Giovanni Hernández

Giovanni Hernández
Personal information
Full name	Giovanni Andrés Hernández Soto
Date of birth	17 June 1976 (age 48)
Place of birth	Cali, Colombia
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s)	Playmaker
Team information
Current team	Real Cartagena (manager)
Youth career
1986–1993	Boca Juniors de Cali
Senior career*
Years	Team
1993–1995	Once Caldas
1995–1996	América de Cali
1996–1999	Independiente Medellín
2000–2003	Deportivo Cali
2003–2006	Colón de Santa Fe
2007-2008	Colo-Colo
2008–2012	Atlético Junior
2013–2014	Independiente Medellín
2014	Uniautónoma
International career‡
1995–2009	Colombia
Managerial career
2015	Uniautónoma
2016–	Real Cartagena
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 29 January 2015; ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 17 November 2010

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Giovanni Andrés Hernández Soto (Spanish pronunciation: [xjoˈβannj herˈnandeθ soˈto], born 17 June 1976) is a retired Colombian footballer and currently manager of Real Cartagena. He is famous for his technical ability to create plays, and ability to create goals out of free kicks. ^{[citation needed]}

History

Early career

Giovanni Hernández made his professional debut at the age of 17 with Once Caldas. In 1995 he played for América de Cali and he scored 5 goals during this season. He continued playing for the club during the 1996 Copa Libertadores where he scored 2 goals. He played for Independiente Medellín during 1998. At the end of that year, he was brought by Deportivo Cali.

Deportivo Cali

He played for Deportivo Cali in the 1999 Copa Libertadores as a substitute, but after a few goals he became a starter for the 2001 season, where he scored 13 goals.

Colón

In the second half of 2003, Hernández was sold to Argentine club Colón de Santa Fe. There he scored a goal and made an assist in his debut game. He quickly became one of the favorites in the Argentine league reaching a total of 12 goals that season.^{[citation needed]} He played in the 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup with a lacklustre performance, not scoring a single goal.

Colo-Colo

Before the beginning of the 2007 Apertura in Chile, Giovanni joined Chilean club Colo-Colo. He was a vital part of the team that would eventually won the championship. Giovanni was the second leading scoring of the team with 7 goals. After a three-year absence from the Colombian national team, Giovanni was recalled for the match against Mexico in August 22.

Junior

Giovanni goes back to Colombia to play for Junior de Barranquilla, being the most expensive transfer made by the team at the time. Giovanni helped the team to reach the playoffs and to keep the team in the first division. He was of vital importance in obtaining the title in 2010.^{[citation needed]}

International career

Hernández was called up along with his teammate Jairo Patiño to the Colombian national team for the 2001 Copa América, which they won. Colombia did not qualify for the 2002 FIFA World Cup but did qualify for the 2003 Confederations Cup where he was called up again. Giovanni scored 3 goals in 5 games and he was considered one of the best players of the tournament.^{[citation needed]}