Hulk (footballer)

This name uses Portuguese naming customs. The first or maternal family name is Vieira and the second or paternal family name is de Sousa.
Hulk

Hulk with Zenit in 2015
Personal information
Full name Givanildo Vieira de Sousa[1]
Date of birth (1986-07-25) 25 July 1986
Place of birth Campina Grande, Brazil
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[2]
Playing position Forward / Winger
Club information
Current team
 Zenit Saint Petersburg
Number 7
Youth career
2001–2002 Vilanovense
2002 São Paulo
2003–2004 Vitória
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2004 Vitória 2 (0)
2005–2008 Kawasaki Frontale 11 (1)
2006 → Consadole Sapporo (loan) 38 (25)
2007 → Tokyo Verdy (loan) 42 (37)
2008 Tokyo Verdy 13 (7)
2008–2012 Porto 99 (54)
2012– Zenit Saint Petersburg 94 (53)
National team‡
2012 Brazil Olympic 6 (1)
2009– Brazil 46 (11)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 28 April 2016.
† Appearances (goals)

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 30 March 2016

Givanildo Vieira de Sousa (born 25 July 1986), known as Hulk (Brazilian Portuguese: [ˈhuwki]), is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays for Zenit Saint Petersburg and the Brazil national team, as a forward, though he can also operate as a winger.

After starting out professionally with Vitória and playing three years in Japan, he went on to play several seasons in Portugal with Porto, winning ten major titles – including the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League and three national championships – and being crowned the league's top scorer once.

Hulk made his international debut in 2009, and played for Brazil at the 2012 Summer Olympics as one of the three permitted overage players. He went on to represent the Brazilian senior team in their victory at the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup and fourth-place finish at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

He is described by FIFA's official website as "a direct powerhouse of a centre- or wide-forward who knows his way around the box".[3] He is strongly built for a footballer and acquired his nickname due to his likeness to the actor Lou Ferrigno who played the Incredible Hulk on The Incredible Hulk television show in the 1970s.[4]

Club career

Brazil and Japan

Born in Campina Grande, Paraíba, Hulk started playing professionally with Esporte Clube Vitória in Salvador, Bahia, then went on loan to Japan to play for Kawasaki Frontale. Despite having been purchased months later, he was loaned to second division Consadole Sapporo, where he played all the 2006 season and scored 25 goals, one less than the top scorer.

In 2007, he was loaned again to a second division team, Tokyo Verdy, where he was even more effective, netting 37 goals in 42 games and being the top goalscorer of the season. He briefly returned to Kawasaki in 2008, but rejoined Verdy after only seventeen and a half matches.

Porto

After his stay in Japan, he moved to Portugal and signed for defending champions F.C. Porto, who bought 50 percent of the player's rights for €5.5 million, from Uruguayan side C.A. Rentistas,[5] with the transfer fee being received by an unnamed investor.

When Moroccan teammate Tarik Sektioui got injured, he was given an opportunity to play forward and netted his first official domestic league goal for Porto in a 2–0 home win against C.F. Os Belenenses, later adding against F.C. Paços de Ferreira (same venue and result), both as a second-half substitute. As the season advanced, he became an undisputed starter, forming an attacking trio with Cristian Rodríguez and Lisandro López, with the trio often shifting positions. After some stellar performances in the season's UEFA Champions League, he was elected as one of the Top 10 Rising Stars by UEFA.[6] In late August 2009, he extended his contract to June 2014, with a buy-out clause increased to €100 million.[7]

In the 2009–10 season, he established as an automatic first-choice. However, following a tunnel brawl during the league loss against S.L. Benfica (1–0) on 20 December 2009, he received a four-month ban (if the disciplinary hearing upheld the ban, he faced up to three years on the sidelines), only for the domestic competitions – as his teammate Cristian Săpunaru.[8] The ban was later reduced to four matches, and the player returned to league action on 28 March 2010, scoring in a 3–0 win at Belenenses; one week later he also found the net, in a 4–1 home victory over C.S. Marítimo; with six less matches played than the previous season, he ended with five league goals.

Hulk fighting for the ball in Porto's Europa League game against Rapid Vienna in 2010

He started the 2010–11 season scoring sixteen times in his first sixteen official matches, including a hat-trick against K.R.C. Genk for the UEFA Europa League's play-off stage, on 26 August 2010 (4–2 home win, 7–2 on aggregate).[9] From September to January he won the Portuguese Championship Player of the Month, making him the only player to have won the award six times; on 7 November 2010 he scored the last two goals as Porto trounced Benfica 5–0 at home, creating a 10-point difference between the two teams,[10] with the northerners leading the league, and eventually winning it, with the player leading the goalscoring charts.

On 13 May 2011, Porto paid €13.5 million to Rentistas for another 40 percent of Hulk's sporting rights, bringing their total stake to 85% (Porto sold back 5% after renewing his contract in 2009), with the player signing a deal until 2016 and with a buy-out clause of €100 million.[11][12] He finished the season with 36 goals in 53 official games, with his team winning four major titles, including a league/cup double.

On 7 April 2012, he scored the solitary goal as Porto defeated S.C. Braga away to go four points clear at the top of the table.[13] He netted six goals in the following three matches – including a brace in a 2–0 home defeat of Sporting Clube de Portugal[14]– and finished the 2011–12 season with 16 league goals as his team won another national championship; in May 2012 he was voted the Player of the Month for April for a record sixth time,[15] and he added 11 assists (a competition best).[16]

On 17 February 2014, he was condemned to pay a €45,000 fine for beating two stewards at the Estádio da Luz.[17][18][19]

Zenit

On 3 September 2012, he completed a transfer of €60 million, with Porto receiving €40 million,[fn 1] to Russian Premier League club FC Zenit Saint Petersburg, reuniting with former Porto teammate Bruno Alves.[20] This transfer fee caused a lot of debate and a great stir since Mitrofanov, General director from Zenit denied publicly.[22] Russian media R-Sport even claimed that Mitrofanov had shown the media the sales contract and the fee on the contract was €40 million and not €60 million.[23][24] However Porto also confirmed in its unaudited quarterly report in Q1 2012–13, that, the club did not pay for third parties ownership (15%), agent fee nor solidarity contribution (5%), which all normally included in the transfer fee as in the case of Falcao.[25]

He scored his first goal for his new club in only his second league game, against FC Krylia Sovetov Samara, finding the net with a trademark shot from outside the box in a 2–2 away draw.[26]

In the second half of September, media speculation reported that teammates Igor Denisov and Aleksandr Kerzhakov were unsatisfied with Hulk's wage, and that they demanded renegotiation of their contracts. As a result, they were sent to the youth squad.[27][28] Denisov replied in an interview with Sport Express, stating that his stand-off with club management was over "the proper organisation of the team. And respect for the Russian players which Zenit has always relied upon.";[26] a few days after the feud, he scored and assisted in a 2–1 win against FC Baltika Kaliningrad for the fifth round of the Russian Cup. A few weeks later, he scored his first Champions League goal for Zenit and provided an assist in a 3–2 loss against A.C. Milan in the second matchday of group stage.

Hulk playing for Zenit Saint Petersburg in 2015

After falling out with coach Luciano Spalletti, he declared that he was seeking to leave the club in January, however FIFA regulations ban players from playing for more than two clubs in a season, forcing him to stay in Russia at least until June 2013.[29] Eventually, he revealed that he made amends with the club's management and that things have been resolved.[30] In a 3–1 loss against Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk, he suffered a head injury after falling under a challenge and connecting his head with a Shakhtar defender's studs in the second half. He was then taken to a local Dubai hospital[31] Following Zenit's third-place finish in the Champions League Group Stage, the club entered into the Europa League. He scored a goal in each leg of Zenit's knockout phase match, to put English side Liverpool out of the Europa League in the round of 32 by away goals, despite losing 3–1 in the second leg.[32] On 4 May 2013, he scored his first hat-trick of his Zenit career and assisted a goal, in a 4–0 win over league strugglers Alania Vladikavkaz.[33]

On 16 February 2015, he signed two-year extension with the club.[34] On 17 May, his free kick in a 1–1 draw at FC Ufa gave Zenit the league title with two games to spare.[35]

Hulk was due to be an assistant at the draw for 2018 World Cup qualification in St Petersburg, but withdrew due to commitments with Zenit, being replaced by Alexey Smertin.[36]

He was named by UEFA as one of the top XI players of the 2015/16 Champions League group stage.[37][38]

International career

Hulk playing for Brazil at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Hulk made his debut for Brazil on 14 November 2009 in a friendly match against England in Doha, as the Seleção managed a 1–0 victory.[39] On 26 May 2012, he scored his first three international goals in a 3–1 win against Denmark at the Imtech Arena, in Hamburg, Germany.[40]

On 9 June 2012, in a friendly with Argentina, Hulk scored in a 3–4 loss.[41] In July he was named as one of three overaged players for Mano Menezes's Brazilian squad for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London,[42] and he appeared in all the games but one during the tournament, netting in the 1–2 final loss against Mexico.[43]

In June 2013, he represented Brazil at the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup. He played in every match as the team's starting right-winger, including the final, where Brazil beat world champions Spain to win its fourth Confederations Cup title.

At the 2014 FIFA World Cup, in the Round of 16 match against Chile in Belo Horizonte, he had a goal disallowed for handball. In the shootout, he had his penalty saved by Claudio Bravo, although Brazil advanced nonetheless.[44]

Career statistics

Club

As of 28 April 2016.
Season Club League League Cup League Cup Continental Other Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
2004Vitória Série A 20————20
Brazil total 20————20
2005Kawasaki Frontale J. League 1 912210——123
2006Consadole Sapporo (loan) J. League 2 382531———4126
2007Tokyo Verdy (loan) 423700———4237
2008Kawasaki Frontale J. League 1 200000——20
Tokyo Verdy 1170031——148
Japan total 102705341——11174
2008–09Porto Primeira Liga 258711010010449
2009–10 195320083103110
2010–11 26237431168105336
2011–12 2616102184203921
2012–13 320000000032
Portugal total 99541876242155017089
2012–13Zenit Saint Petersburg Russian Premier League 18731—93—3011
2013–14241700—105—3422
2014–15281520—156—4521
2015–16241410—64103218
Russia total 945361—40181014172
Career total 2971772911103803260424235

International

Brazil national team
YearAppsGoals
200920
201020
201160
2012107
2013122
201491
201542
201610
Total4612

International goals

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
01. 26 May 2012 Volksparkstadion, Altona, Hamburg, Germany  Denmark 1–0
3–1
Friendly
02. 2–0
03. 3-0
04. 9 June 2012 MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA  Argentina 3–2 3–4
05. 7 September 2012 Estádio do Morumbi, São Paulo, Brazil  South Africa 1–0 1–0
06. 10 September 2012 Estádio do Arruda, Recife, Brazil  China PR 4–0 8–0
07. 11 October 2012 Swedbank Stadion, Malmö, Sweden  Iraq 4–0 6–0
08. 16 November 2013 Sun Life Stadium, Miami, Florida, United States  Honduras 5–0 5–0
09. 19 November 2013 Rogers Centre, Toronto, Canada  Chile 1–0 2–1
10. 3 June 2014 Estádio Serra Dourada, Goiânia, Brazil  Panama 3–0 4–0
11. 5 September 2015 Red Bull Arena, Harrison, United States  Costa Rica 1–0 1–0
12. 8 September 2015 Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, United States  United States 1–0 4–1

Goals in the Summer Olympics

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
01. 11 August 2012 Wembley Stadium, London, England  Mexico 1–2 1–2 2012 Summer Olympics

Honours

Club

Porto
Zenit Saint Petersburg

Country

Individual

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Based on Porto did not had obligation to pay for third parties ownership (15%), agent fee (€8M) and solidarity contribution (5%),[20] total for €20 million[21]

References

  1. ↑ "2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil: List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. 11 June 2014. p. 6. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  2. ↑ "Hulk". Zenit St Petersburg. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  3. ↑ "HULK". FIFA. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  4. ↑ http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/the-best-and-worst-nicknames-in-football-2339327.html?action=gallery&ino=2
  5. ↑ "Comunicado" [Announcement] (PDF) (in Portuguese). FC Porto. 25 July 2008. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
  6. ↑ "Top ten rising stars". UEFA.com. 9 March 2009. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
  7. ↑ "Comunicado" [Announcement] (PDF) (in Portuguese). FC Porto. 21 August 2009. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  8. ↑ Barlow, Matt (17 February 2010). "The ineligible Hulk is desperate to take his frustration out on Arsenal". London: Daily Mail. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  9. ↑ Porto 4–2 Genk (7–2 Agg.): Hulk hits hat-trick for dominant Dragons; Goal.com, 26 August 2010
  10. ↑ "Andre Villas-Boas: "This victory has a special taste for us"". PortuGOAL. 8 November 2010. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
  11. ↑ Comunicado (Announcement); Porto's official website, 13 May 2011 (Portuguese)
  12. ↑ Acedo, Francisco (17 May 2011). "Porto rule out Hulk sale". Sky Sports. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  13. ↑ Hulk fires Porto to crucial win; PortuGOAL, 7 April 2012
  14. ↑ Porto 2–0 Sporting; PortuGOAL, 5 May 2012
  15. ↑ Hulk eleito jogador do mês (Hulk voted player of the month); Record, 2 May 2012 (Portuguese)
  16. ↑ ; Mais Futebol (Portuguese)
  17. ↑ "Futebolistas do FC Porto condenados no caso do túnel da Luz" [FC Porto footballers condemned in tunnel of light case] (in Portuguese). Expresso. 17 February 2014. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  18. ↑ "FC Porto: jogadores condenados no caso do "túnel da Luz"" [FC Porto: players condemned in the "tunnel of Light" case] (in Portuguese). Sapo. 17 February 2014. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  19. ↑ "Túnel da Luz. Futebolistas condenados a indemnizar "stewards"" [Tunnel of Luz. Footballers condemned to indemnify stewards] (in Portuguese). iOnline. 17 February 2014. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  20. 1 2 Comunicado (Announcement); Porto's official website, 3 September 2012 (Portuguese)
  21. ↑ Nunes, Luís Miguel (3 September 2012). "OFICIAL: Hulk troca FC Porto por Zenit". Relvado (in Portuguese). Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  22. ↑ Avakyan, Samuel; Championat.com (5 September 2012). "Maxim Mitrofanov: "We`re going to pay 40 million for Hulk"". FC Zenit. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  23. ↑ "Hulk and Witsel Cost €40 M Each – Zenit". RIA Novosti. 6 September 2012. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  24. ↑ "Zenit St Petersburg spend £64m to sign Hulk and Witsel". BBC Sport. 4 September 2012. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  25. ↑ quarterly report on 30 September 2012 FC Porto official site (Portuguese)
  26. 1 2 "Zenit's $130m dilemma". ESPN FC. 24 September 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
  27. ↑ "Zenit: Denisov went on strike over pay". RIA Novosti. 23 September 2012. Retrieved 26 September 2012.
  28. ↑ "Igor Denisov sent to Zenit`s youth squad". Zenit Football Club. 23 September 2012. Retrieved 26 September 2012.
  29. ↑ "Hulk has no hope of leaving Zenit in Jan". ESPNFC. 5 December 2012.
  30. ↑ "Hulk: I have resolved my differences with Zenit". Goal.com. 7 December 2012. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  31. ↑ "Zenit's Hulk taken to hospital after head injury". Samba Foot. 23 January 2013. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  32. ↑ "Liverpool 3–1 Zenit St Petersburg (agg 3–3)". BBC Sport. 21 February 2013. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  33. ↑ "Hulk nets hat-trick as Zenit beat Alania 4–0". Samba Foot. 5 May 2013. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  34. ↑ "Hulk extends Zenit St Petersburg contract by two years until the summer of 2019". Sky Sports. 16 February 2015. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  35. ↑ "FC Ufa 1-1 Zenit St P". BBC Sport. 17 May 2015. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  36. ↑ "Hulk pulls out of World Cup qualifying draw in St Petersburg". Sky Sports. 24 July 2015. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  37. ↑ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3361037/Champions-League-team-group-stage-Cristiano-Ronaldo-leads-UEFA-XI-just-two-Premier-League-stars-making-cut.html
  38. ↑ http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/newsid=2317348.html
  39. ↑ White, Duncan (14 November 2009). "England 0 Brazil 1: match report". The Daily Telegraph.
  40. ↑ Denmark 1–3 Brazil: Hulk delivers clinical double to hamper Euro 2012 plans of Olsen's men; Goal.com, 26 May 2012
  41. ↑ "Brazil 3 Argentina 4: Hat-trick hero Messi steals the show in thriller". London: Daily Mail. 9 June 2012.
  42. ↑ "Hulk, Marcelo named in Brazil squad". FIFA.com. 5 July 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
  43. ↑ "Peralta's double secures gold for Mexico". FIFA.com. 11 August 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
  44. ↑ Ornstein, David (28 June 2014). "Brazil 1–1 Chile". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 June 2014.
  45. ↑ http://news.sport-express.ru/2013-06-11/592830/
  46. ↑ "Champions League team of the group stage". UEFA. 15 December 2015.

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