César Santin (; born 24 February 1981) is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is currently working as an academy coach at Hillerød Fodbold.

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 eagerness to challenge the opponents with his dribbling.

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. His goal for Grêmio against Juventude gave qualification for semifinals in 2002 Brasileirão.

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's 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.

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

On 6 November 2008, César Santin scored his second goal in the 2008–09 UEFA Cup group stage when he from close range equalized Valencia CF's 1–0 lead and the match ended in a draw. 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.

On 17 December 2008, F.C. 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 of the 2008–09 UEFA Cup, facing English side Manchester City. A game that was drawn 2–2 after goals from Aílton Almeida and Martin Vingaard.

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

The 2010–11 season was so far the most successful for Santin, as he was part of the historical side, that managed to progress from the group stage of the UEFA Champions League, before being knocked out by Chelsea F.C. 2–0 on aggregate. Also, he managed to net an impressive 17 goals in the domestic league that season, becoming the second-most scoring player in the league after teammate Dame N'Doye, who scored a total of 25. Santin was a regular starter all season in the Superliga, where F.C. Copenhagen performed very well and won with the highest margin ever.

In the 2011–12 season, he appeared in 44 matches and scored 17 goals in all competitions. This time his team F.C. Copenhagen failed to win the Superliga as they finished second behind FC Nordsjælland, but they managed to win the Danish Cup after beating Horsens 1–0 in the final. Santin scored his only goal in the European competitions that season against Hannover 96 at AWD-Arena, in Copenhagen's 2–2 draw for the group stage of the UEFA Europa League.

The next season, Santin appeared in 32 league matches and scored 11 goals, helping F.C. Copenhagen to win the Superliga again. He also scored against Club Brugge, in his side 3–2 away win for the third qualifying round of the Champions League and against Lille OSC, in Copenhagen's 1–0 home victory for the play-off round of the Champions League. After being eliminated in the play-off round of the UEFA Champions League, Copenhagen participated in the group stage of the UEFA Europa League, where Santin scored one goal against Molde FK at Aker Stadion, in a match which Copenhagen won by 2–1.

The 2013–14 season, was Santin's sixth and final season at F.C. Copenhagen. He managed to appear in 14 matches and scored 5 goals in all competitions, before he move to Cyprus and sign a contract with APOEL in December 2013.

APOEL
On 27 December 2013, César Santin signed an 18-month contract with APOEL FC from Cyprus. He made his debut on 4 January 2014, coming on as a 67th-minute substitute in APOEL's 2–2 home draw against AEL Limassol for the Cypriot First Division. He scored his first official goal for APOEL on 19 January 2014, in his team's 3–1 home win against Nea Salamina for the Cypriot First Division. He won his first title with APOEL on 21 May 2014, when his team won Ermis Aradippou 2–0 in the Cypriot Cup final and lifted the trophy. Ten days later, Santin also won the Cypriot First Division after APOEL's 1–0 away victory against AEL Limassol in the title deciding match of the competition. On 30 June 2014, APOEL terminated Santin's contract with the club by mutual consent.

Career statistics

Honours
Kalmar FF
Allsvenskan: 2008
Svenska Cupen: 2007

F.C. Copenhagen
Danish Superliga: 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2012–13
Danish Cup: 2008–09, 2011–12

APOEL
Cypriot First Division: 2013–14
Cypriot Cup: 2013–14

Notes

References

External links
APOEL official profile

F.C. Copenhagen profile 

Living people
1981 births
Brazilian men's footballers
São José Esporte Clube players
Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense players
Esporte Clube Vitória players
Kalmar FF players
F.C. Copenhagen players
APOEL FC players
Clube Esportivo Aimoré players
Danish Superliga players
Allsvenskan players
Cypriot First Division players
Brazilian expatriate men's footballers
Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden
Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden
Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark
Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark
Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus
Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus
Men's association football forwards
Fremad Valby players
Footballers from Porto Alegre