Álvaro Márcio Santos (; born 30 January 1980) 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 forward.

Career

Santos was born 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 ...

and began his career at Brazilian side América Mineiro from

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte is the List of largest cities in Brazil, sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population of around 2.3 million, and the third largest metropolitan area, containing a population of 6 million. It is the List of cities in Sout ...

in 2000.

Helsingborgs IF

He moved to Swedish club

Helsingborgs IF Helsingborgs Idrottsförening, commonly referred to as Helsingborgs IF, Helsingborg or (especially locally) HIF (), is a Swedish professional football club located in Helsingborg. They play in the Swedish second tier, Superettan, following releg ...

for a three years stint. He made an impact immediately upon his arrival – during his first month in Europe he was instrumental in Helsingborg's elimination of

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

in the

2000–01 UEFA Champions League The 2000–01 UEFA Champions League was the 46th season of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA's premier European club football tournament, and the ninth since it was rebranded from the "European Champion Clubs' Cup" or "European Cup". The competiti ...

's third qualification round. Helsingborg qualified for the Champions League group stage, where Alvaro Santos was a key player. Three years later, his goal record in Sweden's top flight

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; ), also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan (, ) is a professional association football league in Sweden and the highest level of the Swedish football league system. Founded in 1924, it operates on a system of promotion and relegatio ...

drew the attention of regular Danish champions FC København. During his years with Helsingborg, he became a huge favourite among supporters of the club, and his impact at the club is, regarding the years since the club's top flight comeback in 1993, only rivaled by those of

Henrik Larsson Edward Henrik Larsson (; born 20 September 1971) is a Swedish professional association football, football coach and former player who played many times for the Sweden men's national football team, Swedish national team. A Striker (association f ...

's and Roland Nilsson's. Many fans actually rank him higher than Henrik Larsson, and in Helsingborg, Santos is nicknamed "God".

Copenhagen

His three years in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

were a success, scoring a total of 50 goals in 120 games for the club. At the end of the 2005–06 season, his last with the Danish champions, he finished second on the top goalscorer list with 15 goals for 33 games. Additionally, his friendly reputation earned him the nickname ''Verdens Flinkeste Mand'' (lit. "The World's Nicest Man") by the club's fans.

Sochaux

On 24 July 2006, Santos signed a four-year contract with

FC Sochaux FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Paki ...

to take effect on 1 August. Before his contract officially began, Santos displayed his impact by scoring in a friendly match against Greek side

PAOK FC PAOK FC (, ), short for "Pan-Thessalonian Sports club, Athletic Club of Constantinople, Constantinopolitans" (), and commonly known as PAOK Thessaloniki, PAOK Salonika or simply PAOK, is a Greek professional Association football, football cl ...

on 30 July. On 2 February 2009, Santos terminated his contract with Sochaux in agreement with the French team.

Örgryte

On 9 February 2009, it was announced that Santos had signed a three-year contract with the Swedish club

Örgryte IS Örgryte Idrottssällskap, commonly referred to as Örgryte IS, Örgryte () or (especially locally) ÖIS or Öis, is a Swedish sports club based in Gothenburg. It consists of four departments, namely bowling, football, athletics and wrestling. ...

. He played with his former teammate

Marcus Allbäck Marcus Christian Allbäck (; born 5 July 1973) is a Swedish former professional association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), striker. He was known for his sharp finishing ability and represented clubs in Sweden ...

. After the end of the 2010

season he stated that he did not want to continue with Örgryte I in

Superettan Superettan (; ) is an association football league and the second highest league in the Swedish football league system, league system of Swedish football, Swedish men's football. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and rel ...

. He stated that despite the relegation he felt like he was in good shape and that he wanted to return to playing in Denmark. However, he was instead loaned out to GAIS, another Gothenburg club, and later in 2011 sold to

, completing the circle, as he returned to the club where he started his European career. In 2014, he retired from football and moved back to his native Brazil. As of 2020, Santos manages Helsingborgs IF's U19 team.

Coaching career

In the summer 2017, Santos was hired as assistant coach of

's U17 squad. Ahead of the 2018 season, he was named head coach of the team. In 2019, he took charge of Helsinborg's U19 squad. He left the role on 16 May 2022, as he had been promoted to Helsingborg's first team staff, serving as assistant coach under manager Jörgen Lennartsson. He managed to stay there for just 5 days before Lennartsson was fired. Helsingborg then confirmed that Santos, along with Mattias Lindström, would lead the team temporarily. A few days later, Santos and Lindström were confirmed as the new manager-duo for the club. At the end of 2022, Helsingborg were relegated from the

and the new 2023 season started with three consecutive defeats, so the club decided to let Santos and the rest of the staff go on May 17, 2023. On 30 June 2023, Santos returned to Denmark, as he was hired assistant coach of FC Helsingør, under manager Daniel Pedersen. On 23 October 2023, Santos was named new manager of FC Helsingør. Two wins in 32 games. These were the sad statistics for FC Helsingør, who finished in last place in the

Danish 1st Division The 1st Division (''1. Division'') is the second-highest football league in Denmark, also known as NordicBet Liga for sponsorship reasons. From 1945 to 1991, the 1. Division was the name of the highest level of football in Denmark. With the for ...

, which is why the club confirmed on June 1, 2024 that they had fired Santos as head coach.

Honours

Helsingborgs IF *

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 ...

Svenska Cupen Svenska cupen (, ), also known as the Swedish Cup in English, is a knockout cup competition in Swedish football and the main Swedish football cup. ''Svenska cupen'' usually refers to the men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also ...

* Svenska Supercupen:

FC Copenhagen *

Royal League The Royal League was an annual Scandinavian football tournament held three times in the 2000s between teams from the three Scandinavian monarchies (Denmark, Sweden, and Norway), starting after the end of the regular domestic seasons of Norway and ...

: 2004–05, 2005–06 *

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga (, ) is a professional association football league in Denmark and the highest level of the Danish football league system. The league is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams relegated. It is the current ...

: 2003–04, 2005–06 *

Danish Cup The Danish Cup (; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "single-elimination tournament, knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955. The winner will ...

: 2003–04 *

Danish Super Cup The Danish Super Cup was played for by the Football in Denmark, Danish Danish Superliga, League champions and the Danish Cup, Danish Cup Winners. Winners Titles by club References Defunct football cup competitions in Denmark, ...

: 2004 Sochaux *

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

: 2006–07

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Santos, Alvaro Living people 1980 births Footballers from São Paulo Brazilian men's footballers Helsingborgs IF players F.C. Copenhagen players FC Sochaux-Montbéliard players RC Strasbourg Alsace players Men's association football forwards América Futebol Clube (MG) players Örgryte IS players GAIS players Ligue 1 players Danish Superliga players Allsvenskan players Superettan players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in France Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen