Antônio Teodoro dos Santos Filho (born 29 May 1965), commonly known as Toninho dos Santos or simply Toninho, is a former

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 ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. He was nicknamed ''El Bíblico'' ("The Biblical").

Early life

Toninho was born on 29 May 1965 in

Ivaiporã Ivaiporã is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the states of Brazil, state of Paraná (state), Paraná in the Southern Region, Brazil, Southern Region of Brazil. See also *List of municipalities in Paraná References

Ivaipor� ...

, Paraná, Brazil, to Antonio and Marcilia; he has five siblings. Aged 14, he began his youth career at

Athletico 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 ...

. Toninho played for various other local clubs, before joining

Luis Ángel Firpo Luis Ángel Firpo (October 11, 1894 – August 7, 1960) was an Argentine boxer. Born in Junín, Argentina, he was nicknamed ''The Wild Bull of the Pampas''. Boxing career In 1917, Firpo began his professional boxing career by beating Frank Hag ...

in El Salvador.

Club career

Nicknamed ''El Bíblico'' ("The Biblical"), Toninho began his senior career at Salvadoran Luis Ángel Firpo, playing there between 1988 and 1989. In 1989 he moved to Costa Rican club

Herediano Club Sport Herediano (), commonly known as Herediano and nicknamed El Team, is a Costa Rican multisport club based in Heredia, Heredia province. Although they compete in a number of different sports, Herediano is mostly known for its association ...

, before moving back to Luis Ángel Firpo in 1990. Between 1990 and 1992 Toninho played for Mexican club América; he helped them lift the 1991

Copa Interamericana The Copa Interamericana ( en, Interamerican Cup) was an annual club football competition contested between a representative from North America (CONCACAF) and South America (CONMEBOL). Established in 1969, it was discontinued in 1998 after CONCACA ...

against Olimpia from Paraguay. Between 1992 and 1993 he played for Deportivo Cali in Colombia, then for

Colo-Colo Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo () is a Chilean professional football club based in Macul, Santiago. Founded in 1925 by David Arellano they play in the Chilean Primera División, from which they have never been relegated. The team has pla ...

in Chile in 1994, scoring 28 goals in 50 games in all competitions and helping the team win the 1994 Copa Chile. Toninho played for

Puebla Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...

in Mexico and Tolima in Colombia in 1995, then for Colombian teams

Junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

, Deportivo Cali, and

Bucaramanga Bucaramanga () is the capital and largest city of the department of Santander, Colombia. Bucaramanga has the fifth-largest economy by GDP in Colombia, has the lowest unemployment rate and has the ninth-largest population in the country, with 68 ...

1996. In 1997 Toninho moved to his native Brazil, playing for

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 ...

. In 1997 Toninho moved from South America to the Middle East, playing for Saudi club

Al-Ittihad Al-Ittihad (Arabic: الاتحاد "The Union"), sometimes transliterated as Al-Etihad or Al-Ettihad may refer to: Sports Football Libya *Al-Ittihad Club (Tripoli), a football club based in Bab Ben Gashier * Al Ittihad Gheryan, a football club bas ...

1997–98, Emirati club

Al-Jazira Jazira or Al-Jazira ( 'island'), or variants, may refer to: Business *Jazeera Airways, an airlines company based in Kuwait Locations * Al-Jazira, a traditional region known today as Upper Mesopotamia or the smaller region of Cizre * Al-Jazira ( ...

in 1998–99, Lebanese club Al-Ansar in 1999–2000, and Qatari club Al-Gharafa in 2000–01. He returned to South America in 2002, playing for Águila in El Salvador until 2003, before playing for

Blooming Bloom or blooming may refer to: Science and technology Biology * Bloom, one or more flowers on a flowering plant * Algal bloom, a rapid increase or accumulation in the population of algae in an aquatic system * Jellyfish bloom, a collective n ...

in Bolivia in 2004, where he retired.

Personal life

Toninho has two children: Bruno, born in Mexico, and Janahyna. Following his retirement as a player in 2004, he opened his shoe business named "Tomate Azul". As of 2020, Toninho was in the process of acquiring Salvadoran nationality.

Honours

América *

: 1991 Colo-Colo *

Copa Chile The Copa Chile (''Chile Cup'') is an annual cup competition for Chilean football teams. Due to time constraints and club pressure, the trophy was cancelled in 2000, but returned in 2008. Its precursor was the Campeonato de Apertura (''Opening Ch ...

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

Ansar *

Lebanese Federation Cup The Lebanese Federation Cup ( ar, كأس الإتحاد اللبناني) was a Lebanese football annual cup competition. The competition was hosted five times, and served as the domestic League Cup. The cup was a preparatory competition held at ...

: 1999 *

Lebanese Super Cup The Lebanese Super Cup () is Lebanese football's annual match contested between the champions of the previous Lebanese Premier League season and the holders of the Lebanese FA Cup. If the Lebanese Premier League champions also won the Lebanese FA ...

: 1999 Individual * Lebanese Premier League top scorer: 1999–2000

Notes

References

External links

*
Toninho dos Santos
at Globo Esporte's Futpédia 1965 births Living people Association football forwards Sportspeople from Paraná (state) Brazilian footballers Brazilian emigrants to El Salvador Brazilian expatriate footballers Club Athletico Paranaense players C.D. Luis Ángel Firpo footballers Club América footballers Colo-Colo footballers Club Puebla players Fluminense FC players C.D. Águila footballers Club Blooming players Deportivo Cali footballers Al Ansar FC players Chilean Primera División players Liga MX players Lebanese Premier League players Expatriate footballers in Chile Expatriate footballers in Mexico Expatriate footballers in Bolivia Expatriate footballers in Colombia Expatriate footballers in El Salvador Expatriate footballers in Lebanon Association football midfielders Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Lebanon Lebanese Premier League top scorers {{Brazil-footy-midfielder-1960s-stub