Fernando Diniz Silva (born 27 March 1974), known as Fernando Diniz, is a Brazilian professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

and former player who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He is the current head coach of

Fluminense Fluminense Football Club (), known as Fluminense, is a Brazilian sports club best known for its professional football team that competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the first tier of Brazilian football and the Campeonato Carioca, th ...

. Diniz is well known for his style of play and involving ball possession. For this reason, he is known to be the manager who consolidated the ''

Tiki-taka Tiki-taka or Tiqui-taca () is a style of play in Spain's football, characterised by short passing and movement, working the ball through various channels, and maintaining possession. The style is primarily associated with the Spain nation ...

'' style in Brazil, which earned him the nickname of "Brazilian Guardiola"''.

Playing career

Born in

Patos de Minas Patos de Minas is a municipality in the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil. Geography According to the modern (2017) geographic classification by Brazil's National Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the city is the main municipality in ...

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...

, Diniz started his career with Juventus-SP in 1993. In 1996 he moved to Guarani, but agreed to a contract with

Palmeiras Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes. Palmeiras is one of the most popular clubs in South America, with around ...

shortly after. In 1997, Diniz moved to Palmeiras' fierce rivals

Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians ( grc, Α΄ ᾽Επιστολὴ πρὸς Κορινθίους) is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-aut ...

, featuring regularly during his two-year spell at the club. He subsequently represented Paraná,

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; English: ''Flamengo Rowing Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea, best known for their professional football ...

, Juventude, Cruzeiro and Santos, all in the top tier. In 2006 Diniz signed for

Paulista Paulista is a municipality in Pernambuco, Brazil, with a population of 334,376 as of 2020. It has the highest Human Development Index (HDI) of the Recife metropolitan area. It is the birthplace of footballer Rivaldo and is also famous for its beac ...

, and later played for

Santo André Santo ('saint' in various languages) may refer to: People * Santo (given name) * Santo (surname) * El Santo, Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta (1917–1984), Mexican wrestler and actor * Bob Santo or Santo, stage name of Ghanaian comedian John Evans Kwadwo ...

and Gama. He retired with the latter in 2008, aged 34.

Coaching career

One year after retiring, Diniz was appointed head coach of lowly Votoraty, where he was crowned champions of both

Copa Paulista The Copa Paulista de Futebol, formerly known as Copa FPF, also sometimes called Copa Federação Paulista de Futebol or, in English, São Paulo State Cup, is a tournament organized by Federação Paulista de Futebol Company every second half of ...

and

Campeonato Paulista Série A3 Campeonato Paulista Série A3 (also referred to as Paulistão A3 for short) is the third level of the São Paulo state professional football championship, one of the Brazilian state championships. The tournament has been known as Série A3 since ...

. In 2010 he moved to Paulista, club he already represented as a player, and won another Copa Paulista with the side. On 5 February 2011, Diniz was named

Botafogo-SP Botafogo Futebol Clube, commonly referred to as Botafogo-SP, Botafogo de Ribeirão Preto or simply Botafogo, is a Brazilian association football club in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo. They currently play in the Série B, the second tier of Braz ...

head coach, but was fired after only four matches in charge. He was appointed at the helm of

Atlético Sorocaba Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico * Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy * Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic ...

in 2012. Despite achieving promotion from the

Campeonato Paulista Série A2 Campeonato Paulista Série A2 is the second level of the São Paulo state professional football championship, one of the Brazilian state championships. This tournament is played by 16 teams, in which the two best teams are promoted to Série A1 ...

, he was relieved from his duties in October of that year. In 2013 Diniz joined Audax, and introduced the

tiki-taka Tiki-taka or Tiqui-taca () is a style of play in Spain's football, characterised by short passing and movement, working the ball through various channels, and maintaining possession. The style is primarily associated with the Spain nation ...

, style of

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

, in the club. On 8 July 2015 he moved to another club he represented as a player, Paraná. Diniz returned to Audax for the

2016 Campeonato Paulista The 2016 Campeonato Paulista, Campeonato Paulista de Futebol Profissional da Primeira Divisão - Série A1 was the 115th season of São Paulo (state), São Paulo's top professional football league. Format *In the first stage the twenty teams are ...

, which he managed to lead the side to the finals, but lost to Santos. Subsequently, he was appointed head coach of Oeste after a partnership between Oeste and Audax was established. Diniz returned to Audax for a third spell in 2017, but suffered relegation. He only returned to managerial duties in the following season; after being announced as head coach of Guarani in November 2017, he signed with

Atlético Paranaense Club Athletico Paranaense (commonly known as Athletico and formerly known as Atlético Paranaense) is a Brazilian football team from the city of Curitiba, capital city of the Brazilian state of Paraná, founded on March 26, 1924. The team ...

in January 2018. He was dismissed from the team in June, being subsequently replaced by under-23 trainer Tiago Nunes. On 19 December 2018, Diniz was appointed head coach of another club he represented as a player, Fluminense. Sacked on 19 August, he took over

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

on 27 September. In the 2020 Série A, Diniz led São Paulo to a streak of 17 matches undefeated from September to December. In January 2021, during a 2–4 loss to

Red Bull Bragantino Red Bull Bragantino, commonly known as Bragantino, is a Brazilian football club based in Bragança Paulista, São Paulo. It competes in the Série A, the top tier of the Brazilian football league system, as well as in the Campeonato Paulista ...

, he had an argument with

Tchê Tchê Danilo das Neves Pinheiro (born 30 August 1992), known by his nickname Tchê Tchê, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays for Botafogo. Although usually employed as a central midfielder, he is an extremely versatile player who can pl ...

which led to strong media criticism due to his way of speaking to the player. On 1 February 2021, after seven winless matches, Diniz was sacked. On 6 May, he agreed to a one-year contract with Santos, being officially named head coach the following day. On 5 September 2021, after six matches without winning, Diniz was sacked by ''Peixe''. Four days later, he was appointed at Vasco da Gama in the second division, being dismissed on 11 November after failing to achieve promotion. Diniz returned to Fluminense on 30 April 2022, after

Abel Braga Abel Carlos da Silva Braga (born 1 September 1952), known as Abel Braga, is a Brazilian former football coach and player. He played as a central defender during a professional career that started with Fluminense in 1968. He earned one cap fo ...

resigned.

Career statistics

Coaching statistics

Honours

Player

Palmeiras *

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional association football, football league in the Brazilian States of Brazil, state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo. Run b ...

: 1996 Corinthians *

: 1997 Fluminense *

Campeonato Carioca The Campeonato Carioca (Carioca Championship), officially known as Campeonato Estadual do Rio de Janeiro (Port., Rio de Janeiro State Championship), was started in 1906 and is the annual football championship in the state of Rio de Janeiro, B ...

: 2002 Cruzeiro * Campeonato Mineiro: 2004

Manager

Votoraty *

: 2009 *

: 2009 Paulista *

: 2010

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diniz, Fernando 1974 births Living people Brazilian footballers Brazilian football managers Sportspeople from Minas Gerais Association football midfielders Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A managers Campeonato Brasileiro Série B managers Clube Atlético Juventus players Guarani FC players Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras players Sport Club Corinthians Paulista players Paraná Clube players Fluminense FC players CR Flamengo footballers Esporte Clube Juventude players Cruzeiro Esporte Clube players Santos FC players Paulista Futebol Clube players Esporte Clube Santo André players Sociedade Esportiva do Gama players Botafogo Futebol Clube (SP) managers Paulista Futebol Clube managers Clube Atlético Sorocaba managers Grêmio Osasco Audax Esporte Clube managers Guaratinguetá Futebol managers Paraná Clube managers Oeste Futebol Clube managers Club Athletico Paranaense managers Fluminense FC managers São Paulo FC managers Santos FC managers CR Vasco da Gama managers