Milton Cruz

Milton Cruz
Milton da Cruz (born 1 August 1957) is a Brazilian professional football coach and former player who played as a forward. He is the current assistant manager of São Paulo.
His career is widely related to São Paulo, club he represented as a player and served as an interim manager on a number of occasions before leaving in 2016.
Club career
Known as Milton in his playing days, he joined São Paulo's youth setup in 1975, being promoted to the first team in 1977. He subsequently represented Estudiantes Tecos, Nacional Montevideo, Internacional, Sport Recife, Catuense, Náutico, Yomiuri FC, Nissan Motors FC, Botafogo and Kashima Antlers.
In May 1993, Cruz joined Oklahoma City Slickers of the USISL. He was the club's topscorer, as his side finished third, and subsequently retired at the age of 36.
International career
Cruz appeared with Brazil under-23s at the 1984 Summer Olympics in United States, appearing in three matches only as a substitute.
Coaching career
In 1997 Cruz returned to his first club São Paulo, as an assistant manager. In 1999, after Paulo César Carpegiani's dismissal, he was named interim.
In 2002, Cruz left Tricolor to join Oscar's staff at Ittihad, but returned to the club in the following year. Until his dismissal from the club in March 2016, he worked as an assistant coach, being an interim on nine further occasions.
On 19 February 2017, Cruz had his first experience as a head coach, being named in charge of Náutico. He was sacked on 7 May, despite having only three defeats in 12 matches.
On 8 August 2017, Cruz was appointed head coach of Figueirense in the Série B, but left on 10 September of the following year. On 18 December 2018, he was named at the helm of Sport Recife for the upcoming season.
On 18 February 2019, after just seven matches, Cruz resigned from Sport. He returned to São Paulo on 9 March 2021, as a technical consultant, being later named Rogério Ceni's assistant on 19 October.
Club statistics
Honours
Figueirense
Campeonato Catarinense: 2018
References
External links
1957 births
Living people
People from Cubatão
Footballers from São Paulo (state)
Brazilian men's footballers
Men's association football forwards
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players
São Paulo state football team players
São Paulo FC players
Sport Club Internacional players
Sport Club do Recife players
Clube Náutico Capibaribe players
Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas players
Liga MX players
Tecos F.C. footballers
Club Nacional de Football players
Japan Soccer League players
J1 League players
Tokyo Verdy players
Kashima Antlers players
USISL players
Oklahoma City Slickers (USISL) players
Olympic footballers for Brazil
Footballers at the 1984 Summer Olympics
Olympic silver medalists for Brazil
Olympic medalists in football
Brazilian expatriate men's footballers
Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Mexico
Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Uruguay
Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Japan
Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the United States
Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico
Expatriate men's footballers in Uruguay
Expatriate men's footballers in Japan
Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States
Brazilian football managers
São Paulo FC managers
Clube Náutico Capibaribe managers
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A managers
Campeonato Brasileiro Série B managers
Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics
Figueirense FC managers
Sport Club do Recife managers
São Paulo FC non-playing staff