Dequinha

**José Mendonça dos Santos**, simply known as **Dequinha** (March 19, 1928 – July 23, 1997), was a Brazilian footballer.He played as a midfielder, a position which, due to his versatility, he played in a variety of ways. He started out as a left winger, and then moved to the defensive midfield position, where his athletic and marking skills stood out; His passing accuracy and speed made him an effective counter-attacker later on. Widely regarded as one of Brazil's finest defensive midfielders of all time.

## Club career

Growing up both football-wise and personally in Rio Grande do Norte, he earned a transfer to América of Recife, Pernambuco, from which he was then sold to Flamengo in 1950. With the Rio de Janeiro team, he managed to break the hegemony of Vasco da Gama, which had won the state championship almost continuously from 1945 to 1952. In fact, Flamengo won three consecutive titles, and Dequinha's contribution was important, as he played a balancing role in the line-up.  After leaving the Carioca team after eleven years, he ended his career in 1963 with América-PE.

## International career

He played with the national team for a short period mainly the one related to the successes with Flamengo obtaining the call-up for the 1954 World Cup, where, however, he failed to make his debut. Subsequently, it played mainly friendly matches, with the notable result of winning the Bernardo O'Higgins Cup and Taça Oswaldo Cruz in 1955.

### Player

- ABC
- Campeonato Potiguar: 1947

- Flamengo
- Campeonato Carioca: 1953, 1954, 1955
- Torneio Início do Rio de Janeiro: 1959
- Campeonato Carioca de Aspirantes: 1955, 1956
- City of Ilhéus Trophy: 1950
- Elfsborg Cup: 1951
- Lima Quadrangular Tournament: 1952
- City of Arequipa Trophy: 1952
- Curitiba Quadrangular Tournament: 1953
- Juan Domingo Perón Trophy: 1953
- Argentina Quadrangular Tournament: 1953
- Rio de Janeiro International Tournament: 1954
- Gilberto Cardoso International Tournament: 1955
- Oswaldo Aranha Ambassador Trophy: 1956
- Rio-São Paulo State Champions Cup: 1956
- Morumbi International Tournament: 1957
- Brasília Cup: 1957
- Ponto Frio Bonzão Trophy: 1957
- Allmänna Idrottsklubben Trophy: 1957
- Israel Quadrangular Tournament: 1958
- Sporting Clube de Portugal Trophy: 1958
- Lima Hexagonal Tournament: 1959

- Brazil
- Taça Oswaldo Cruz: 1955
- Bernardo O'Higgins Cup: 1955

### Manager

- Sergipe
- Campeonato Sergipano: 1970, 1971, 1972

## Infobox (football biography)

- **name**: Dequinha
- **image**: Dequinha, sem data.tif
- **caption**: Dequinha in 1956
- **fullname**: José Mendonça dos Santos
- **birth place**: Mossoró (Rio Grande do Norte, RN) - Brazil
- **position**: Defensive midfielder
- **years1**: 1946–1947
- **clubs1**: Associação Cultural e Desportiva Potiguar, Potiguar de Mossoró
- **caps1**: 20
- **goals1**: 3
- **years2**: 1947–1950
- **clubs2**: ABC Futebol Clube, ABC
- **caps2**: 122
- **goals2**: 5
- **years3**: 1950
- **clubs3**: América Futebol Clube (Pernambuco), América-PE
- **caps3**: 2
- **goals3**: 0
- **years4**: 1950–1961
- **clubs4**: Clube de Regatas do Flamengo, Flamengo
- **caps4**: 384
- **goals4**: 8
- **years5**: 1961–1962
- **clubs5**: Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas, Botafogo
- **caps5**: 9
- **goals5**: 0
- **years6**: 1962–1963
- **clubs6**: Campo Grande Atlético Clube, Campo Grande
- **caps6**: 13
- **goals6**: 0
- **years7**: 1963
- **clubs7**: América Futebol Clube (Pernambuco), América-PE
- **caps7**: 19
- **goals7**: 1
- **totalcaps**: 569
- **totalgoals**: 17
- **nationalyears1**: 1954–1956
- **nationalteam1**: Brazil national football team, Brazil
- **nationalcaps1**: 7
- **nationalgoals1**: 0
- **manageryears1**: 1970–1972
- **managerclubs1**: Club Sportivo Sergipe, Sergipe
- **manageryears2**: 1973
- **managerclubs2**: Desportiva Ferroviária