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 lea ...

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) ** Smal ...

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

Early life

Toninho was born on 29 May 1965 in

Ivaiporã Ivaiporã is a municipality in the state of Paraná in the Southern Region of Brazil. See also *List of municipalities in Paraná This is a list of the municipalities in the state of Paraná (PR), located in the South Region of Brazil. Paran ...

Paraná Paraná, Paranã or Parana may refer to: Geology * Paraná Basin, a sedimentary basin in South America Places In Argentina *Paraná, Entre Ríos, a city * Paraná Department, a part of Entre Ríos Province In Brazil *Paraná (state), a state ...

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

Athletico Paranaense Club Athletico Paranaense (abbreviated CAP, commonly known as Athletico Paranaense and up to 2019 known as Atlético Paranaense) is a Brazilian football team from the city of Curitiba, capital city of the Brazilian state of Paraná, founded o ...

. 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''. He was the first Latin American in history to challenge for the world heavyweight titl ...

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, 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 () was an international association football, football competition endorsed by CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean) and CONMEBOL (South America). Established in 1969, it was discontinued in 1998 after CONCACAF ...

against Olimpia from Paraguay. Between 1992 and 1993 he played for

Deportivo Cali Asociación Deportivo Cali, best known as Deportivo Cali, is a Colombian sports club based in Cali, most notable for its football team, which currently competes in the Categoría Primera A. Deportivo Cali is one of the most successful football t ...

in Colombia, then for

Colo-Colo Colo-Colo (), officially Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo, is a Chilean professional football club based in Macul, Santiago. Founded in 1925 by David Arellano, it competes in the Chilean Primera División, from which the club has never been ...

in Chile in 1994, scoring 28 goals in 50 games in all competitions and helping the team win the

1994 Copa Chile The 1994 Copa Chile was the 24th edition of the Chilean Cup tournament. The competition started on March 5, 1994, and concluded on August 24, 1994. Colo-Colo won the competition for their fourth time, beating O'Higgins on penalties in the final. ...

. Toninho played for

Puebla Puebla, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Puebla, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its capital is Puebla City. Part of east-centr ...

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

Junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

, Deportivo Cali, and

Bucaramanga Bucaramanga () is the capital and largest city of the department of Santander Department, Santander, Colombia. Bucaramanga has the fifth-largest economy by GDP in Colombia, has the lowest unemployment rate and is the ninth most populous city i ...

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

Fluminense Fluminense Football Club () is a Brazilian sports club based in the neighbourhood of Laranjeiras, in Rio de Janeiro, being the oldest football club in the state since its foundation in 1902. It competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, th ...

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

Al-Ittihad Al-Ittihad may refer to: Sports Football Men Teams * Al-Ittihad Club (Jeddah), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia * Al Ittihad SCSC (Tripoli), Tripoli, Libya * Al Ittihad Gheryan, Gharyan, Libya * Al Ittihad Misurata SC, Misurata, Libya * Al Ittihad SC ...

1997–98, Emirati club

Al-Jazira Jazira, al-Jazira, Jazeera, al-Jazeera, etc. are all transcriptions of Arabic meaning "the island" or "the peninsula". The term may refer to: Business * Jazeera Airways, an airlines company based in Kuwait Locations * Al-Jazira, a traditional ...

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 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

Ansar *

Lebanese Federation Cup The Lebanese Federation Cup () is an annual cup competition in men's domestic football in Lebanon. Organised by the Lebanese Football Association (LFA), it serves as the domestic league cup to the Lebanese Premier League and is contested before ...

: 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