Brazilian midfielder Geovanni may not have played many games for Manchester City, but his time at the club was still enough for him to have great memories.
The 40-year-old was interviewed this week by ESPN Brasil ahead of the Manchester derby, and recalled the time when he scored a winner against Manchester United.
“I did little for City, but when Elano and I went there, the club’s recent history changed. I scored a historic goal and we won the derby 1-0. After that, they put a picture of my goal at the exit of the locker room tunnel,” Geovanni told ESPN Brasil.
“Manchester City didn’t win a derby for a long time, and that was hard for a fanbase as faithful as City’s, who loves the club. It was the club that opened the doors for me to the Premier League and for which I have a huge affection.”
Geovanni recalls that he wasn’t even supposed to be playing against Manchester United, and didn’t even feed himself the same way his teammates did. Still, that was enough for one of the most important matches of his career.
“This game was for me to stay on the bench! But, in the morning, a player was sick. It was around 7am, and the game was around 10am. In that time, I saw people serving chicken for breakfast and I said: ‘Elano, I’m not going to eat this, no. I’m going to have coffee and eat some bread with butter. If I eat chicken with pasta, I won’t even be able to play, because I’m going to be sick’. So, I only had coffee with bread, really.”
“Eriksson called me: ‘Geovanni, you’re going to play today!’. I was startled. He asked me: ‘Are you ok?’ – And I said this is the opportunity that I wanted. You can rest assured, because I’ll do my best.
“The stadium was absolutely packed. Everyone was singing, but in everyone’s mind, of course, the fear of losing another derby crossed over. Even more that United were commanded by Alex Ferguson and had Tevez, Giggs, Ferdinand, Scholes, Van der Sar… They were a machine!
“It was 0-0 and Elano stole a ball in midfield. He found me with a pass and I hit from a distance. The ball flew and went into the corner.
“Then, it was a struggle until the end of the game, but we managed to hold. The crowd was in a crazy scream and euphoria. I see that, after that day, the City fans started to believe they could be up to face United.”
The player claims he still went out for dinner with Elano that night, and got an ovation from the Manchester City fans they met.
“At night, I went out to dinner with Elano, and the restaurant was packed. Everyone who was a City fan got up and started applauding us, shouting our names. There were about 300 people. That moved me a lot, especially knowing that the crying and the will to win were so choked up in everyone’s mouth.
“All this marked me a lot. The other day, the newspapers only talked about this. And, if the rivalry is much greater between the clubs today, it’s mainly because of that game.”
Geovanni moved from Cruzeiro to Manchester City in 2007, and only stayed at the club for one year, having scored three goals in 23 appearances. Due to the lack of chances given by Sven-Göran Eriksson, he moved to Hull City a year later.
“I only spent one season at City. I started very well, I scored two goals in the first games, but, I don’t know why, from one moment to the next I didn’t play.
“I really respect Eriksson for taking me, but I was surprised by the decision to take me out of the team as the top scorer. I didn’t have as many opportunities after that, and then I agreed with Hull.”
He played for San José Earthquakes, Vitória, América-MG and Bragantino, until retiring from football in 2013.
