Donato (footballer)

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Gamaand the second or paternal family name is Da Silva.

Donato

Donato in 2022
Personal information
Full name	Donato Gama da Silva
Date of birth	(1962-12-30) 30 December 1962 (age 61)
Place of birth	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Centre-back, midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1981–1982	America (RJ)	36	(1)
1983–1988	Vasco da Gama	49	(0)
1988–1993	Atlético Madrid	163	(11)
1993–2003	Deportivo La Coruña	303	(38)
Total		551	(50)
International career
1994–1996	Spain	12	(3)
Managerial career
2015–2016	Viveiro
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Donato Gama da Silva (born 30 December 1962), known simply as Donato, is a Spanish-Brazilian football manager and former player who played from the 1980s to early 2000s.

He spent most of his professional career in Spain – 15 years and more than 500 official games – most notably with Deportivo de La Coruña, being part of the Super Depor squads that won several major titles, including the 2000 La Liga championship. Having started his career as a central midfielder, he finished it as a central defender at almost 41. He also held the record for the most appearances in La Liga by a player born outside of Spain, with 466. ^[1] He was a strong but technical player, who was able both to destroy the opposition's attacks and to help generate his own team's. ^[2]

Born in Brazil, Donato represented the Spain national team at Euro 1996. ^{[3] [4]}

Club career

Born in Rio de Janeiro, Donato began his 20-year professional career with America Football Club in his hometown, switching to neighbours CR Vasco da Gama in 1984 and playing there for the following four years, after which he joined Spain's Atlético Madrid as one of the first signings of elusive chairman Jesús Gil. ^{[5] [6]} With the Colchoneros, he won back-to-back Copa del Rey trophies. ^[7]

Donato moved to Deportivo de La Coruña in 1993: alongside players like Bebeto, Mauro Silva, Miroslav Đukić and Fran, he was crucial to the team's firm establishment in both La Liga and European competitions, as he scored an impressive 18 league goals in his first two seasons combined, often from free kicks, one of his main assets. ^[8] He continued to feature heavily for the Galicians in the following years, helping the club win two domestic cups and the historical 1999–2000 national championship (netting three times in 29 games). ^[9]

On 19 January 2003, Donato scored a 50th-minute header in a 2–1 league win against Athletic Bilbao, and in doing so at the age of 40 years and 20 days, he became the first-ever player to score a La Liga goal after his 40th birthday, thus becoming the oldest goalscorer in Spain's top-flight history by breaking a 43-year-old record held by the former FC Barcelona player César Rodríguez, who had scored with Elche in the 1959–60 season at the age of 39 years and 277 days. ^{[1] [10]} Donato then extended this record four months later, when he scored an equalizer against Valencia in an eventual 1–2 loss on 17 May, at the age of 40 years and 138 days, a mark that has not yet been surpassed by any other player in La Liga. ^[1]

Donato began his coaching career in Greece, as assistant manager at Aris Thessaloniki FC. In 2008, he was appointed youth team manager at lowly Montañeros CF in the A Coruña region. ^[11]

On 5 November 2015, it was announced that Donato would take over as manager of Viveiro CF in the Galician regional championships. ^[12]

International career

After becoming a citizen of Spain in 1990, ^[13] Donato was called to the national team, ^[14] and earned 12 caps in a two-year span. His debut arrived on 16 November 1994, starting and scoring in a 3–0 UEFA Euro 1996 qualifier win against Denmark at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium. ^[15]

Subsequently, Donato was called up for the squad at the final stages in England, making a substitute appearance in their opening draw with Bulgaria at Elland Road. ^[16]

International goals

Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Donato goal. ^[17]

List of international goals scored by Donato

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	16 November 1994	Sánchez Pizjuán, Seville, Spain	Denmark	2–0	3–0	Euro 1996 qualifying
2	17 December 1994	Constant Vanden Stock, Brussels, Belgium	Belgium	2–1	4–1	Euro 1996 qualifying
3	18 January 1995	Riazor, A Coruña, Spain	Uruguay	2–2	2–2	Friendly

Honours

Atlético Madrid

• Copa del Rey: 1990–91, 1991–92

Deportivo

• La Liga: 1999–2000
• Copa del Rey: 1994–95, ^[18] 2001–02
• Supercopa de España: 1995, 2000, 2002

See also

• List of Atlético Madrid players (+100)
• List of La Liga players (400+ appearances)
• List of Spain international footballers born outside Spain

References

1. "Paso a la historia a través del Athletic" [Step into history through Athletic]. www.laopinioncoruna.es (in Spanish). 16 October 2015. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
2. "¿Quién jubila al abuelo?" [Who retires grandpa?]. El País (in Spanish). 30 December 2002.
3. "El fútbol y la 'españolía'" [Football and ‘Spanishness’] (in Spanish). El País. 29 October 2013. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
4. "Los 11 jugadores nacidos fuera de España con más partidos" [The 11 players born outside of Spain with the most matches] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 5 September 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
5. "Gil presenta a Donato ante el Werder Bremen" [Gil presents Donato against Werder Bremen]. El País (in Spanish). 31 August 1988.
6. "El bando de Gil" [Gil's posse]. El País (in Spanish). 7 April 1993.
7. "El Mallorca, finalista elemplar" [Mallorca, the perfect finalists]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 30 June 1991.
8. "El chueco de cobre" [The copper chueco]. El País (in Spanish). 8 May 1995.
9. "Una noche que duró seis años" [One night that lasted six years]. El País (in Spanish). 20 May 2000.
10. "Donato passes test of time". 23 January 2003. Archived from the original on 24 April 2008.
11. "Donato Gama da Silva: "Quiero dar muchos pasos y llegar hasta Primera División"" [Donato Gama da Silva: "I want to take many steps and reach Primera División"]. www.laopinioncoruna.es (in Spanish). 19 November 2008.
12. "Donato regresa al fútbol y asume las riendas del Viveiro" [Donato returns to football and takes charge of Viveiro]. La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 5 November 2015.
13. El jugador del Atlético Donato jura la Constitución española (Atlético player Donato swears Spanish Constitution); El País, 7 September 1990 (in Spanish)
14. Clemente abre las puertas a los nacionalizados (Clemente opens doors to naturalized); El País, 8 November 1994 (in Spanish)
15. España pone proa hacia Inglaterra (Spain hoist sail towards England); Mundo Deportivo, 17 November 1994 (in Spanish)
16. "Mediocre debut" [Mediocre debut] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 10 June 1996. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
17. "Donato". European Football. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
18. Supertítulo (Supertitle); Mundo Deportivo, 28 June 1995 (in Spanish)

External links

• Donato at BDFutbol
• Donato at National-Football-Teams.com
• Donato at deportivo-la-coruna.com at the Wayback Machine (archived 24 June 2006)