Sylvinho

Sylvio Mendes Campos Júnior (born 12 April 1974), commonly known as Sylvinho (sometimes alternatively spelled Silvinho), is a Brazilian football manager and former player, currently coaching the Albania national football team.

Formerly a left back, he began his career at Corinthians.

Born in São Paulo, Brazil, Sylvinho started his career at Corinthians in 1994.

With Timão, Sylvinho won the Copa do Brasil in 1995.

Sylvinho as well won the Campeonato Paulista in 1995, 1997 & 1999 with Corinthians altogether.

After receiving his first international call-up in 1997 under Mario Zagallo for a match against Russia, Sylvinho formed part of Brazil's squad for the CONCACAF Gold Cup of 1998 wherein as they eventually finished in third place, he thus won a bronze medal with the team.

He was also victorious with Corinthians in 1998's edition of Brazil's top flight league, the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A.

He was signed by Arsenal in 1999, and was a popular player in his two seasons at the club.

In 1999, he became the first ever Brazilian player to sign for English club Arsenal, whom he signed for ahead of North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur who had made numerous offers for him.

Before long he was first choice at left back, displacing long-time fan-favourite Nigel Winterburn.

He had a setback early on in his first season when he missed a penalty in a shootout as Arsenal crashed out of the League Cup to Middlesbrough, and that season finished with a 4–1 loss on penalties against Turkish club Galatasaray in the 2000 UEFA Cup Final, although this time he did not take a penalty.

During his second season at the club he was displaced by Ashley Cole.

He scored goals against Sheffield Wednesday, Charlton Athletic and Chelsea.

He also scored twice in the Champions League for Arsenal against Sparta Prague and Spartak Moscow.

In the 2000–01 season, Sylvinho was included in the PFA Team of the Year.

During his time at Arsenal, Sylvinho was registered under a Portuguese passport, allowing him to be classed as a European Union citizen and exempt from work permit requirements.

Britain's Immigration Services investigated the validity of this document before Sylvinho moved to Celta Vigo, where he was classified as a Brazilian citizen.

Sylvinho said after his transfer to Celta that he had no knowledge that he was registered at Arsenal as a Portuguese citizen, and said that it was solely the decision of the club's executives.

He thereafter made his international debut for Brazil in a friendly match against Wales at Cardiff on 23 May 2000, which ended in a 3–0 win.

Four days later, he played in a friendly match against England in London, which ended in a 1–1 draw.

He went on to achieve a total of 6 international caps, as a backup to Roberto Carlos at the left-back position.

His last appearance with Brazil was on 28 March 2001 in a World Cup qualifier against Ecuador.

In 2001, he moved to Celta Vigo, and played there for three years, scoring once in the league against Barcelona on 26 January 2003, his future club.

He became a popular figure with the club's fans, helping the team to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in their history during the 2003–04 season.

He left for Celta de Vigo of La Liga, before joining FC Barcelona in 2004, with whom he won the UEFA Champions League in 2006 and 2009 among other honours.

Sylvinho obtained a Spanish passport in 2004, granted to him after completing three years' residency in Spain.

It allowed him to bypass the non-EU player restrictions in La Liga.

In 2004, after a transfer fee of €2 million, he was signed by FC Barcelona, where he won three domestic leagues, in 2005, 2006 and 2009, as well as the Champions League in 2006 and 2009.

After a series of good performances in 2008, he was given an extension until 2009.

He returned to England to spend his final season as a player with Manchester City in 2009–10.

Upon moving into management, he had brief stints at French club Lyon and Brazilian side Corinthians before being named coach of the Albanian national team in 2023, subsequently qualifying them for UEFA Euro 2024.

He played the entire match in Barcelona's 2–0 victory over defending champions Manchester United in the 2009 UEFA Champions League Final, ahead of the suspended Eric Abidal, previously having been an unused substitute in the final three years earlier.

This was his final game for the Catalan club.

Manchester City visited the Camp Nou on 19 August 2009 and, having beaten Barcelona 1–0 in a friendly, held discussions about Sylvinho joining them at the end of the month, thereby joining up with countryman Robinho.

It was announced on 24 August 2009 that he had signed for City on a free transfer, with a one-year contract.

He made his debut against Scunthorpe United in the League Cup.

His first league appearance came on 12 December 2009 against Bolton Wanderers, following the absence of an injured Wayne Bridge.

He scored his first goal for Manchester City in a 4–2 win against Scunthorpe in the FA Cup on 24 January 2010, with a spectacular long range strike.

On 8 June 2010, it was announced that Sylvinho's contract had expired and that he would be leaving the club, along with Benjani Mwaruwari, Jack Redshaw, Karl Moore and Martin Petrov.

On 7 July 2011, Sylvinho announced he would be retiring from football.