Gilberto plays in Brazil win over Italy
February 11, 2009
See this link from The Independent for a full review of this game.
Basically though, Gilberto Silva returned to Arsenal’s home ground yesterday, The Emirates Stadium, as he helped Brazil take on Italy. Two Robinho goals gave Brazil a 2-0 win. Gilberto was very solid indeed.
It was Gilberto Silva’s first return to London since he left Arsenal in the summer for Panathinaikos. Used sparingly by Arsenal last season, it was tempting to wonder if his robustness might have been useful to the Londoners’ porous midfield this season.
“I don’t know if they’re missing a player like me, but the young players need a lot of support,†he said. “They need time and this is the problem, when you are in a big club you don’t have much time.â€
Meanwhile, at the centre of it all, was a familiar face to Arsenal fans. Tall, graceful, strong as the proverbial ox, Gilberto Silva was superb, as he always was in a red-and-white shirt. A totally reliable, ball-hoovering, strong-tackling workhorse around whom the rest of the team ticked.
If anything, he seemed even better than I remembered him, thus making his disappearance from north London to Greece for a paltry £1million all the more criminal.