Career
He was discovered by three architects in Belgium while playing in Brazil for minor club Sampaio Correa. Opportunities dried up in Belgium and the young Santos packed his bags again, this time for the warmer climes of Tunisia, where he joined Sousse club Etoile du Sahel, to team up with coach Jean Fernandez, the man who discovered Zinedine Zidane.
He netted 32 goals in 50 matches in the next two seasons before following Fernandez to French second division side FC Sochaux. One year and 21 strikes later, Santos had fired Sochaux back into the top flight, and he went on to score 14 top flight goals in the 2003/04 season, winning the League Cup.
The Tunisian Federation had proposed naturalisation to him as early as 2000, but he harboured hopes of playing for Brazil. When that hope faded with the simultaneous emergence of media darlings Júlio Baptista, Robinho and Fred, Santos finally opted to take up Tunisian citizenship, scoring on his debut against Benin in 2004. A few weeks later, he wrote a page for himself in the history of Tunisian sport by scoring four goals during Tunisia's victorious 2004 African Cup of Nations campaign, he also scored a hat-trick in Tunisia's first group game in the 2006 African Cup of Nations against Zambia.
Nicknamed Roadrunner by club team-mates for his sheer pace with the ball at his feet, the diminutive striker has the ability to cause mayhem against the strongest of defences.
He was transferred from Sochaux to Toulouse FC in July 2005, for €3.25 M.
After the World Cup, it was revealed that his injury was far more serious than expected, and some believed that the player's career was over after he failed to play a single match for Toulouse.
However, by October 2006 he was back on his feet and started playing again for Toulouse FC but made only four appearances. In February 2007 he joined Swiss club FC Zürich on loan till the end of the season and was part of the 2006-07 Swiss Championship winning team. On Wednesday 19th 2007, Santos had scored a double in the UEFA Cup against Russian outfit Spartak Moscow.
He since joined FC Sochaux for his second period at the club, but it was not as successful as the first stint. He left the club in 2009. Not managing to find a club in a half year, he signed with Istres in January 2010. After a half year for the French side, he transferred to back to Tunisian Étoile Sahel in Summer 2010.
Read more about this topic: Francileudo Santos
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