Julio dos Santos

Julio Daniel dos Santos Rodríguez (born 7 May 1983) is a Paraguayan footballer who plays for Cerro Porteño.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Dos Santos and the second or maternal family name is Rodríguez.

Julio dos Santos
Julio dos Santos in 2012
Personal information
Full name Julio Daniel dos Santos Rodríguez
Date of birth (1983-05-07) 7 May 1983
Place of birth Asunción, Paraguay
Height 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Attacking Midfielder, Central Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Cerro Porteño
Number 10
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2005 Cerro Porteño 91 (28)
2006–2008 Bayern Munich II 3 (2)
2006–2008 Bayern Munich 5 (0)
2007 → VfL Wolfsburg (loan) 0 (0)
2007 → Almería (loan) 0 (0)
2008 → Grêmio (loan) 5 (0)
2008–2009 Atlético Paranaense 21 (2)
2009–2014 Cerro Porteño 171 (41)
2015–2017 Vasco da Gama 41 (0)
2017–2018 Sportivo Luqueño 31 (8)
2019– Cerro Porteño 6 (0)
National team‡
2004– Paraguay 34 (3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 2 October 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 8 December 2009

He plays usually in the hole-position, and sometimes as a second striker.

Club career

Born in Asunción, Dos Santos started his professional career with Cerro Porteño, before eventually moving to FC Bayern Munich of Germany, in January 2006. He was elected Paraguayan Footballer of the Year in 2005 by national newspaper Diario ABC Color. Upon his arrival in Munich, he was touted as a long-term successor to Michael Ballack, but faced stiff competition from Iran's Ali Karimi. Eventually, both players struggled to break into the starting lineup.

In the first half of 2006–07 Bundesliga season, Bayern's leadership publicly stated its impatience with Dos Santos' progress. Club coach Felix Magath said: "It is clear that Julio's development does not please us, It does not make sense to keep a player at the club who does not create". This led to widespread rumours of his departure from the club; the speculation ended in December 2006, when Bayern announced they had reached a deal to send the player on loan to fellow Bundesliga side VfL Wolfsburg for the remainder of the season.[1] Having failed to break into Wolfsburg's first team (mainly due to a major injury), he returned to Bayern in June.

At the conclusion of the 2006–07 season, Dos Santos had made four league appearances, as well as one appearance in the 2006–07 DFB-Pokal and two appearances in the 2006–07 UEFA Champions League.

However, after the arrivals of Franck Ribéry, Hamit Altıntop, José Sosa and Zé Roberto, it soon became clear that he would again struggle to find a place in the first team. Ottmar Hitzfeld, who had replaced Magath as Bayern manager by that time, stated that the club sought to sell dos Santos.[2] Therefore, he would split 2007–08 between UD Almería (with no first-team appearances) and Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense.

In June 2008, dos Santos signed with Clube Atlético Paranaense, also from Brazil.

In June 2009, Julio went back to his original club Cerro Porteño to play the 2009 Clausura and Copa Sudamericana.

On 29 December 2014, Julio dos Santos joined Brazilian club Vasco da Gama.[3]

Before signing with Sportivo Luqueño, dos Santos rejected the opportunity to sign with Olimpia Asunción – being Cerro Porteño's rival – thanking however the club's president for interest in him but stating that his Cerro-ism would not permit him to join Olimpia.[4]

International career

A Paraguayan international since 2004, dos Santos appeared for the nation at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in two matches, assisting for the first goal against Trinidad and Tobago (2–0). He played the 2007 Copa America but has not been called up for the World Cup Qualifiers.

References
  1. "Dos Santos poised for Wolfsburg switch". fcbayern.de. 11 December 2006. Retrieved 3 February 2008.
  2. "Lukas Podolski läuft wieder (Lukas Podolski runs again)" (in German). kicker.de. 1 August 2007. Retrieved 3 February 2008.
  3. Zarko, Raphael (29 December 2014). "Eurico vê Marcinho como "referência", anuncia paraguaio e confirma pacotão". Globo Esporte (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  4. "Dos Santos rechaza la franja por su cerrismo". RDN (in Spanish). 22 June 2017. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
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