Alessandro Santos Explained

Alessandro Santos
三都主 アレサンドロ
Fullname:Alessandro dos Santos
Birth Date:20 July 1977
Birth Place:Maringá, Paraná, Brazil
Height:1.78 m
Position:Midfielder
Youthyears1:1994–1996
Youthclubs1:Meitoku Gijuku High School
Years1:1997–2003
Clubs1:Shimizu S-Pulse
Caps1:198
Goals1:56
Years2:2004–2009
Clubs2:Urawa Reds
Caps2:100
Goals2:11
Years3:2007
Clubs3:Red Bull Salzburg (loan)
Caps3:20
Goals3:1
Years4:2009–2012
Clubs4:Nagoya Grampus
Caps4:55
Goals4:0
Years5:2013
Clubs5:Tochigi SC
Caps5:25
Goals5:2
Years6:2014
Clubs6:FC Gifu
Caps6:18
Goals6:2
Years7:2015
Clubs7:Maringá
Years8:2015
Clubs8:Grêmio Maringá
Years9:2016
Clubs9:PSTC
Totalcaps:416
Totalgoals:72
Nationalyears1:2002–2006
Nationalteam1:Japan
Nationalcaps1:82
Nationalgoals1:7

, often known as Alex, is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Born in Brazil, he became a Japanese citizen and made 82 appearances for the Japan national team.

Club career

Santos was born in Maringá in Paraná and moved to Japan in 1994 at the age of sixteen. He enrolled in Meitoku Gijuku High School in Kōchi and played football for the school club. After graduating from the school, he joined the J1 League team Shimizu S-Pulse in 1997. In 1999, the club won the second place and he received the J.League Player of the Year.[1] In Asia, the club won the champions 1999–2000 Asian Cup Winners' Cup and third place 2000–01 Asian Cup Winners' Cup.

In August 2002, Santos agreed to join English Premier League club Charlton Athletic. But he was denied a work permit by the Home Office because he had not made the minimum number of national team appearances required for players from outside the European Union and returned to Shimizu for the remainder of the season.[2] In January 2004, he left Shimizu to join the Urawa Reds. They would come in second place at J1 League for two consecutive seasons in (2004, 2005). The club won the 2006 J1 League title.

In January 2007, Santos was loaned out to Red Bull Salzburg.[3] He went back to Urawa in January 2008. He received a serious injury in a test match and had only one appearance in this season. In July 2009, he agreed to move to Nagoya Grampus.[4] He made 55 appearances for the club, before joining J2 League side Tochigi SC for the 2013 season. He made 25 appearances there, scoring twice. In January 2014, he joined fellow J2 League team FC Gifu.

International career

In 2001, Santos obtained Japanese citizenship. He made his first appearance for Japan national team on 21 March 2002, against Ukraine,[5] and he was part of Philippe Troussier's selection for the 2002 World Cup. He was the second non-Japan-born person to play for Japan in the World Cup finals. Wagner Lopes was the first who played in the 1998 World Cup. Santos became the fifth naturalized Japanese citizen to play for Japan following Daishiro Yoshimura, George Yonashiro, Ruy Ramos, and Lopes.

After Zico took over as the national team manager, Santos was used on the left side of the Japanese lineup, as a full-back in a 4-4-2 formation or a midfielder in a 3-5-2 formation. He played in all 6 matches of the 2004 Asian Cup; Japan won. In May 2006 he was selected in the Japan squad for the 2006 World Cup, providing an assist for Keiji Tamada in a group stage match against his former country Brazil. Until 1982, he played 82 games and scored 7 goals for Japan.[5]

Others

In 2020, Alex founded the Aruko Sports Brasil, a team that currently competes in the Campeonato Paranaense.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[6] [7]
ClubSeasonLeagueNational cupLeague cupContinentalTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Shimizu S-Pulse1997J1 League2733021324
1998261052503612
1999301110403511
20003045450408
2001301251213714
20022993022223613
2003267404031378
Total198562672445325370
Urawa Reds2004J1 League2722110303
20053245050424
20063451000355
Total931181600010712
Red Bull Salzburg2006–07Austrian Bundesliga9090
2007/0811110121
Total20110211
Urawa Reds2008J1 League10000010
2009600040100
Total70004000110
Nagoya Grampus2009J1 League140610040241
20102503110291
2011110401030190
20125020001080
Total5501522080802
Tochigi SC2013J2 League25220272
FC Gifu2014J2 League18200182
Career total41672511036414351789

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year[8]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Japan200291
2003151
2004222
2005171
2006192
Total827

Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Santos goal.

List of international goals scored by Alessandro Santos
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1 2 May 2002 Kobe, Japan 3–3 Friendly
2 7 December 2003 Saitama, Japan 1–0 East Asian Football Championship 2003
3 12 February 2004 Tokyo, Japan 2–0 Friendly
4 30 May 2004 Manchester, England 3–2 Friendly
5 29 January 2005 Yokohama, Japan 4–0 Friendly
6 9 August 2006 Tokyo, Japan 2–0 Friendly
7

Honours

Shimizu S-Pulse

1999–2000

2001

2002

Urawa Red Diamonds

2006

2005, 2006

2002, 2006

Red Bull Salzburg

2006–07

Nagoya Grampus

2010

Japan

2004

Individual

1999

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Alex: Dreadlocks in deadlock at S-Pulse . 30 November 2000 . 26 December 2012 . The Japan Times.
  2. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_prem/2215652.stm Charlton miss out on Alex
  3. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=396901&cc=5901 Japan's Alex to join Miyamoto at Salzburg
  4. http://www.nikkansports.com/soccer/news/p-sc-tp0-20090726-523382.html 名古屋が三都主獲り、大型補強第3弾
  5. Web site: Japan National Football Team Database . 15 June 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180615135201/http://www.jfootball-db.com/en/players/santos_alessandro.html . 15 June 2018 . dead .
  6. Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "J1&J2&J3選手名鑑 2014 (NSK MOOK)", 14 February 2014, Japan, (p. 239 out of 290)
  7. Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "J1&J2選手名鑑 2013 (NSK MOOK)", 14 February 2013, Japan, (p. 209 out of 266)
  8. https://www.rsssf.org/miscellaneous/asantos-intlg.html RSSSF