Francileudo Silva dos Santos
Francileudo Silva dos Santos
Francileudo Silva dos Santos was born on 20th March 1979, in Vedaca, Brazil. He has been the spearhead of Tunisia’s attack since naturalisation in December 2003. He was discovered by Belgian club Standard Li?ge while playing in Brazil for minor club Sampaio Correa. Opportunities dried up in Belgium and the young Santos packed his bags again, this time for the warmer climes of Tunisia, where he joined Sousse club Etoile du Sahel, to team up with coach Jean Fernandez, the man who discovered Zinédine Zidane.
He netted 32 goals in 50 matches in the next two seasons before following Fernandez to French second division side FC Sochaux. One year and 21 strikes later, Santos had fired Sochaux back into the top flight, and he went on to score 14 top flight goals in the 2003/04 season, winning the League Cup.
The Tunisian Federation had proposed naturalisation to him as early as 2000, but he harboured hopes of playing for Brazil. When that hope faded with the simultaneous emergence of media darlings Julio Baptista, Robinho and Frederico Chaves Guedes, Santos finally opted to take up Tunisian citizenship, scoring on his debut against Benin in 2004. A few weeks later, he wrote a page for himself in the history of Tunisian sport by scoring four goals during Tunisia’s victorious 2004 African Cup of Nations campaign.
Nicknamed Roadrunner by club team-mates for his sheer pace with the ball at his feet, the diminutive striker has the ability to cause mayhem against the strongest of defences.
He was transferred from Sochaux to Toulouse FC in July 2005, for ?3.25 M. He is expected to play a big part in Tunisia’s quest to progress in the 2006 World Cup.
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Merits
* Tunisian top scorer: 1999
* French Ligue 2 Top Scorer: 2001
* African Nations Cup top scorer: 2004
* French Ligue 2 champion: 2001
* African Nations Cup champion: 2004
* French Coupe de la Ligue champion: 2004
