Francisco Dos Santos

Francisco Enrique Crespo dos Santos (born 9 April 1974 in Rio de Janeiro), known as Francisco Dos Santos or Batata, is a Brazilian former footballer who played the majority of career with Canadian clubs in the Canadian Soccer League, and the Toronto Lynx of the USL A-League.

This article is about footballer from Brazil. For the footballer from Portugal, see Francisco Santos (footballer).
In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Crespo and the second or paternal family name is dos Santos.
Francisco Dos Santos
Personal information
Full name Francisco Enrique Crespo dos Santos
Date of birth (1974-04-09) 9 April 1974
Place of birth Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1994–1997 Botafogo
1998 FC Kreuzlingen
1999–2001 Toronto Lynx 56 (22)
2001 Brampton Hitmen 1 (1)
2000–2001 Toronto ThunderHawks (indoor) 2 (0)
2002 Toronto Supra 4 (0)
2003–2004 North York Astros 11 (7)
2005 Toronto Supra 6 (1)
2006 North York Astros 4 (3)
2007 Toronto Supra 6 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 28 December 2014

Playing career

Dos Santos began his professional career in Brasil with Botafogo in 1994.[1][2] In 1998, he went abroad to Switzerland with FC Kreuzlingen.[3] After a season with Kreuzlingen he arrived in Canada to play in the USL A-League with the Toronto Lynx.[4] In his first season with the club he led his team in scoring with 13 goals and was awarded the club's offensive player of the year award. The following year he repeated his success by once more leading the team in scoring with 9 goals and being named for the second consecutive year in a row the club's offensive player of the year.

He assisted the club by reaching the postseason the second time in the club's history. He contributed in the playoffs by scoring an equalizing goal in a 1–1 tie against the Rochester Rhinos.[5] On May 8, 2001, the Toronto Lynx announced the re-signing of Dos Santos for the 2001 season.[6] Unfortunately he had a disappointing season with the Lynx appearing only in 10 matches and having a scoring drought. It was reported in a press release on July 13, 2001, after having not scored a single goal in 10 matches, Dos Santos was released from his contract.[7]

After his release from Toronto he signed a contract with the Brampton Hitmen, making his debut on July 15, 2001, in a match against the North York Astros where he recorded a goal in a 2–1 defeat.[8] After only appearing in single match for the club he was released along with head coach Paul Kitson from their contracts.[9] Dos Santos signed with the Toronto Supra of the Canadian Professional Soccer League for the 2002 season.[10] He made his debut for the club in an Open Canada Cup match against the Toronto Croatia.[11] In 2003, Dos Santos was transferred to the North York Astros.[12][13] He made his debut for the club on July 21, 2003, in a match against the Mississauga Olympians and scored two goals in 3–1 victory.[14][15] He had a tremendous season with the Astros scoring seven goals for the club. He would return to the Supra in 2005, and bring his career to a culmination with another run with North York, and Toronto.[16]

Dos Santos also had a stint in the National Professional Soccer League with the short lived expansion franchise the Toronto ThunderHawks during the 2000–2001 winter indoor season.[17] He helped the ThunderHawks reach the postseason by finishing second in the National Conference, and reached the Conference finals where they were defeated by the Milwaukee Wave.

References
  1. "Batata :: Francisco Enrique Crespo dos Santos ::". www.ogol.com.br (in Breton). Retrieved 2017-10-26.
  2. "1995: Torneio da Capital – Copa Rio". mundobotafogo.blogspot.ca. Retrieved 2017-10-26.
  3. "1999 Team Roster". 1999-11-10. Archived from the original on 1999-11-10. Retrieved 2017-10-28.
  4. "The Team". 2000-08-19. Archived from the original on 2000-08-19. Retrieved 2017-10-28.
  5. Glover, Robin. "September 22, 2000 Toronto Lynx vs Rochester Raging Rhinos". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 2017-10-26.
  6. "USL Fans". www.uslfans.com. Retrieved 2017-10-26.
  7. Molinaro, John F. (July 13, 2001). "Molinaro (SLAM! Sports): Lynx snap winless streak". Rocket Robin's Home Page. SLAM! Sports.
  8. Glover, Robin (July 15, 2001). "CPSL game of Sunday July 15th, 2001 between North York Astros and Brampton Hitmen played at Esther Shiner Stadium in North York at 7:00pm. This was considered a League game". Rocket Robin's Home Page.
  9. Glover, Robin (July 25, 2001). "Result of the CPSL game of Wednesday July 25th, 2001 between Brampton Hitmen vs Glen Shields Sun Devils played at Victoria Stadium in Brampton at 8:30pm. This was considered a Cup game". Rocket Robin's Home Page.
  10. "CPSL – Canadian Professional Soccer League". 2002-12-25. Archived from the original on 2002-12-25. Retrieved 2018-04-28.
  11. Glover, Robin. "July 12, 2002 CPSL Toronto Croatia vs Toronto Supra". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 2017-10-26.
  12. "North York Astros Soccer Club Powered by Goalline Sports Administration Software". 2009-06-01. Archived from the original on 2009-06-01. Retrieved 2017-10-28.
  13. Laskaris, Sam (July 27, 2003). "South American presence aids Astros". North York Mirror.
  14. Glover, Robin. "July 21, 2003 CPSL Mississauga Olympians vs North York Astros". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 2017-10-26.
  15. LASKARIS, Sam. "August 6, 2003 CPSL North York Astros story (from Mirror-Guardian)". rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 2016-05-08.
  16. "Canadian Soccer League – Clubs". 2007-06-24. Archived from the original on 2007-06-24. Retrieved 2017-11-24.
  17. "Francisco Dossantos | SoccerStats.us". soccerstats.us. Archived from the original on 2015-06-20. Retrieved 2015-06-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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