César Santin (; born 24 February 1981) 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 forward. He is currently working as an academy coach at Hillerød Fodbold. He is a versatile player, being able to play most of the attacking positions in both midfield and attack. He is known as a pacey winger with an eagerness to challenge the opponents with his dribbling.

Biography

Early career

In his years in

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 ...

he started his career playing for São José, a team he would later return to play for a short brief in 2004. Meanwhile, he played for both Grêmio and Vitória, never managing to get his breakthrough in the best Brazilian league

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian" or "Great Brazilian"), the Série A or the Brazilian Série A (to distinguish it from the I ...

. His goal for Grêmio against Juventude gave qualification for semifinals in 2002 Brasileirão.

Kalmar FF

In 2004, he transferred from São José to Swedish club

Kalmar FF Kalmar Fotbollförening, more commonly known as Kalmar FF, is a Swedish professional football club based in Kalmar, Sweden. The club is affiliated to Smålands Fotbollförbund and play their home games at Guldfågeln Arena. Formed on 15 June 1 ...

who the previous season was promoted from

Superettan Superettan (; ) is an association football league and the second highest league in the Swedish football league system, league system of Swedish football, Swedish men's football. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and rel ...

finishing 1st, and was about to play in

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; ), also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan (, ) is a professional association football league in Sweden and the highest level of the Swedish football league system. Founded in 1924, it operates on a system of promotion and relegatio ...

. César Santin quickly became a darling to the fans due to his hard work and good dribbles. He especially won the supporters hearts when he scored against

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

n giants F.C. Copenhagen, which he would later transfer to, with a terrific longshot leaving Copenhagen's goalie Jesper Christiansen no chance in a Royal League match, a match Kalmar FF won 1–0. In his time in Allsvenskan, he developed into a league profile scoring 12 times in 23 appearances in the 2007 season. In the first half of the 2008 season he started out as the league topscorer helping Kalmar FF to the 1st place in the league. His strong performances had him linked with F.C. Copenhagen to whom he would later transfer to for an unknown price, however, Ekstra Bladet claimed that the price was around 10 million

Danish krone The krone (; plural: ''kroner''; sign: kr.; code: DKK) is the official currency of Denmark, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands, introduced on 1 January 1875. Both the ISO code "DKK" and currency sign "kr." are in common use; the former precedes ...

F.C. Copenhagen

In the 2008 Danish summer transfer window, F.C. Copenhagen chairman Flemming Østergaard promised that the club would get the best squad in the league, but as the window headed towards the end F.C. Copenhagen still had not signed any reinforcement but Thomas Kristensen from FC Nordsjælland. As César Santin was signed at the end of the window, many people became sceptic and thought of him as being a panicky transfer, however, after some good performances and a goal in his fourth game for the club against Lillestrøm SK and fifth game against league rivals

FC Midtjylland Football Club Midtjylland (, "Central Jutland") is a Danish professional football club based in Herning and Ikast. The club is the result of a merger between Ikast FS and Herning Fremad. Midtjylland competes in the Danish Superliga, which they ...

he quickly became a fan favourite, and is now considered one of the most essential parts of the Copenhagen offensive play. On 6 November 2008, César Santin scored his second goal in the 2008–09 UEFA Cup group stage when he from close range equalized

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol, S. A. D. (; ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF or simply Valencia, is a Spanish professional Association football, football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top tier of the Spani ...

's 1–0 lead and the match ended in a draw. He claimed after the match that he had scored many important goals, but the one against

was the most important goal in his career. On 17 December 2008, F.C. Copenhagen played their last match of the year against Belgian side

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,042. They pl ...

. Copenhagen won 1–0, the goalscorer was Santin, and this secured Copenhagen to play at the knock-out stages of the

2008–09 UEFA Cup The 2008–09 UEFA Cup was the 38th season of the UEFA Europa League, UEFA Cup association football, football tournament. The 2009 UEFA Cup Final, final was played at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, home ground of Fenerbahçe S.K. (football), F ...

, facing English side

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

. A game that was drawn 2–2 after goals from Aílton Almeida and Martin Vingaard. On 24 May 2009, Santin secured F.C. Copenhagen the championship of the 2009 season, scoring on a penalty shot against

Esbjerg fB Esbjerg forenede Boldklubber (; commonly known as Esbjerg fB or EfB in short) is a Danish professional Association football, football club based in Esbjerg, West Jutland, Jylland, that plays in the Danish 1st Division, 1st division, the sec ...

, the sole goal of the game. Meanwhile, Brøndby lost their game in

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...

, giving Copenhagen a 5-point lead with one round left in the Superliga. The 2010–11 season was so far the most successful for Santin, as he was part of the historical side, that managed to progress from the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

of the

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 ...

, before being knocked out by Chelsea F.C. 2–0 on aggregate. Also, he managed to net an impressive 17 goals in the domestic league that season, becoming the second-most scoring player in the league after teammate Dame N'Doye, who scored a total of 25. Santin was a regular starter all season in the Superliga, where F.C. Copenhagen performed very well and won with the highest margin ever. In the 2011–12 season, he appeared in 44 matches and scored 17 goals in all competitions. This time his team F.C. Copenhagen failed to win the Superliga as they finished second behind FC Nordsjælland, but they managed to win the

Danish Cup The Danish Cup (; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "single-elimination tournament, knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955. The winner will ...

after beating

Horsens Horsens () is a city on the east coast of the Jutland region of Denmark. It is the seat of the Horsens municipality. The city's population is 64,418 (1 January 2025) and the municipality's population is 97,921 (), making it the List of cities and ...

1–0 in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

. Santin scored his only goal in the European competitions that season against

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), is a German professional association football, football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years between 19 ...

at AWD-Arena, in Copenhagen's 2–2 draw for the

of the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

. The next season, Santin appeared in 32 league matches and scored 11 goals, helping F.C. Copenhagen to win the Superliga again. He also scored against

, in his side 3–2 away win for the third qualifying round of the Champions League and against

Lille OSC Lille Olympique Sporting Club (), commonly referred to as LOSC, LOSC Lille or simply Lille, is a French professional association football, football club based in Lille, Northern France competing in Ligue 1, the top division of Football in Franc ...

, in Copenhagen's 1–0 home victory for the play-off round of the Champions League. After being eliminated in the play-off round of the

, Copenhagen participated in the

of the

, where Santin scored one goal against

Molde FK Molde Fotballklubb () is a association football, football club based in Molde Municipality, Molde, Norway, that competes in Eliteserien, the top flight of Norwegian football league system, Norwegian football. Founded on 19 June 1911, the club w ...

at Aker Stadion, in a match which Copenhagen won by 2–1. The 2013–14 season, was Santin's sixth and final season at F.C. Copenhagen. He managed to appear in 14 matches and scored 5 goals in all competitions, before he move to

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

and sign a contract with APOEL in December 2013.

APOEL

On 27 December 2013, César Santin signed an 18-month contract with

APOEL FC APOEL FC (; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") is a Cypriot professio ...

from

. He made his debut on 4 January 2014, coming on as a 67th-minute substitute in APOEL's 2–2 home draw against

AEL Limassol Athlitiki Enosi Lemesou () is a Cyprus, Cypriot sports club based in the city of Limassol, most famous for its football team. AEL Limassol also maintains a AEL Limassol B.C., men's and AEL Limassol B.C. (women), women's basketball teams, a wom ...

for the

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...

. He scored his first official goal for APOEL on 19 January 2014, in his team's 3–1 home win against

Nea Salamina Nea Salamis Famagusta or Nea Salamina Famagusta () is a Cypriot sports club based in Ammochostos (also known by its romanized name, Famagusta), Cyprus. The club is named after Salamis, Cyprus, Salamis (or Salamina), an ancient city near present- ...

for the

. He won his first title with APOEL on 21 May 2014, when his team won

Ermis Aradippou Ermis Aradippou () is a Cypriot professional football club based in Aradippou, a settlement on the outskirts of the city of Larnaca. The club was formed in 1958, and currently plays in the Cypriot Third Division. Ermis' greatest success ca ...

2–0 in the

Cypriot Cup The Cypriot Cup, formally known as the Cypriot Coca-Cola Cup of First and Second Division () for sponsorship purposes, is a Cypriot knockout football club competition, hosted annually by the Cyprus Football Association. First held in 1934, it i ...

final and lifted the trophy. Ten days later, Santin also won the

after APOEL's 1–0 away victory against

in the title deciding match of the competition. On 30 June 2014, APOEL terminated Santin's contract with the club by mutual consent.

Career statistics

Honours

;

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

* Svenska Cupen:

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 ...

; F.C. Copenhagen *

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga (, ) is a professional association football league in Denmark and the highest level of the Danish football league system. The league is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams relegated. It is the current ...

: 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2012–13 *

: 2008–09, 2011–12 ; APOEL *

: 2013–14 *

: 2013–14

Notes

References

External links

APOEL official profile
*
F.C. Copenhagen profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Santin, Cesar Living people 1981 births Brazilian men's footballers São José Esporte Clube players Grêmio FBPA players Esporte Clube Vitória players Kalmar FF players F.C. Copenhagen players APOEL FC players Clube Esportivo Aimoré players Danish Superliga players Allsvenskan players Cypriot First Division players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Men's association football forwards Fremad Valby players Footballers from Porto Alegre 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen