, “I felt pain every day during training, but I wanted to help the team. But it got worse, until one day I woke up and I couldn’t tie up my trainers, so I thought this is enough for me, something is wrong.”
Robert Pires left in 2006 and Arsenal really missed his goals, but Gilberto stepped up and scored 11 goals from shots, headers and penalties. Without those 11 goals, and his leadership, Arsenal would have been mid-table.
In the 2007 Copa America, Gilberto was captain, missed the final ( a 3-0 thumping of Argentina) through suspension, then came back after his holiday. He had expected to be captain of Arsenal but could not get into the team, so he was angry and demoralised. At times, when he did play last season, he looked like a carthorse.
But Gilberto remained a true gentleman, a great guy, and I’m very sorry to see him leave Arsenal after six years. Sam Wallace said it was a free transfer. David Hytner says its a £1million transfer fee. And if Gilberto Silva, now 31, is the highest-paid player in Greek football, good luck to him.
He scored 24 goals for Arsenal in 244 appearances.
I can’t recall what we talked about when we met. I mislaid the cassette and never put those quotes on ANR. I do remember asking him about Big Phil, who had recently taken over Portugal job, and he said, “I think it’s a good first job for him in Europe.”
Now, as Gilberto goes to Athens, Scolari arrives from Lisbon.