Fábio Santos Romeu (born 16 September 1985 in

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

), known simply as Fábio Santos, is a Brazilian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

. Fábio Santos had a reputation for being a penalty kick specialist.

Club career

São Paulo

Fábio Santos started his career for

as a youth player. He was promoted to first team in 2003 and feature in the major club's honours in this period, including the

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

and

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA CWC) is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global sports governing body, governing body. The compe ...

. Despite his lack of playing time during this period, he out on loan to

J1 League The , the J.League or the for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Japan and the highest level of the Japanese football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation ...

giants

Kashima Antlers The are a professional association football, football club based in Kashima, Ibaraki, Japan. They currently play in the J1 League, the top tier of Japanese professional football leagues. The club has financial backing from Mercari, a Japanese ...

Loan years

He spend the 2006 season playing for

, making 20 appearances and scoring three goals. In 2007, Fábio returned to Brazil to play for Cruzeiro, but failed to gain a spot in first team and was released in May. After that, he agreed a one-year loan deal with

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

side AS Monaco. In August 2008, he returned again to Brazil after failing to impress and signed a two-year contract with Santos.

Grêmio

Fábio Santos was released from Santos in December, and signed for Grêmio.

Corinthians

Fábio Santos was announced as Corinthians's player on 12 January 2011 and has come to be the bench player to Roberto Carlos's position. With Roberto Carlos's departure to Russian football, on early of 2011, Santos gained the position, becoming a key player in subsequent tournaments. He was a major part of the victories in the 2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, 2012 Copa Libertadores, 2012 FIFA Club World Cup, 2013 Campeonato Paulista and 2013 Recopa Sudamericana.

Cruz Azul

On 18 June 2015, it was announced that Fábio Santos reached a deal with Mexican club

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul S.A. de C.V., commonly referred to as Cruz Azul, is a professional association football, football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football league system, Mexican footba ...

. The values of the transfer were undisclosed. During his time at Cruz Azul, he made 26 appearances scoring 3 goals. During his first season he had success playing most of the first season under manager Sergio Bueno. However, during his second season under new manager Tomas Boy, he had little playing time. Most of his appearances were coming off the bench. After Cruz Azul failed to qualify for the playoffs for the Clausura 2016 in the

Liga MX Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divis ...

, him along with other leftback Fausto Pinto, were told they were not going to continue to the next season.

Atletico Mineiro

On 14 June 2016, Fábio Santos joined Atlético Mineiro on a two-year contract. Later that year, he received the Bola de Prata award as the best left back of the 2016 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A. On 7 May 2017, he won his first trophy with the club after beating arch-rivals Cruzeiro in the

2017 Campeonato Mineiro The 2017 Campeonato Mineiro is the 103nd season of Mineiro's top professional football league. The competition began on January 28 and will end in May. Teams * América * América TO * Atlético Mineiro * Caldense * Cruzeiro * Democrata GV * To ...

final. On 4 March 2018, he made his 100th appearance for the club.

Return to Corinthians

On 19 October 2020, Fábio Santos returned to Corinthians on a free transfer.

International career

He was capped for Brazil national Under-20 team to play for the

2005 FIFA World Youth Championship The 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship was the 15th edition of the FIFA World Youth Championship. It took place in the Netherlands between 10 June and 2 July 2005. Venues Qualification The following 24 teams qualified for the 2005 FIFA Worl ...

. Fabio was placed in the preliminary squad for the 2008 Summer Olympics, but did not gain a place in the tournament's final squad by coach Dunga. In September 2012, Fábio Santos was called up for

Brazil national football team The Brazil national football team (), nicknamed ''Seleção Canarinho'' ("Canary Squad", after their bright yellow jersey), represents Brazil in men's international Association football, football and is administered by the Brazilian Football Co ...

Mano Menezes Luiz Antônio Venker Menezes (born 11 June 1962), known as Mano Menezes, is a Brazilian professional football Coach (sport), coach, currently the head coach of Grêmio FBPA, Grêmio. Menezes managed the Brazil national football team, Brazil na ...

to Superclásico de las Américas, and on September 20, he debuted for Seleção in the 2–1 victory against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, at Estádio Serra Dourada in

Goiânia Goiânia ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian federative units of Brazil, state of Goiás. With a population of 1,536,097, it is the second-largest city in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West Region and the 10th-larges ...

. On 11 November 2016, Fabio was called again by Tite.

Career statistics

International

Honours

Club

;São Paulo *

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

;Grêmio * Campeonato Gaúcho:

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

;Corinthians *

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian" or "Great Brazilian"), the Série A or the Brazilian Série A (to distinguish it from the I ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Run by the São Paulo State Football Federation (FPF), ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

Recopa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Recopa Sudamericana (), also known as Recopa Sudamericana or CONMEBOL Recopa, and simply as Recopa (, ; "Winners' Cup"), is an annual international club Association football, football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1988. It ...

;Atlético Mineiro *

Campeonato Mineiro The Campeonato Mineiro is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. It is run by the Minas Gerais Football Federation (FMF). The history of Campeonato Mineiro can be divided into two parts: bef ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

National team

;Brazil * Chile Octagonal Tournament: 2005 * Superclásico de las Américas:

Individual

References

External links

* *
CBFGuardian Stats Centre
*
soccerterminal
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Santos, Fábio 1985 births Living people Men's association football defenders Brazilian men's footballers Brazil men's youth international footballers Brazil men's under-20 international footballers Brazil men's international footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Japan Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Monaco São Paulo FC players J1 League players Kashima Antlers players Cruzeiro Esporte Clube players AS Monaco FC players Santos FC players Grêmio FBPA players Sport Club Corinthians Paulista players Copa Libertadores–winning players Cruz Azul footballers Clube Atlético Mineiro players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Ligue 1 players Liga MX players Footballers from São Paulo 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Japan