Silvio Mendes Campos Sylvinho Photos Gallery

His professional career started back in 1994 in Corinthians, one of the clubs of his home town, Sao Paulo. After shining at club level, Mario Zagallo called him up to the national team for his 1997 debut against Russia.

His quality and consistence opened the doors to European football and in 1999 he left Corinthians for the Premier League and Arsenal. Following two seasons at Arsenal, where he quickly became a crowd favourite, he moved to Celta Vigo for the 2001-02 season. There he became an integral part of the team that in the 2003-04 season qualified for the Champions League for the first time in their history.

Sylvinho arrived in Barcelona in the summer of 2004 and since then he has always given sterling performances. In the 2004-05 season, however, he was sidelined for a month with torn knee ligaments. Once he had recovered, Sylvinho played in 21 League games and 3 in the Champions League.

In the 2005-06 season Sylvinho was virtually a fixture in the League yet rarely appeared in the Champions League where he was on the pitch for just 21 minutes in the Chelsea v Barça game when Gio van Bronckhorst got injured. Curiously enough Sylvinho won the League and the Champions League against two of his former clubs, Celta and Arsenal.

In the 2006-07 campaign the Brazilian continued to share the left back slot with Gio Van Bronckhorst. When the Dutchman left and Éric Abidal arrived, Sylvinho continued to alternate in the position but this time with the Frenchman. He even played on the wing in the 2007-08 season, for instance in the Champions League fixture with Schalke 04.

Sylvinho’s effort and commitment was rewarded with a one-year extension to his contract up to 30 June 2009.