Joel Santana Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids
Joel Santana
Personal information

Full name	Joel Natalino Santana
Date of birth	(1948-12-25) 25 December 1948 (age 76)
Place of birth	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Playing position	Defender
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1971–1972	Vasco da Gama	37	(11)
1973	Olaria	29	(8)
1974–1975	Vasco da Gama	18	(1)
1976–1980	América de Natal	148	(45)
Total		232	(65)
Teams managed
1981–1986	Al Wasl
1986–1987	Vasco da Gama
1988–1990	Al Nassr
1991	América
1991	Al-Hilal
1992–1993	Vasco da Gama
1994	Bahia
1995	Fluminense
1996	Flamengo
1997	Corinthians
1997–1998	Botafogo
1998	Flamengo
1999–2000	Bahia
2000	Botafogo
2000–2001	Vasco da Gama
2001–2002	Coritiba
2002–2003	Vitória
2003	Fluminense
2004	Guarani
2004	Internacional
2004–2005	Vasco da Gama
2005	Brasiliense
2005	Flamengo
2006	Vegalta Sendai
2007	Fluminense
2007–2008	Flamengo
2008–2009	South Africa
2010–2011	Botafogo
2011	Cruzeiro
2011–2012	Bahia
2012	Flamengo
2013	Bahia
2014	Vasco da Gama
2017	Boavista
Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of February 5, 2012. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of February 5, 2010

Joel Natalino Santana (born December 25, 1948) is a famous Brazilian football coach and a former player. He is known for leading many big teams in Brazil. In 2014, he was coaching Vasco da Gama.

Joel Santana's Football Journey
Joel Santana's Acting Career
- Becoming a Commercial Star
- More Commercials and Thoughts
Honors and Achievements
- Playing Honors
- Managerial Honors
See also

Joel Santana's Football Journey

Playing Days in Brazil

Joel Santana was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He played football as a central defender throughout the 1970s. A central defender is a player who helps protect the goal. He spent most of his playing career in Brazil.

He was best known for playing with Vasco da Gama. However, he never played for the Brazilian national team. In 1980, he stopped playing and started his career as a football coach.

Becoming a Coach

Joel Santana began coaching with Al Wasl in the United Arab Emirates. He coached many clubs in Brazil. He also worked with teams in Saudi Arabia and Vegalta Sendai in Japan.

He is one of the few coaches to win the Campeonato Carioca (a major state championship in Rio de Janeiro) with four big clubs. These clubs are Botafogo, Flamengo, Fluminense, and Vasco da Gama. His coaching style often focused on strong defense. This meant making it hard for the other team to score goals.

Saving Teams from Relegation

In 2004, Joel Santana helped Vasco da Gama avoid being moved down to a lower league. This is called "relegation." He did this in his fourth time coaching the club. A year later, Flamengo hired him for the same reason. He successfully saved them from relegation too.

Because of these successes, he became known as an "escape artist." This meant he was good at rescuing teams from tough situations. In 2007, he returned to Flamengo again. He not only saved them from relegation but also led them to a surprising third-place finish. This allowed them to play in the 2008 Copa Libertadores, a big international tournament.

Coaching South Africa

In April 2008, Joel Santana became the coach of the South Africa national football team. He took over from another Brazilian coach, Carlos Alberto Parreira. However, in October 2009, he was removed from the job. This happened because the team had a difficult time, losing eight out of nine games.

Later Coaching Years

Joel Santana returned to coach Flamengo for a fifth time in February 2012. But he was fired in July 2012 after two losses. In April 2013, he started coaching Bahia for the fourth time.

Joel Santana is considered one of the most famous managers in Brazilian football. He won many trophies, especially state championships. He is also known for coaching over 1,000 games in his career. He retired from coaching in 2017 after managing Boavista.

Joel Santana's Acting Career

Becoming a Commercial Star

In 2012, a video of Joel Santana went viral. It showed him giving an interview during the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup. He was coaching South Africa at the time. People found his English language skills funny in the video.

Because of this, he appeared in a commercial for Pepsi. He used a mix of Portuguese and English phrases. For example, he said, "Me dá uma Pepsi. Pode to be?" This means "Can you give me a Pepsi? Can it be?"

More Commercials and Thoughts

In 2013, he became the star of commercials for Head & Shoulders shampoo. Again, these ads made light of his English. Joel Santana was happy about his success in commercials.

He told a Brazilian sports channel that speaking English publicly was a risk. But he felt that in football, having feelings is important. He said that because he took that risk, he found a new way to be successful as a pitchman.