Gervinho
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 09/2014
Personal information
Full name:
Gervais Yao Kouassi
Date of birth:
27 May 1987
Place of birth:
Anyama, Ivory Coast
Height:
1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position
Forward:
Club information
Current team:
AS Roma
Number:
27
Youth career
ASEC Mimosas:
1998-2002
Toumodi:
2002-2004
Beveren:
2005
Senior career*
Beveren:
2005-2007
61x apps / 14x goals
Le Mans:
2007-2009
59x apps / 8x goals
Lille:
2009-2011
67x apps / 28x goals
Arsenal:
2011-2013
46x apps / 9x goals
Roma:
2013-
34x aps / 10x goals
National team
Ivory Coast U21
Ivory Coast:
2007-
56x apps / 16x goals
(* Senior club appearances and goals correct as of 23:51, 19 October 2013 - UTC / ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21:37, 24 June 2014 - UTC)
Gervais Yao Kouassi (born 27 May 1987), better known as Gervinho, is an Ivorian footballer who plays as a forward for Roma and the Ivory Coast national team.
Gervinho began his career at ASEC Abidjan and Toumodi F.C., before moving to Belgium in 2004 to play for the now-defunct Beveren.
Between 2007 and 2011, he played in the French Ligue 1, initially at Le Mans and then at Lille. He was sold to Arsenal in 2011.
He has made 57 appearances for the Ivorian national team, scoring 16 goals.
Club career
- Early career
Gervinho was born in Anyama, Ivory Coast.
He began his career in the famed ASEC Abidjan youth academy, where he spent five years.
At ASEC Abidjan, he was given the Brazilian Portuguese style nickname "Gervinho", derived from his first name Gervais, by the Brazilian coach who trained ASEC Abidjan.
Following this, he moved to Ivorian Deuxieme Division Zone Four side Toumodi F.C., where he turned professional.
Beveren
Gervinho played for two seasons at Belgian side Beveren, where he made 61 appearances for the club and scored 14 goals.
Le Mans
At the end of the 2006-07 season Gervinho moved to French Ligue 1 side Le Mans, where he played alongside Ivorian international midfielder Romaric.
He scored two goals in his debut season in Ligue 1, with one of them coming against AS Nancy.
Gervinho scored 9 times in 59 Ligue 1 appearances over 2 seasons with the French side.
Lille
On 21 July 2009, Gervinho joined Lille for a reported fee of about €6 million (8.5 million USD) on a three-year contract.
Gervinho scored 13 times in 32 appearances in his debut season for the club.
His first goal for Lille came in a 3:2 victory away to US Boulogne on 4 October 2009.
Gervinho had an even more successful second season with Lille.
He scored 18 goals in all competitions, 15 in Ligue 1, to help Lille win the Ligue 1 for the first time in 56 years.
His side were also crowned Coupe de France champions, with Gervinho scoring a goal in the 2:0 semi-final victory over Nice on 20 April.
At the end of the season, Gervinho was linked with clubs like Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain, Atlético Madrid and Newcastle United.
Arsenal
2011-12
On 12 July 2011 Gervinho completed a transfer from Lille to Arsenal for a fee believed to be around £10.8 million.
Gervinho was given the number 27 shirt, which was last worn by Ivory Coast teammate Emmanuel Eboué who was already on the verge of leaving the club.
He made his debut in a pre-season friendly match against 1. FC Köln, in which he scored a brace within the first 15 minutes.
He was sent off on his Premier League debut against Newcastle United for slapping Joey Barton. The game finished 0:0.
This resulted in a standard three-match ban for violent conduct.
Alan Pardew (manager of Newcastle United) accused Gervinho of diving when Cheick Tioté challenged him inside the box.
He scored his first league goal in a 4:3 loss to Blackburn Rovers.
On 23 October 2011 Gervinho followed this up by contributing to all three goals in Arsenal's 3:1 win over Stoke City, scoring the first and assisting both of Robin van Persie's goals.
He then scored his third goal for Arsenal on 3 December 2011, in a 4:0 win at Wigan Athletic, scoring the third goal of the match in a comfortable victory.
He scored his fourth goal of his time at Arsenal on 27 December 2011 in the 1:1 draw against Wolves.
Gervinho then departed for the Africa Cup of Nations after a 2:1 defeat to Fulham.
Gervinho made his return on 18 February 2012 in the FA Cup match against Sunderland which ended in a 2:0 defeat that knocked Arsenal out of the 2011-12 FA Cup.
2012-13
Gervinho played in three of the first four league games of the season and scored a double in the 6:1 home victory over Southampton on 15 September.
Gervinho scored his first Champions League goal of the new season in a 2:1 victory over Ligue 1 champions HSC Montpellier on 18 September.
On 16 March, Gervinho sealed a 2:0 win at Swansea City by scoring his first goal for Arsenal since September.
On 30 March, Gervinho scored a goal and assisted two others as Arsenal beat Reading 4:1 and was named as man of the match.
Roma
2013-14
On 8 August 2013, Arsenal sold Gervinho to Italian club A.S. Roma for 8 million euros.
He made his first appearance for Roma as a substitute against Livorno on 25 August.
It took until 25 September for Gervinho to score his first official goal for Roma, finishing from close range after an assist from Francesco Totti, which sealed a 2:0 defeat of Sampdoria.
In the following Serie A match, he helped Roma record six straight victories to begin the season by netting two goals in their comfortable 5:0 defeat of Bologna.
In the quarter-final round of the Coppa Italia on 21 January 2014, Gervinho netted the game's only goal with an acrobatic finish from a Kevin Strootman pass to advance past Juventus and into the semi-finals.
In the first leg of their semi-final tie with Napoli on 5 February, Gervinho netted twice, including a late game-winning goal to send Roma into the second leg with a 3:2 advantage.
2014-15
On 30 August 2014, Gervinho scored in the Roma's 2nd goal in a 2:0 win over Fiorentina to start the 2014-15 season.