Portuguese football manager (born 1976)
Alexandre Crispim dos Santos (born 18 November 1976) is a Portuguesefootball manager. He is the current manager of MoroccanBotola Pro clubAS FAR .
He spent several years as assistant toJosé Peseiro at clubs such asBraga ,Porto and various teams in the Arab world. In 2021, he was appointed atPetro de Luanda , where he won theGirabola andTaça de Angola double in each of his three seasons.
Early career and assistant to José Peseiro[ edit ] Santos was born inLisbon as the son of two workers of a foundry inVila Franca de Xira , and grew up inAlhandra , a parish of the latter city. His father later got a job in sports with the city council, inspiring Santos to become a physical education teacher.[ 1]
Santos managedF.C. Alverca 's under-19 team from 2002 to 2005.[ 2] He then worked as a fitness coach atG.D. Estoril Praia in the following season,[ 3] and became an assistant toDaúto Faquirá atC.F. Estrela da Amadora andVitória de Setúbal .[ 4] [ 5]
In August 2010, compatriot managerJosé Peseiro named Santos as assistant on theSaudi Arabia national team .[ 6] He spent most of the 2010s as Peseiro's assistant at home and in the Middle East, with roles atS.C. Braga ,Al Wahda FC ,Al Ahly SC ,FC Porto , Braga again, andSharjah FC .[ 7]
On 22 January 2018, 41-year-old Santos was given his first job as a senior head coach, atReal S.C. who were in last place inPortugal's second tier .[ 8] For the following season, he returned to Estoril as under-23 manager;[ 3] with the team in 4th place, he moved to the same role at 6th-placedSporting CP on 13 December 2018, succeedingTiago Fernandes .[ 9]
In June 2019, Santos went back to assistant roles abroad, signing for FrenchLigue 2 clubSM Caen under Portuguese managerRui Almeida .[ 10] The staff were sacked nine games into the season.[ 11] On 29 December, he went back to head coach roles in his country, returning to Alverca.[ 2] He resigned on 1 February 2021, with the team second-placed in their group in theCampeonato de Portugal .[ 12]
On 23 August 2021, Santos was appointed atAtlético Petróleos de Luanda in the AngolanGirabola .[ 13] His team won adouble of league andTaça de Angola in each of his three seasons.[ 14] [ 15] [ 16]
At the end of June 2024, Santos agreed to become the new manager ofCS Sfaxien in theTunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 .[ 17] He left the following 6 January, having lost his last six games, with the team 9th in the domestic league and without a point in theCAF Confederation Cup .[ 18]
Remaining in North Africa, Santos signed for Morocco'sAS FAR on 9 February 2025, succeedingHubert Velud at a club ranked second in theBotola Pro and awaiting the quarter-finals of theCAF Champions League .[ 19]
Petro Luanda
AS FAR
^ Simões de Abreu, Alexandra (23 November 2024)." "Quando entrei no FC Porto com o Peseiro havia um ambiente destrutivo, jogadores que não queriam estar ali, era uma equipa sem ADN Porto" " ["When I entered FC Porto with Peseiro there was a destructive atmosphere, players who didn't want to be there, it was a team without Porto DNA"].Expresso (in Portuguese). Retrieved18 October 2025 . ^a b "Alexandre Santos é o novo treinador do Alverca" .Record (in Portuguese). 29 December 2019. Retrieved18 October 2025 .^a b "Alexandre Santos lidera Sub-23 dos canarinhos" [Alexandre Santos leads Canaries' Under-23 team].Record (in Portuguese). 1 September 2018. Retrieved18 October 2025 .^ "Dauto Faquirá é o novo treinador do E. Amadora" [Dauto Faquirá is the new manager of E. Amadora].Jornal de Notícias (in Portuguese). 31 May 2016. Retrieved18 October 2025 .^ " "Darei tudo para vencer e convencer" " ["I will give everything to win and convince"] (in Portuguese).Rádio e Televisão de Portugal . 18 May 2008. Retrieved18 October 2025 .^ "Arábia Saudita: José Peseiro reforça equipa com três portugueses" [Saudi Arabia: José Peseiro bolsters team with three Portuguese coaches] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 9 August 2010. Retrieved18 October 2025 .^ Luz, Nuno; Pato, Gabriel (12 March 2025)."Alexandre Santos e a vida na Arábia Saudita: "Nunca tinha visto uma metralhadora tão perto de mim" " [Alexandre Santos and life in Saudi Arabia: "I'd never seen a machine gun so close to me"] (in Portuguese).SIC Notícias . Retrieved18 October 2025 . ^ "Antigo adjunto de Peseiro é o novo treinador do Real de Massamá" [Former Peseiro assistant is new manager of Real Massamá] (in Portuguese).CNN Portugal . 22 January 2018. Retrieved18 October 2025 .^ "Sporting apresenta Alexandre Santos como treinador da equipa sub-23" [Sporting present Alexandre Santos as manager of under-23 team] (in Portuguese).Rádio e Televisão de Portugal . 13 December 2018. Retrieved18 October 2025 .^ "Le SM Caen officialise son staff pour la saison 2019-2020" [SM Caen confirm their staff for the 2019-2020 season] (in French).France 3 . 15 June 2019. Retrieved18 October 2025 .^ Lainé, Guillaume (28 September 2019)."SM Caen. Pour Rui Almeida, l'issue était devenue inéluctable" [SM Caen. For Rui Almeida, the issue had become inevitable].Ouest-France (in French). Retrieved18 October 2025 . ^ "Técnico Alexandre Santos deixa Alverca" [Manager Alexandre Santos leaves Alverca].Record (in Portuguese). 1 February 2021. Retrieved18 October 2025 .^ "Angola: Alexandre Santos é o novo treinador do Petro Luanda" [Angola: Alexandre Santos is the new manager of Petro Luanda] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 23 August 2021. Retrieved18 October 2025 .^ "Petro de Luanda de Alexandre Santos conquista Taça de Angola e faz a dobradinha" [Alexandre Santos's Petro de Luanda win Taça de Angola and do the double].Record (in Portuguese). 12 June 2022. Retrieved18 October 2025 .^ "Alexandre Santos reedita 'dobradinha' no Petro" [Alexandre Santos repeats 'double' for Petro].A Bola (in Portuguese). 3 June 2023. Retrieved18 October 2025 .^ Pombo, Nuno (23 June 2024)."Alexandre Santos conquista a Taça de Angola: «Fizemos algo nunca visto na história do futebol angolano»" [Alexandre Santos wins Taça de Angola: "We did something never seen before in the history of Angolan football"].Record (in Portuguese). Retrieved18 October 2025 . ^ "CSS : Alexandre Santos nouvel entraîneur" [CSS: Alexandre Santos new manager].Le Temps (in French). 25 June 2024. Retrieved18 October 2025 .^ "OFICIAL: Alexandre Santos confirma saída do Sfaxien" [OFFICIAL: Alexandre Santos confirms exit from Sfaxien] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 6 January 2025. Retrieved18 October 2025 .^ "Officiel: Alexandre Santos nouvel entraîneur de l'AS FAR" [Official: Alexandre Santos new manager of AS FAR] (in French). Le 360 Sport. 8 February 2025. Retrieved18 October 2025 .