Early career Born in
Belém but raised in
Abaetetuba,
Pará, Giovanni started his career with lowly amateurs Taça Luz in 1990, and moved to
Tuna Luso shortly after. After impressing in the youth setup, he made his first team debut in a 2–1
Copa do Brasil win over
CSA, scoring a brace. Giovanni scored 17 goals in the 1992
Campeonato Paraense, with five of them coming in a 8–0 home routing of . Giovanni played for
Sãocarlense in the
Campeonato Paulista Série A2. and scored his first goal on 30 October in a 1–0 win over
Paraná. For the 1995 season, Giovanni was bought by Santos, with club legend
Pelé himself funding his transfer. A starter during the
1995 Campeonato Paulista, he scored a
hat-trick in a 4–1 home routing of
Ponte Preta. He repeated the feat on 20 October, in a victory over
Grêmio for the same scoreline. Giovanni scored 17 goals in the
1995 Série A as Santos finished runners-up in the tournament; in the semi-finals against
Fluminense, Santos lost 4–1 in the first leg away, and Giovanni dyed his hair red to show faith in the team. He displayed a splendid game in the second leg and Santos managed to win 5–2, with Giovanni scoring twice and assisting the club's final goal, which was scored by Marcelo Passos. Unfortunately, he could not help Santos overcome
Botafogo in the final game. Nonetheless, he is still known to many Santos supporters as "Messias" (
Messiah) and his fans named themselves "Giovanni's Witnesses" – a reference to the religion "
Jehovah's Witnesses". On 7 April 1996, Giovanni scored four goals in a 8–2 win over
União São João. He scored two hat-tricks against
Ferroviária and
Araçatuba, and finished the
1996 Paulista as the top scorer with 24 goals.
Barcelona On 18 June 1996, Giovanni moved abroad for the first time in his career, after signing with Spanish club
Barcelona, for a rumoured fee of
US$ 7.8 million. He was a first team regular for two seasons and scored 18 goals overall. Barcelona fans still remember him for his ability to score game-winning goals against
rivals Real Madrid. In his first year with Barcelona he won the
1996–97 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup under manager
Bobby Robson. When
Louis van Gaal took the lead in his third year at the club, however, he eventually fell out of favour with the Dutch manager, along with compatriot
Sonny Anderson, despite scoring crucial goals in games such as the
1997 UEFA Super Cup second leg game against
Borussia Dortmund. Due to his poor relationship with van Gaal, Giovanni left for Greek club
Olympiacos in the summer of 1999, for a record transfer fee of £10,800,000. Later on in his career, he caused some controversy, by referring to van Gaal as a Hitler for Brazilians, and an egomaniac. On 20 May 2002, Giovanni renewed with Olympiacos for three years. He was the leading goalscorer in Greece in the
2003–04 season with 21 goals.
Santos return On 27 May 2005, Santos confirmed the return of Giovanni. During the season, he appeared in 29 games and scored four goals, but after only one match into the 2006 campaign, he was told to leave by manager
Vanderlei Luxemburgo.
Late career After his short return to Brazil, Giovanni played for several clubs abroad, such as Saudi Arabian side
Al-Hilal, Greek
Beta Ethniki club
Ethnikos Piraeus, before returning to Brazil to play for
Sport Recife in April 2007. However, weeks after arriving at the latter, he left the club as manager
Alexandre Gallo also departed. In November 2008, after more than a year without playing, Giovanni was convinced to come out of retirement by his friend
Rivaldo, and signed for
Mogi Mirim.
Second return to Santos After passing the team's medical exams, Giovanni returned to Santos on 13 January 2010, with a contract until August. Although he played very few matches for the club, he finally managed to win his first title with Santos, the
Campeonato Paulista. In June 2010 season, he announced his retirement from professional football. == International career ==