César Santin

César Santin

Personal information
Full name	César Santin
Date of birth	24 February 1981 (1981-02-24) (age 30)
Place of birth	Porto Alegre, Brazil
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position	Forward/Winger (association football)
Club information
Current club	Copenhagen
Number	11
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2001	São José
2002	Grêmio	6	(1)
2003	Vitória
2004	São José
2004–2008	Kalmar	105	(31)
2008–	Copenhagen	102	(48)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 24 October 2011. † Appearances (Goals).

César Santin (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈsɛzɐʁ sɐ̃ˈtʃĩⁿ]; born 24 February 1981) is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a forward for Danish Superliga club F.C. Copenhagen. He formerly played 5 years in Sweden for Kalmar FF.

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 eager to challenge the opponents with his dribbles.

Biography

Early career

In his years in Brazil 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.

Kalmar FF

In 2004 he transferred from São José to Swedish club Kalmar FF who the previous season was promoted from Superettan finishing 1st, and was about to play in Allsvenskan.

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 Scandinavian giants F.C. Copenhagen, which he would later transfer to, with a terrific longshot leaving Copenhagen 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 kroner.^[1]

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,^[2] 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^[3] and fifth game against league rivals FC Midtjylland^[4] he quickly became a fan favourite, and is now considered one the most essential parts of the Copenhagen offensive play.

On November 6, 2008 César Santin scored his second goal in the UEFA Cup 2008–09 group stage when he from close range equalized Valencia CF's 1–0 lead and the match ended in a draw.^[5] He claimed after the match that he had scored many important goals, but the one against Valencia CF was the most important goal in his career.^[6]

On December 17, 2008 Copenhagen played their last match of the year against Belgian side Club Brugge. Copenhagen won 1–0, the goalscorer was Santin, and this secured Copenhagen to play at the knock-out stages in the UEFA Cup in 2009 facing English side Manchester City. A game that was drawn 2–2 after goals from Ailton Almeida and Martin Vingaard.

On May 24, 2009 Santin secured FCK the championship of the 2009 season, scoring on a penalty shot against Esbjerg, the sole goal of the game. Meanwhile, Brøndby lost their game in Aarhus, giving FCK a 5-point lead with one round left in the Superliga.

The 2010-2011 season was so far the most successful for Santin, as he was part of the historical side, that managed to progress from the group stages of the UEFA Champions League, before being knocked out by Chelsea F.C. 2-0 on aggregate. Also, he managed to net an impressive 16 goals in the domestic league that season, becoming the second-most scoring player in the league after team mate Dame N'Doye, who scored a total of 25. Santin was a regular starter all season in the Superliga, where FCK performed very well and won with the highest margin ever.

He did, however, have some problems in the Champions League, where he underperformed quite badly at times. The best example of this being in the match against F.C. Barcelona on Camp Nou, where Santin, with FCK trailing with one goal, stopped all the sudden after a perfect through-ball, and hampered the greatest chance for FCK that night. Afterwards, however, it turned out that Barcalonas goalkeeper, Jose Manuel Pinto, had tried to emulate the sound of the judges whistle, thus confusing Santin. Pinto later received a 2 match ban from the Champions League for that stunt. That very same match, he also managed to miss a header in front of a completely empty goal, after N'Doye had forced Pinto out of the goal from hitting the bar. After the match in Barcelona, he never figured as a regular starter ever again in the Champions League.

The 2011-2012 season has so far started well for Santin, despite his team being knocked out of the qualification stages of the Champions League. He has so far netted 4 goals, and sits atop the top scorers list with 4 goals, sharing it with 2 other players.

Honours

• Danish Superliga: 2008–09, 2009–10 & 2010-11
• Danish Cup: 2008–09
• Svenska Cupen: 2007
• Allsvenskan: 2008

References

1. ^ "Cesar Santin var billigere end forventet" (in Danish). sportensverden.dk. http://www.sportensverden.dk/football/item.asp?id=13193. 
2. ^ "Don Ø lover Danmarks bedste trup" (in Danish). bold.dk. http://www.bold.dk/nyt/index.php?vis=85878. 
3. ^ "14.08 F.C. København – Lillestrøm SK" (in Danish). fck.dk. http://www.fck.dk/index.php?pageid=2135. 
4. ^ "17.08 F.C. København – FC Midtjylland" (in Danish). fck.dk. http://www.fck.dk/index.php?pageid=2048. 
5. ^ "FCK fik et sindsoprivende point" (in Danish). eb.dk. http://ekstrabladet.dk/sport/fodbold/udenlandsk_fodbold/uefacup/article1081050.ece. ^{[dead link]}
6. ^ "Santin: Mit vigtigste mål" (in Danish). sporten.dk. http://www.sporten.dk/fodbold/uefa-cup-2008-2009/santin-mit-vigtigste-mal-2. 

External links

• F.C. Copenhagen profile (Danish)
• César Santin at Danmarks Radio (Danish)
• Svenskfotboll profile (Swedish)

Persondata
Name	Santin, Cesar
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	24 February 1981
Place of birth	Porto Alegre, Brazil
Date of death
Place of death