Axel Rodrigues de Arruda

Axel Rodrigues de Arruda (born 9 January 1970), simply known as Axel, is a Brazilian football coach and former player who played as a midfielder. He is the current head coach of Santos' under-16 team.

Club career Born in Santos, São Paulo, Axel began his career with local side Portuários, later moving to the youth sides of Santos and then Portuguesa Santista. After impressing with the under-17 squad of the latter, he returned to Peixe for the under-20 team, and made his senior debut in 1989.

Axel became a starter for Santos in the 1990 season, forming a partnership with César Sampaio in the club's midfield in the following two years. In January 1994, he moved to São Paulo, with Gilberto, Dinho and Macedo moving in the opposite direction. Regularly used in the first campaign, he subsequently lost space and joined Spanish side Sevilla on loan on 21 July 1997.

Upon returning, Axel served loans at Bahia and Atlético Paranaense before returning to São Paulo in 2000. On 31 January 2001, he was presented at Sport Recife. Despite being regularly used, he spent the entire 2002 season without a club after nursing an ankle injury, and later returned to Briosa in 2007, after another unassuming spell at Campinense.

In 2008, after playing for Pelotas and Santacruzense, Axel announced his retirement, and after a brief period at Camboriú,

International career Axel made his full international debut with the Brazil national team on 23 September 1992, starting in a 4–2 friendly win over Costa Rica.

Coaching career After retiring, Axel worked in the youth sides of Jabaquara before becoming the head coach of the first team on 1 March 2013. He left at the end of the season, and became an assistant of Cláudio Caçapa and Caio Zanardi in the Brazil national under-15 and under-17 teams, respectively.

After ending his period in the national sides, Axel returned to Jabuca on 19 March 2015, back as head coach. On 5 February 2016, he was announced in charge of Taboão da Serra.

Axel led CATS to a promotion to the Campeonato Paulista Série A3, and spent a period in charge of Guarulhos before returning to Taboão da Serra on 26 July 2017. He left the club after the 2018 Paulista Série A3, and spent a period without a club before taking over Portuguesa Santista on 25 September 2020.

Sacked by Portuguesa on 10 May 2021, Axel became an assistant of Max Sandro at São Caetano fifteen days later. On 29 January 2022, he became the interim head coach of the latter side after Max Sandro was sacked, but remained in charge of the club until 20 October, when he was himself dismissed.

On 19 February 2023, however, Axel returned to Azulão as head coach. He was relieved from his duties on 1 February 2024, after a winless start of the season.

On 2 October 2024, Axel returned to Santos to work as an interim head coach of the under-16 squad, while also working as an assistant of Leandro Zago in the under-20s. In April of the following year, he became an assistant of former teammate César Sampaio in the first team squad, in an interim manner.

Personal life On 13 February 2022, Axel, his son Daniel and Marquinhos Pitbull (his assistant coach at the time) suffered a domestic accident in his house; Axel and Marquinhos suffered mild burns and were discharged, but Daniel remained hospitalized and deceased on the 22nd. He also has another five children.

Career statistics Club

International

Honours Player São Paulo Recopa Sudamericana: 1994 Campeonato Paulista: 2000