Thiago Gentil

Thiago Gentil (born 8 April 1980) is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a forward.

His nickname is "cato" which means "cat", because of a description that a Brazilian sports journalist made for his attacking mentality during gameplay.

Basic characteristics

Thiago Gentil is known as a gifted footballer who strikes with his left foot. He is also known for his special curling; however, he is not renowned so much for ball shooting accuracy. His teammates say that he can pass across the whole pitch with the ball juggling from one foot onto the other without dropping it down.

He is an attacking all-rounder. It is said that he can cover left wing, as well as more central attacking midfield areas and the field just behind the main striker/s.

Aris

Gentil "got reborn" and received his chance after Vladimir Ivić left the team in the summer 2008. Under Dušan Bajević, in 2008, he remained on the bench, while Bajević preferred to put his compatriot Vladan Ivić on the field as the first option on attacking midfielder. Thus, Gentil accustomed to living in "difficult times" and patience plus the fact that his arrival was overshadowed by acquisition of the Brazilian super-star Marcio Amoroso to Aris Thessaloniki F.C..

In his 16 matches of the season 2007/08 (its second half), generally playing as a substitute, he scored 2 goals- where the first one was notable as a last-minute diagonal shot and equalizer against AEK FC in Athens.

From the summer 2008, he not only apparently gained a basic spot in the lineup, but it seemed like he found an absolute chemistry with another 2 superstars of Aris: Sergio Contreras Pardo "Koke" and Mario Regueiro. All three have teamed up and formed a magical triangle that did stuffs and marvels, for example, in the summer 2008 friendlies with Werder Bremen and Club Brugge.

His contract was up in summer 2009.

"Chins of The Shark"

Figuratively, he is capable of faking and trapping a defenseman in front of him, into his "Shark Chins" by a sudden move, leaving the opponent behind. That move is a basis for Gentil's nickname: "The Shark" (in the original Portuguese, tubarão) and he got the nickname for 2 reasons, including the aforementioned "sudden move", with its element of surprise. (The other reason for his nickname is that Gentil's hairdo consisted of raised and gelled hair, in a form that looked like the shape of a shark' s dorsal fin.)

"Child" of Scolari

At his first years of career, Thiago Gentil had the occasion to work under 3 of the best Brazilian coaches: Luis Felipe Scolari, Muricy Ramalho and Vanderlei Luxemburgo. However, the first one he considers as his "football father", after Scolari was one who integrated him in Palmeiras by giving him chances to show his rich talent. Under the rules of Muricy he won the Pernambuco state championship for Naútico in 2001.

European and Asian Experiences

The first European experience was in the Spanish "La Liga". In the summer time of 2006 he signed a 3-year contract with Deportivo Alavés, of the annual wages at least 800.000 euros. He gave very good appearances in Spain, but the financial problems that faced, in that period, Alaves with their eccentric owner Dimitri Pitterman, forced him to come back to his homeland at the club of Figueirense. There scouted him the persons of Aris and then proposed him a solid contract that soon made him a resident of Thessaloniki.

Alaves and Aris may be the only European clubs in his career account so far, but Gentil also had experiences from other continents. He played in Saudi Arabia with Al-Ittihad (Jeddah), contracted for more than 1 million euros for each year of collaboration. Still, played for Daegu FC in South Korea. Did not adapt well there, so returned to his homeland again.

Thiago Gentil signed for Nacional in Portugal during the January transfer window in 2010 on a free transfer.

External links

• Thiago Gentil at Sambafoot
• Thiago Gentil – K League stats at kleague.com
  
• goalday.gr, article about Gentil (Greek)
• greeksoccer.com forums, topic about Gentil