Donato Gama da Silva

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Donato Gama da Silva (born December 30, 1962), often called simply Donato, is a former Spanish football defender and midfielder of Brazilian origin, well known as a member of the club Deportivo de La Coruña during the 1990s and early 2000s.

Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, Donato was a strong but technical defender, who was able both to destroy the opposition's attacks and to help generate his own team's. He began his 23-year professional footballing career in Vasco da Gama in 1980, and played there until 1988 when he joined Atlético Madrid of the Spanish First Division. He played five seasons with Atlético, winning the Copa del Rey in 1991 and 1992.

Donato then moved to Deportivo La Coruña, where, along with players like Bebeto, Mauro Silva, Miroslav Đukić, and Fran, he helped the team become candidates to win the league title, which they lost in the last week of competition. As Donato contributed to Deportivo's first era of success within Spanish and European football, he had very consistent years at an age many footballers are past their prime; he would play for Deportivo until the age of 40, having won the league in the 1999-2000 season and two Copa del Rey titles, in 1995 and 2002.

He scored a total 49 goals during his career in Spain, from the central defender or defensive midfielder position. In 2002, he broke a 43-year old record by becoming the oldest goalscorer in Primera División history.^[1] He also holds the record for the most matches played in La Liga by a player born outside of Spain, with 466 in 15 seasons.

After becoming a citizen of Spain in 1994, Donato was called to the Spain national team, and earned 12 caps between November 1994 and June 1996. He was part of the Spanish squad at the 1996 European Championship.