Ãlvaro Santos

Álvaro Santos in July 2007

Álvaro Márcio Santos ( born January 31, 1980 in São Paulo ) is a Brazilian footballer. The striker denied his previous professional career almost exclusively in Europe and was twice Danish national champion.

Career

Start your career in Northern Europe

Santos moved in 2000 from América Mineiro in Belo Horizonte for Swedish club Helsingborgs IF in the Allsvenskan. With the reigning champion, he joined in the UEFA Champions League in 2000/ 01 and managed with the team by beating BATE Borisov to the Santos contributed a goal, and Inter Milan a place in the group stage. There he failed with the team as a Table, among other things against the eventual winner FC Bayern Munich. In the league he proof as a regular scorer: By the end of his debut season in Sweden he scored twelve goals this season, which he contributed to the runner-up behind Halmstad BK. Two years later, he had 16 goals this season a better record on, hence he finished behind Peter Ijeh of Malmo FF, reach 24 goals to the second rank in the top scorer of the season 2002. Due to its good strike rate you were outside of Sweden attentive to him so that he left the club in the direction of Denmark in August 2003.

New employer Santos was the reigning Danish champions FC Copenhagen. Again, he shone as more time scorer and joined in his first season with 13 goals this season for the 6th place of the scoresheet. As the best club internal contactors, he led the club so that the fourth championship in club history. Also in the Royal League 2004/ 05 he was successful with his club. In the final game against the Swedish club IFK Göteborg, he was in the starting, but had been replaced prematurely and could therefore not take part in the ultimately successful penalties. In the season 2005/ 06 he met 15 times during the season, so he finished shared second place scorer together with Marcus Allbäck and Mads Junker behind Steffen Højer. Again he was in the same year with the club Swedish champion. Also in the Royal League, he was successful, in a 1-0 victory over Norway Lillestrøm SK representatives with a goal by Razak Pimpong he played the entire game. After three years in Denmark, where he had each achieved a double-digit goals is to club from southern Europe interested in his services.

Flying visit to France

After Santos was started for FC Copenhagen at the beginning of the following season still in qualifying for the UEFA Champions League 2006/ 07, he moved to France in late July for FC Sochaux. Under coach Alain Perrin, he belonged for long stretches of his first season in Ligue 1 on stem formation by storm and scored during the season eight goals this season. With the team he moved into the final of the Coupe de France, there he was, however, in the victory over Olympique de Marseille on penalties not used.

After a coaching change he came under Perrins successor Frédéric Hantz at the beginning of the 2007 /08 only as a substitute for use. He was then awarded after three brief appearances in the league rivals Racing Strasbourg. Under coach Jean -Marc Furlan he made with the Wason Rentería Colombians in attack of the club from Alsace. Staying in north-eastern France, however, remained unsuccessful. Not least because he scored only five goals this season, the club finished the relegation zone.

After the end of the season Santos returned to FC Sochaux. After he had been injured in Sommertrainigslager and failed several weeks, he was under the now committed by the association from the Franche- Comté coach Francis Gillot behind the set strikers Nicolas Maurice -Belay and Mevlut Erdinç only to supplement players. In winter, the club undertook with the Czech national team Václav Svěrkoš another striker. Then broke player and a club on the contract in early February.

Return to Sweden

After the Gothenburg club Örgryte IS had tried unsuccessfully to obtain a commitment from Jonas Wallerstedt from Orstrivalen IFK Göteborg, he got into negotiations with Santos a. Barely a week after its termination of the contract in France signed Brazilian striker a three -year contract in Sweden. In his first competitive game for the club in the local derby against GAIS to kick off the 2009 season, he scored the consolation goal in the 1:5 defeat. A short time later he was injured and there was speculation about a failure for the entire season. However, after the summer break, he returned in July, first as a substitute back to the football field until he had played back in the trunk formation. He soon showed up again and was able to score goals - despite a sending off in the 0-2 defeat against Trelleborg FF - ten goals to achieve to the end of the season. However, he missed with the team in the league. In spite of his seven goals this season in the Superettan it was enough with the team only a mid-table.

In January 2011, Santos returned to the Allsvenskan and signed a loan agreement with the local rivals GAIS Gothenburg. In the first half of the season 2011 he ran for the club and was the second best club internal door gunner behind Mervan Çelik guarantee that the team of coach Alexander Axén, placed at the season's mid- table in the front third. However, during the summer transfer window, he joined the club and returned to his first game station in Europe. In Helsingborgs IF of the 31 -year-old signed a contract with three years duration.