Sérgio Cláudio dos Santos (born 27 June 1971), better known as Serginho, 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 ...

, left midfielder or left winger. Known for his speed and energetic attacking runs down the wing, he won the Champions League twice (in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

and

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

), as well as the

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

title (in 2003–04), among other trophies with

AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

. At international level, he also represented

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

at the

1999 FIFA Confederations Cup The 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup was the fourth FIFA Confederations Cup, and the second organised by FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Mexico between 24 July and 4 August 1999. The tournament was won by Mexico, who beat Brazil 4–3 in the fina ...

and was part of the team that won the 1999 Copa América. Post retirement, he has acted as manager and agent for former teammate Dida.

Club career

Serginho initially began his professional footballing career in his home country and played for clubs Cruzeiro,

Bahia Bahia () is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Mina ...

and

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 ...

. He moved to Italian side

in 1999, where he was initially a fringe player, starting on the bench but often being the first-choice substitute. The apex of Serginho's Milan career was when he scored a goal and contributed three assists in a 6–0 thrashing of crosstown rivals

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 ...

on 11 May 2001. He also contributed to Milan's

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

victory over

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

, scoring the first of Milan's three successful penalties in the shootout. The 2005 Champions League final was a reversal of fortune, however, as Milan surrendered a 3–0 lead at half-time and eventually lost on penalties to

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, with Serginho whistling his shot over the crossbar. Serginho also won the

2003–04 Serie A The 2003–04 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 102nd season of top-tier Italian football, the 72nd in a round-robin tournament. It contained 18 teams for the 16th and last time from the 1988–89 season. With th ...

title and the 2006–07 edition of the UEFA Champions League with Milan, among other trophies. On 16 May 2008, it was announced that Serginho and compatriot

Cafu Marcos Evangelista de Morais (born 7 June 1970), known as Cafu (), is a Brazilian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football)#Full-back, right-back. Widely regarded as one of the greates ...

would be leaving Milan at the end of the 2007–08 season. Serginho also immediately announced his retirement at the end of the season. On 18 May, he played the final minutes of the match against Udinese and appeared quite moved at the end of the game.

International career

Serginho earned ten caps with the Brazil national team between 1998 and 2001, with his sole goal scored in the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup final. He would undoubtedly have won more caps, if not for the ever-present Roberto Carlos as the national team's starting left-back during Serginho's whole career. Internationally, Serginho represented his nation at the 1999 Confederations Cup, where his team won a runners-up medal, and at the 1999 Copa América, winning the latter tournament. He did not make it in Brazil's squad for the 2002 World Cup because of a hamstring injury.

Style of play

Serginho was an incredibly fast and hard-working, offensive-minded player, who could play either as

or wing-back, or even on the left wing. He maintained his extraordinary pace and stamina well into his mid-late 30s. In addition to his speed and energy, he was also known to be an excellent crosser of the ball, and for having a knack for making overlapping runs and getting into good attacking positions, which allowed him to regularly contribute to his team's offence with several assists and even goals. His nickname throughout his career was ''Il Concorde'' ("

The Concorde Concorde () is a retired Anglo-French supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France and the United Kingdom signed a treaty establishin ...

"), due to his quick and tireless attacking runs down the left flank of the pitch.

Honours

;Bahia *

Campeonato Baiano The Campeonato Baiano (), also known as the Baianão (), is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of Bahia. Run by the Bahia Football Federation (FBF), it is the second-oldest state football championship o ...

: 1994 ;São Paulo * Paulista Championship: 1998 ;AC Milan *

: 2003–04 *

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

: 2002–03 *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana, also known as the Italian Super Cup, is an annual super cup tournament in Italian football. Founded in 1988 as a two-team competition, it has featured four teams since 2023 (the winners and runners-up of the previous ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

: 2002–03, 2006–07 *

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's offic ...

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 ...

;Brazil *

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBO ...

runner-up:

Individual *

Hall of Fame

References

External links

Profile at magliarossonera
{{DEFAULTSORT:Serginho 1971 births Living people People from Nilópolis Footballers from Rio de Janeiro (state) Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks São Paulo state football team players Itaperuna Esporte Clube players Esporte Clube Bahia players CR Flamengo footballers Cruzeiro Esporte Clube players São Paulo FC players AC Milan players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Serie A players UEFA Champions League–winning players Brazil men's international footballers 1999 Copa América players 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup players Copa América–winning players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Italy