Francileudo Santos

Francileudo Silva dos Santos (Arabic: فرانسيلودو سيلفا دوس سانتوس‎; born 20 March 1979) is a retired professional footballer who played as a forward.

This name uses Portuguese naming customs: the first or maternal family name is Silva and the second or paternal family name is Dos Santos.
Francileudo Santos
Personal information
Full name Francileudo Silva dos Santos
Date of birth (1979-03-20) 20 March 1979
Place of birth Zé Doca, Brazil
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
Sampaio Corrêa
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996–1998 Standard Liège 10 (0)
1998–2000 Étoile du Sahel 60 (41)
2000–2005 Sochaux 144 (53)
2005–2008 Toulouse 34 (7)
2007 → Zürich (loan) 12 (4)
2008–2009 Sochaux 16 (2)
2009–2010 Istres 16 (3)
2010–2013 Étoile du Sahel 31 (9)
2013–2015 ASM Belfort 48 (3)
2015–2016 FC Porrentruy 6 (2)
Total 377 (124)
National team
2004–2008 Tunisia 41 (22)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

In club football, he had his greatest successes at Sochaux, helping them win Ligue 2 in 2001 as top scorer and player of the season; they later won the Coupe de la Ligue in 2004. He also represented Toulouse in Ligue 1, and while on loan at FC Zürich, he won the Swiss Super League in 2007.

Born in Brazil, he became a naturalised Tunisian before their hosting of the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations, and was joint top scorer as they won it. He also played at two more such tournaments, and the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Born in Zé Doca, Maranhão, Brazil, Santos began his professional career with Standard Liège in Belgium, before spending two years with Étoile Sportive du Sahel in Tunisia.[1] He then moved to FC Sochaux-Montbéliard in France in 2000, and was top scorer with 21 goals and player of the season as they won Ligue 2 in his first season.[2] He played as they won the 2004 Coupe de la Ligue Final; in the last 32 he scored in a 3–2 extra-time home win over ASOA Valence.[3] In February 2004, he was removed from the squad to avoid a doping ban due to his corticoid use, as the club awaited a facsimile of his prescription from Tunisia.[4]

After nine goals in his final Ligue 1 season, Santos turned down a new two-year contract to sign for fellow league team Toulouse FC on a three-year deal in May 2005.[5] Having played only four times under manager Élie Baup in his second season, he was loaned to FC Zürich of the Swiss Super League in February 2007 for the rest of the season.[6] In May, he opened a 2–0 win against city rivals Grasshopper Club Zürich to take the title.[7]

On 1 July 2008, Santos returned to Sochaux on a one-year deal.[8] He then had a season at FC Istres before going back to Étoile Sportive.[9]

Santos returned to Franche-Comté in September 2013, to sign for ASM Belfort of the fourth-tier CFA.[10] In June 2015, he signed for a year at Swiss amateurs FC Porrentruy.[11]

International career

Santos was naturalised as a Tunisian citizen in December 2003, days before the country was due to host the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations.[1] He debuted for the Carthage Eagles on 17 January in a 2–1 friendly win over Benin in Sfax, in which he scored after eight minutes.[12] In the first two group games, he scored a goal in a 2–1 win against Rwanda and two in a 3–0 victory against DR Congo.[13][14] He opened the scoring after five minutes in the final, a 2–1 win over rivals Morocco at the Stade 7 Novembre.[15] With four goals, he was one of five joint top scorers.[16]

In June 2004, Santos apologised for having draped himself in the Brazilian flag when celebrating Sochaux's Coupe de la Ligue win.[17] He was Tunisia's top scorer with five goals in qualification for the 2006 FIFA World Cup; this included four on 26 March 2005 as they beat Malawi 7–0 at home.[18] He was also part of the squad that were eliminated from the group stage at the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup in Germany, where he scored both goals of a win over Australia in their last game.[19]

At the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt, Tunisia reached the quarter-finals. Santos scored a hat-trick in a 4–1 win over Zambia in the first game and another in a 2–0 victory against South Africa in the next.[20][21] Manager Roger Lemerre called him up for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, where he only played the last ten minutes of a group stage elimination by Ukraine at the Berlin Olympiastadion, as a substitute for Adel Chedli.[22]

Santos also went to the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana, another quarter-final finish. He scored twice in a 3–1 win over South Africa in the second group game.[23]

Honours
Sochaux
FC Zürich
Tunisia
Individual

References
  1. "Tunisia naturalise Brazilian". BBC Sport. 14 December 2003. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  2. Santalucia, Gilles (10 April 2019). "Le FC Sochaux et son football « do Brasil ! »" [FC Sochaux and its football "do Brasil" ["from Brazil"]]. L'Est Républicain (in French). Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  3. "France Coupe de la Ligue 2003/04". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  4. "Sochaux play safe over Santos". BBC Sport. 29 February 2004. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  5. "Santos joins Toulouse". BBC Sport. 31 May 2005. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  6. "Santos leaves Toulouse". Eurosport. 5 February 2007. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  7. "Zurich clinch Swiss football championship". Swiss Info. 25 May 2007. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  8. "Le 1er juillet 2008, Santos annonçait son retour au FC Sochaux" [On 1 July 2008, Santos announced his return to FC Sochaux]. L'Est Républicain (in French). 1 July 2008. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  9. "La descente aux enfers continue pour Santos" [The descent into Hell continues for Santos] (in French). Foot Mercato. 17 October 2011. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  10. "Officiel: Santos a signé!" [Official: Santos has signed!] (in French). 7 September 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  11. "Santos au FC Porrentruy !" [Santos to FC Porrentruy!] (in French). RFJ. 7 June 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  12. Couve, Philippe (5 February 2004). "L'efficacité avant tout" [Efficiency before everything else] (in French). RFI. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  13. "Tunisia Scores Win Over Rwanda in African Cup of Nations Football Tournament". Voice of America. 25 January 2004. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  14. Thomas, Durosimi (28 January 2004). "Tunisia through to last eight". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  15. Copnall, James (16 February 2004). "Lemerre wins the mother of all doubles". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  16. "Tunisia delight in African triumph". UEFA. 14 February 2004. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  17. "Dos Santos says sorry". BBC Sport. 15 June 2004. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  18. "Tunisia thrash Malawi". BBC Sport. 26 March 2005. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  19. "Santos leads Tunisia to victory". BBC Sport. 21 June 2005. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  20. Thomas, Durosimi (22 January 2006). "Tunisia 4-1 Zambia". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  21. "Tunisia ease into quarter-finals". Eurosport. 26 January 2006. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  22. "Ukraine 1-0 Tunisia". BBC Sport. 23 June 2006. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  23. "Tunisia beats South Africa with a Brazilian touch". France 24. 27 January 2008. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
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