Rodrigo Santana (footballer)

Born in Santos, São Paulo, Santana played as a midfielder and retired in 2010, aged 28, after suffering a hand injury while representing Confiança.[1] He started his career as Camboriú's assistant, being named manager shortly after.

In 2011, Santana was named manager of Pinheiros' under-20 manager, being in charge of the first team afterwards. He left the club in November,[2] being immediately appointed Nenê Belarmino's assistant at Uberaba.

On 14 February 2012, Santana left Uberaba and was named Portuguesa Santista manager.[3] Late in the year, he was also in charge of União Suzano during a trip in Bolivia.[4]

In 2013, Santana was Grêmio Barueri's assistant during the Campeonato Paulista Série A2.[5] On 5 November of that year, he was presented as manager of the under-20 squad of São Carlos for the ensuing Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior;[6] the following 8 February, he replaced fired Roberto Oliveira as manager of the main squad,[7] acting as an interim until the end of the competition and suffering relegation.

On 10 June 2014, Santana left São Carlos[8] and was appointed manager of Juventus the following day.[9] He was sacked on 11 March 2016, after achieving promotion to the second division of Paulistão the previous year.[10]

On 15 April 2016, Santana returned to Uberaba and was named manager of the main squad.[11] On 26 October, he was named at the helm of URT.[12]

On 20 July 2018, Santana signed for Atlético Mineiro as a coordinator of the youth division.[13] On 4 October 2018, he was named manager of the under-20s.[14] On 12 April 2019, he was appointed interim first team manager after the dismissal of Levir Culpi,[15] and on 24 June, he was named permanent manager.[16]

On 13 October 2019, Santana was sacked after a defeat to Grêmio.[17] On 16 February 2020, he took over Avaí in the place of sacked Augusto Inácio,[18] but was himself dismissed on 1 August.

On 29 October 2020, Santana replaced fired Jorginho at the helm of Coritiba in the top tier.[19] He was himself dismissed on 13 December, after winning only two points out of 15.[20]

On 12 May 2021, Santana was named manager of Confiança in the Série B,[21] but was sacked on 26 July after the club was in the last position.[22]

On 5 December 2022, Santana was briefly announced as one of the new assistant coaches for Corinthians 2023 season.[23] However, on the next day, the signing was cancelled due to Santana being linked to anti-democratic acts related to the 2022 Brazilian general election.[24]

On 27 July 2023, after a brief period at Indonesian side RANS Nusantara, Santana was named manager of Bolivian Primera División side Vaca Díez.[25]

As of 13 October 2019

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	Nat	From	To	Record								Ref
				G	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Atlético Mineiro (interim)		12 April 2019	24 June 2019	17	8	3	6	21	18	+3	047.06	[26]
Atlético Mineiro		24 June 2019	13 October 2019	24	10	3	11	30	35	−5	041.67	[26]
Total				41	18	6	17	51	53	−2	043.90	—

• Rodrigo Santana coach profile at Soccerway