Giovanni-Guy Yann Sio (born 31 March 1989) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward. Born in France, he played for France national teams at youth level before switching to the Ivory Coast at senior level.

Giovanni Sio
Sio with Rennes in 2015
Personal information
Full name Giovanni-Guy Yann Sio[1]
Date of birth (1989-03-31) 31 March 1989 (age 35)
Place of birth Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire, France
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
1998–2007 Nantes
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2009 Real Sociedad B 37 (0)
2008–2009 Real Sociedad 2 (0)
2009–2010 Sion II 22 (21)
2010–2012 Sion 48 (17)
2012–2013 VfL Wolfsburg 10 (0)
2012–2013FC Augsburg (loan) 6 (0)
2013Sochaux (loan) 13 (4)
2013–2015 Basel 30 (10)
2015Bastia (loan) 13 (5)
2015–2017 Rennes 68 (16)
2017–2019 Montpellier 34 (10)
2018–2019Al-Ittihad (loan) 21 (7)
2019–2021 Gençlerbirliği 50 (12)
2021–2023 Sion 36 (10)
2023 Ratchaburi 9 (3)
International career
2002–2003 France U16 14 (0)
2004–2005 France U17 9 (0)
2006–2007 France U18 15 (1)
2013–2018 Ivory Coast 25 (3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 5 June 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 24 March 2018

Career

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Born in Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire, Sio began his career with Nantes[2] and joined Real Sociedad B in the summer of 2007, after Nantes released him.[3] In the summer of 2008, he was promoted to the Segunda División team.[4] Sio signed a two-year deal with an option for a third year.[5]

On 2 September 2009, Swiss club Sion signed the French forward from Real Sociedad.[6] On 29 May 2011 Sio scored the first goal as Sion defeated Neuchâtel Xamax FCS 2-0 in the Swiss Cup Final.

In January 2012, he joined VfL Wolfsburg for a fee reported as €5 million, signing a four-year deal, keeping him until 2016.[7] He was sent to FC Augsburg on 10 July 2012 on loan, until the end of the 2012–13 campaign.[8] The loan was ended prematurely on 31 January 2013.

On 16 August 2013, it was announced that Sio had joined Basel on a four-year contract.[9] Basel joined the 2013–14 Champions League in the qualifying rounds and Sio played his debut for his new club as they played an away game in the play-off round on 21 August. He scored his first goal with the team in the same game as Basel won 4–2 against Ludogorets Razgrad.[10] Sio played his domestic league debut three days later in the away game in the Swissporarena. He scored his first league goal in the same game as Basel played a 1–1 draw with Luzern.[11] At the end of the 2013–14 Super League season Sio won the league championship with Basel. The team also reached the final of the 2013–14 Swiss Cup, but were beaten 2–0 by Zürich after extra time. Basel advanced to the Champions League group stage and finished in third place in the group table. Thus they qualified for Europa League knockout phase and here they advanced as far as the quarter-finals. But here they were eventually beaten by Valencia 5-3 on aggregate, after extra time.[12]

For Basel's 2014–15 season Paulo Sousa was appointed as new head coach and it was a very successful season for the team. However, it was difficult season for Sio under the new head coach. Despite the fact that Basel won the championship later that season for the sixth time in a row[13] and that Basel had entered the Champions League in the group stage reaching the knockout phase on 9 December 2014, as they managed a 1–1 draw at Anfield against Liverpool,[14] Sio totaled just 16 appearances during the first half of the season, 7 (of 18) League, 2 (of 3) in the Cup and just 1 (of 6) in the Champions League, as well 6 further appearances in test games.[15] Because Sousa did not rely upon Sio as a regular player, during February 2015, the club loaned Sio out to Ligue 1 team SC Bastia until the end of the season.[16]

After his loan period Sio did not return to Basel. During his time with the club, Sio played a total of 59 games for Basel scoring a total of 16 goals. 30 of these games were in the Swiss Super League, five in the Swiss Cup, 13 in the UEFA competitions (Champions League and Europa League) and 11 were friendly games. He scored 10 goals in the domestic league, two in the cup, two in the European games and the other two were scored during the test games.[17]

On 29 June 2015 the Basel announced that Sio was moving on to Rennes.[18]

On 29 September 2018, Sio was loaned to Al-Ittihad Kalba SC with an €1.6m option to buy.[19]

In November 2021 it was announced that Sio had signed for Sion.[20]

International career

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Sio was born and raised in France to Ivorian parents. He is also a former member of the France national youth football team, representing his country at U-15, U-16 and U-17.[21] He was also called up to the Ivory Coast U-20 squad for the 2010 Toulon Tournament. He had his first call-up to the Ivory Coast national team in 2013, in a 2014 World Cup qualifying match against the Gambia.[22] He represented the team at the 2014 World Cup.[23]

Career statistics

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Club

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As of match played on 4 October 2020[24]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Real Sociedad 2008–09 Segunda División 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Sion 2010–11 Swiss Super League 30 10 4 3 0 0 34 13
2011–12 Swiss Super League 18 7 1 0 2 1 21 8
Total 48 17 5 3 0 0 2 1 55 21
VfL Wolfsburg 2011–12 Bundesliga 9 0 0 0 0 0 9 0
2013–14 Bundesliga 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Total 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 0
FC Augsburg (loan) 2012–13 Bundesliga 6 0 1 0 0 0 7 0
Sochaux (loan) 2012–13 Ligue 1 13 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 4
Basel 2013–14 Swiss Super League 23 9 3 1 12 2 38 12
2014–15 Swiss Super League 7 1 2 1 1 0 10 2
Total 30 10 5 2 0 0 13 2 48 14
Bastia (loan) 2014–15 Ligue 1 13 5 0 0 2 0 0 0 15 5
Rennes 2015–16 Ligue 1 34 7 2 0 1 0 37 7
2016–17 Ligue 1 34 9 1 0 0 0 35 9
Total 68 16 3 0 1 0 0 0 72 16
Montpellier 2017–18 Ligue 1 33 10 2 0 2 0 37 10
Al-Ittihad (loan) 2018–19 UAE Pro League 21 7 4 0 25 7
Gençlerbirliği 2019–20 Süper Lig 28 10 0 0 28 10
2020–21 Süper Lig 3 0 0 0 3 0
Total 31 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 31 10
Career total 285 79 20 5 5 0 15 3 315 87

International goals

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Scores and results list Ivory Coast's goal tally first.[25]
No Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 17 November 2015 Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan, Ivory Coast   Liberia 1–0 3–0 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
2. 2–0
3. 8 January 2017 Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates   Sweden 2–1 2–1 Friendly

Honours

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Sion

References

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  1. ^ "Giovanni-Guy Yann Sio". Turkish Football Federation. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  2. ^ "Weitere Wechsel beim FC Sion". Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  3. ^ Football : Giovanni Sio à la Real Sociedad : c'est fait !
  4. ^ "Ein Paraguayer und ein Franzose stossen zu den Wallisern". Archived from the original on 6 September 2009. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  5. ^ http://hemeroteca.mundodeportivo.com/preview/2007/09/11/pagina-4/896133/pdf.html?search=Giovanni%20Sio [bare URL]
  6. ^ Wallis: Rober Antonio Servìn und Giovanni Sio neu beim FC Sitten
  7. ^ "Wolfsburg sign strike pair Vieirinha and Sio". Sport.co.uk. 4 January 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  8. ^ "Giovanni Sio verstärkt den FCA". Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  9. ^ "Basel holt Giovanni Sio als Ersatz für Raul Bobadilla". Aargauer Zeitung. 16 August 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  10. ^ Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv” (21 August 2013). "PFC Ludogorets Razgrad - FC Basel 2:4 (1:1)". Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv”. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  11. ^ Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv” (24 August 2013). "FC Luzern - FC Basel 1:1 (0:1)". Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv”. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  12. ^ Ramírez, Delfín (10 April 2014). "Alcácer inspires historic Valencia comeback". uefa.com. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  13. ^ FC Basel 1893 (29 May 2015). "Der Meisterfreitag im bunten Zeitraffer". The championship Friday in a colorful time lapse (in German). FC Basel 1893 AG. Retrieved 16 November 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ "Liverpool 1 Basel 1". BBC Sport. 10 December 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  15. ^ Zindel, Josef (2015). Rotblau: Jahrbuch Saison 2015/2016. FC Basel Marketing AG. ISBN 978-3-7245-2050-4.
  16. ^ FC Basel 1893 (1 February 2015). "Giovanni Sio wechselt leihweise-zum SC Bastia". Giovanni Sio is loaned to SC Bastia (in German). FC Basel 1893 AG. Retrieved 16 November 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  17. ^ Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv” (2022). "Giovanni Sio - FCB statistic". Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv”. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  18. ^ FC Basel 1893 (29 June 2015). "Giovanni Sio wechselt vom FCB zu Stade Rennais". Giovanni Sio is moving from FCB to Stade Rennais (in German). FC Basel 1893 AG. Retrieved 16 November 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ "Montpellier to send Giovanni Sio on loan to Al-Ittihad Club". getfootballnewsfrance.com. 29 October 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  20. ^ Telebasel.ch (23 November 2021). "Giovanni Sio kehrt zum FC Sion zurück". Giovanni Sio returns to FC Sion (in German). Telebasel.ch. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  21. ^ Transfer-Wirbel beim FC Sion
  22. ^ "2014 FIFA World Cup – Côte d'Ivoire – Gambia". FIFA.com. 23 March 2013. Archived from the original on 9 July 2014. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  23. ^ "2014 FIFA World Cup – Matches – Côte d'Ivoire – Japan". FIFA.com. 14 June 2014. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  24. ^ Giovanni Sio at Soccerway. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  25. ^ "Sio, Giovanni". National Football Teams. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  26. ^ "Switzerland Cup Details". RSSSF. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
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