Ailton Gonçalves da Silva
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- For other Brazilian footballers named Ailton, see Ailton.
Ailton Gonçalves da Silva (born 19 July 1973 in Mogeiro, Paraíba, Brazil), usually known simply as Ailton, is a football player, currently on loan to Grasshoppers Zurich from Red Star Belgrade. Ailton has previously played for Beşiktaş in Istanbul, UANL Tigres in Mexico, and the German clubs Werder Bremen, FC Schalke 04 and Hamburger SV. After Giovane Elber (133) and Stéphane Chapuisat (106), he is only the third foreign player to have scored more than 100 goals in the German Bundesliga.
Ailton's career began in Brazil, and he played in his homeland with Mogi Mirim EC, Santa Cruz FC Recife and Guarani FC. He then moved to UANL Tigres in Mexico, which led its way in 1998-99 to a move to Werder Bremen in Germany.
He had some difficulties in his first season, managing only two federal league goals, but developed into a strong service provider. In 1999-00 he scored twelve goals, 13 in 2000-01, 16 in 2001-02, 2002-03 likewise 16, and 2003-04 brought with it 28 goals. He won the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal with Werder Bremen. Due to his achievements with Werder Bremen, he was selected in 2004 as one of the first foreigners to win the German Footballer of the Year award. The 2004-05 season saw a lucrative move to Schalke 04.
Ailton has been known as an enfant terrible, giving emotional interviews full of melodrama when at both Bremen and Schalke. [1]
In July 2005, Rıza Çalımbay brought him to Beşiktaş for €3.5 million, but he failed to show his full potential. Beşiktaş management brought him to the team with high hopes but his lack of scoring touch turned the fans against him and they wanted him replaced with another quality striker as soon as possible. Having failed to find himself a club in January 2006, Ailton had undertaken an escape attempt toward Brazil, but was stopped at the airport by Beşiktaş interim manager Mehmet Eksi. However, because he had not found a new club during the winter, he returned to Istanbul and faced his old team Werder Bremen in the Efes Cup scoring a hat trick for Beşiktaş.
He returned to Germany on loan to Hamburger SV in January 2006, but broke his jaw in only his second appearance for the club – an away game against Hannover 96 – and missed most of the remaining season. He scored twice upon his return, in the matches against Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04.
He is married to wife Rosalie, with two children.
Contents |
[edit] Club history
- 1993-1994:
Ypiranga Erechim - 1994-1994: Mogi Mirim EC
- 1994-1995: Internacional RS
- 1995-1996: Santa Cruz PE
- 1996-1997: Guarani FC
- 1997-1998:
UANL Tigres - 1998-2004:
Werder Bremen - 2004-2005: Schalke 04
- 2005-2006:
Beşiktaş - 2006 Hamburger SV
- 2007
Red Star Belgrade - 2007-Present
Grasshoppers Zurich
[edit] Statistics
[edit] Appearances
- 169 for Werder Bremen
- 29 for FC Schalke 04
- 15 for Beşiktaş J.K.
- 13 for Red Star Belgrade
[edit] Goals
- 88 for Werder Bremen
- 14 for FC Schalke 04
- 4 for Beşiktaş J.K.
- 4 for Red Star Belgrade
[edit] References
This article draws heavily on the corresponding article on the German-language Wikipedia, accessed on 18 January 2006.
[edit] External links
- Ailton at Samba Foot
| Grasshopper-Club Zürich - Current Squad |
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1 Coltorti | 2 Langkamp | 3 Robson | 4 Schwegler | 5 Galindo | 6 Seoane | 7 Touré | 8 Renggli | 10 Eduardo | 13 Denicola | 14 Pavlovic | 19 Leon | 20 Biscotte | 21 Ristić | 22 Pinto | 23 Cabanas | 24 Jaggy | 27 Voser | 29 Lütolf | 30 Antonio | 31 Blumer | 32 Sutter | 35 Salatic | -- Ailton |
Categories: 1973 births | Living people | Brazilian footballers | Sport Club Internacional players | Guarani Futebol Clube players | Werder Bremen players | Schalke 04 players | Beşiktaş players | Hamburger SV players | Red Star Belgrade footballers | Kicker-Torjägerkanone Award winners | Non-German football players in Germany
