Giba debuted for the Brazilian National Team at the age of 18 in 1995 and in that year already he won his first major title which was the South American Championship. As the result Brazil qualified to the World Grand Champions Cup in 1997 as the continental champion and eventually won the tournament. In the subsequent years Brazil came up short in both the 1998 World Championship in Japan, where they lost a 5-set semifinal against the two-time defending champions Italy and in 2000 Sydney Olympics where after winning their group without losing a match, Brazilian team was upset in the quarterfinals losing 1:3 to Argentina. In 2001 Giba won his first World League title, while Brazil beat 8-time winners Italy in the final.