Born inQuaraí,Rio Grande do Sul, Cristian was afutsal player and retired at the age of 24. After beginning his career withEsportivo's youth categories, he later worked as an assistant at the club, and atVeranópolis andPelotas. In 2010, he joinedGrêmio and became their under-17 coach.
Cristian became the under-20 coach of Grêmio in 2011, but was dismissed on 4 August of that year.[1] He later returned to Pelotas as a technical coordinator, and worked at Fragata Futebol Clube under the same role.
On 17 December 2014, Cristian left the under-17 team ofFigueirense to take overBrasil de Farroupilha.[2] He was sacked from the latter on 1 April 2015,[3] he joinedCeará in September as coach of the under-20s.[4]
On 28 March 2016, Cristian became an interim head coach of Ceará.[5] He returned to his previous role after the appointment ofSérgio Soares, and left in November to take over the under-20 team ofAtibaia;[6] he left the latter shortly after, however, and worked withÁgua Santa in the 2017Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior.
On 27 January 2017, Cristian was presented atRio Branco-AC.[7] In May, he resigned from the club to take overSérie B sideParaná,[8] but was dismissed on 14 July after 14 matches.[9]
On 14 December 2017, Cristian returned to Rio Branco,[10] but was relieved from his duties the following 1 March.[11] He returned to his first club Esportivo on 2 April 2018, now as head coach,[12] but ended the season in charge of Atibaia.[13][14]
On 3 August 2018, Cristian agreed to become the head coach ofCianorte for the upcoming season.[15] He left on 1 April 2019,[16] and worked atBarra-SC before returning to Veranópolis on 14 October of that year.[17]
Cristian took overPatrocinense on 12 May 2021,[18] but returned to Veranópolis on 2 July.[19] On 4 February 2022, he agreed to become a head coach ofGuarany de Bagé, with an agreement to return to Veranópolis afterards.[20]
On 1 November 2023, after winning the 2023Copa FGF with São Luiz, Cristian was announced atBotafogo-PB.[24] On 28 February 2024, however, he left the club on a mutual agreement,[25] and took over fellowSérie C sideCSA on 15 March.[26]
Cristian was sacked from CSA on 13 May 2024, after a 5–0 loss toAthletic-MG.[27]
^"Cristian Souza é o novo técnico do Cianorte" [Cristian Souza is the new head coach of Cianorte] (in Brazilian Portuguese). Tribuna de Cianorte. 3 August 2018. Retrieved17 November 2023.
