Alessandro Santos

, often known as Alex, is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Born in Brazil, he became a Japanese citizen and made 82 appearances for the Japan national team.

Club career Santos was born in Maringá in Paraná and moved to Japan in 1994 at the age of sixteen. He enrolled in Meitoku Gijuku High School in Kōchi and played football for the school club. After graduating from the school, he joined the J1 League team Shimizu S-Pulse in 1997. In 1999, the club won the second place and he received the J.League Player of the Year. In Asia, the club won the champions 1999–2000 Asian Cup Winners' Cup and third place 2000–01 Asian Cup Winners' Cup.

In August 2002, Santos agreed to join English Premier League club Charlton Athletic for a £2.5 million fee. He was denied a work permit by the Home Office because he had not made the minimum number of national team appearances required for players from outside the European Union, and returned to Shimizu for the remainder of the season. In January 2004, he left Shimizu to join the Urawa Reds. They would come in second place at J1 League for two consecutive seasons in (2004, 2005). The club won the 2006 J1 League title.

In January 2007, Santos was loaned out to Red Bull Salzburg. He went back to Urawa in January 2008. He received a serious injury in a test match and had only one appearance in this season. In July 2009, he agreed to move to Nagoya Grampus. He made 55 appearances for the club, before joining J2 League side Tochigi SC for the 2013 season. He made 25 appearances there, scoring twice. In January 2014, he joined fellow J2 League team FC Gifu.

International career In 2001, Santos obtained Japanese citizenship. He made his first appearance for Japan national team on 21 March 2002, against Ukraine, and he was part of Philippe Troussier's selection for the 2002 World Cup. He was the second non-Japan-born person to play for Japan in the World Cup finals. Wagner Lopes was the first who played in the 1998 World Cup. Santos became the fifth naturalized Japanese citizen to play for Japan following Daishiro Yoshimura, George Yonashiro, Ruy Ramos, and Lopes.

After Zico took over as the national team manager, Santos was used on the left side of the Japanese lineup, as a full-back in a 4-4-2 formation or a midfielder in a 3-5-2 formation. He played in all 6 matches of the 2004 Asian Cup; Japan won. He was selected in the Japan squad for the 2006 World Cup, providing an assist for Keiji Tamada in a group stage match against his birth country Brazil. He played 82 games and scored 7 goals for Japan.

Division!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

198!!56!!26!!7!!24!!4!!5!!3!!253!!70

2004

2005

2006

93!!11!!8!!1!!6!!0!!0!!0!!107!!12

2006–07

2007–08

2008

2009

7!!0!!0!!0!!4!!0!!0!!0!!11!!0

2009

2010

2011

2012

55!!0!!15!!2!!2!!0!!8!!0!!80!!2 Tochigi SC 2013 J2 League

FC Gifu 2014 J2 League

416!!72!!51!!10!!36!!4!!14!!3!!517!!89

International

Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Santos goal.

Honours Shimizu S-Pulse Asian Cup Winners' Cup: 1999–2000 Emperor's Cup: 2001 Japanese Super Cup: 2002

Urawa Red Diamonds J1 League: 2006 Emperor's Cup: 2005, 2006 Japanese Super Cup: 2002, 2006

Red Bull Salzburg Austrian Bundesliga: 2006–07

Nagoya Grampus J1 League: 2010

Japan AFC Asian Cup: 2004

Individual J.League MVP: 1999 J1 League Best Eleven: 1999