Marcos Alexandre Souza Soares (born 30 July 1975) is a Brazilian
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 ...
manager and former player who played as a
central defender. He is the current manager of the
Saudi Arabia national under-19 team.
Playing career
Known as Ditão during his playing days,
Rio de Janeiro-born Soares began his senior career with hometown side
America-RJ. After playing for
Mesquita and
Serrano in his native state, he moved to
Atlético Alagoinhas in 2000.
In July 2001, Soares moved abroad and joined
Segunda Liga side
U.D. Oliveirense, but could not prevent the club's
relegation in the campaign. After another campaign in the club, he subsequently represented
S.C. Espinho
Sporting Clube de Espinho, also known as Sporting de Espinho, is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Espinho in the Aveiro district. Besides football, the club has volleyball and handball departments that usually compete in the major Po ...
and
Oliveira do Bairro S.C.
Oliveira do Bairro Sport Clube is a Portuguese football club based in Oliveira do Bairro, Aveiro District. Founded in 1922, it currently competes in the fourth tier Terceira Divisão
The Terceira Divisão Portuguesa (in English: ''Portuguese Th ...
before switching to Thailand's
Terengganu FC in 2005.
In 2006, after a short stint at
Guangzhou FC, Soares returned to his home country after signing for
Brazlândia
Brazlândia is an administrative region in the Federal District in Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with ov ...
. He agreed to a deal with
Dom Pedro II for the 2007 season, and subsequently retired with the club due to injuries.
Managerial career
Shortly after retiring, Soares became an assistant manager at
Brasiliense. In 2009, he started to manage the club's under-20 squad, being also an interim in the 2010 campaign.
After being in charge of
Santa Maria's under-20s in 2010, Soares left the club in February 2011 to become the interim manager of
Atlético Ceilandense. In March, he returned to Brasiliense as a replacement to sacked
Reinaldo Gueldini Reinaldo is a Spanish and Portuguese language given name for males (the English form is Reynold). It may refer to:
Football
* Reinaldo Merlo (born 1950), Argentine former footballer and manager
*Reinaldo Gomes (born 1954), Portuguese football stri ...
, and won the year's
Campeonato Brasiliense. Confirmed as manager for the
2011 Série C,
he was sacked in September and replaced by
Argel Fucks.
Soares was named manager of
Sobradinho on 13 January 2012. After leaving the club, he toured through some European clubs before returning to Brazil. In July 2013, he took over
Brasília.
On 9 February 2014, despite being unbeaten in the season, Soares was sacked by Brasília. He subsequently returned to Brasiliense for a third spell, but was also dismissed on 23 October.
On 17 December 2014, Soares agreed to become
Anápolis manager for the upcoming season. After leading the club in their promotion to the first division of
Campeonato Goiano, he was named manager of
Santos'
under-20 squad.
Soares was relieved of his duties from ''Peixe'' in February 2017, and became
Dyego Coelho's assistant at
Corinthians'
under-20 side the following month. On 14 December 2018, he was appointed manager of the under-20 team of
Botafogo.
Soares was sacked by ''Bota'' on 10 October 2020, and took over
Maringá
Maringá () is a municipality in southern Brazil founded on 10 May 1947 as a planned urban area. It is the third largest city in the state of Paraná, with 385,753 inhabitants in the city proper, and 764,906 in the metropolitan area (IBGE 2013). ...
the following 4 January.
Honours
Manager
Brasiliense
*Campeonato Brasiliense Sub-20: 2010
*
Campeonato Brasiliense: 2011
References
External links
*
Futebol de Goyaz profile
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soares, Marcos
1975 births
Living people
Footballers from Rio de Janeiro (city)
Brazilian men's footballers
Men's association football defenders
America Football Club (Rio de Janeiro) players
Mesquita Futebol Clube players
Serrano Football Club players
Alagoinhas Atlético Clube players
Liga Portugal 2 players
U.D. Oliveirense players
S.C. Espinho players
Terengganu FC players
Guangzhou F.C. players
Brazilian expatriate men's footballers
Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal
Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Thailand
Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in China
Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal
Expatriate men's footballers in Thailand
Expatriate men's footballers in China
Brazilian football managers
Brazilian expatriate football managers
Campeonato Brasileiro Série C managers
Campeonato Brasileiro Série D managers
Brasiliense FC managers
Sobradinho Esporte Clube managers
Brasília Futebol Clube managers
Anápolis Futebol Clube managers
Santos FC non-playing staff
Maringá Futebol Clube managers