Argel Fuchs

Brazilian footballer (born 1974) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Argel Fuchs

Argélico Fuchs (born Argélico Fucks;[3] 4 September 1974) is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a central defender, currently a head coach.

Quick facts Personal information, Full name ...
Argel Fuchs
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Argel as head coach of Botafogo-SP in 2021
Personal information
Full name Argélico Fuchs[1]
Birth name Argélico Fucks
Date of birth (1974-09-04) 4 September 1974 (age 51)[1]
Place of birth Santa Rosa, Brazil[1]
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[2]
Position Centre-back
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1992–1995 Internacional 41 (3)
1996–1997 Verdy Kawasaki 32 (0)
1997–1998 Santos 21 (2)
1999 Porto 5 (1)
2000–2001 Palmeiras 40 (4)
2001–2004 Benfica 79 (7)
2005 Racing Santander 2 (0)
2005 Cruzeiro 9 (0)
2006 Canoas 10 (0)
2007 Zhejiang Greentown 22 (1)
Total 261 (18)
International career
1993 Brazil U20 2 (0)
1995 Brazil 1 (0)
Managerial career
2008 Mogi Mirim
2008–2009 Guaratinguetá
2009 Caxias
2009 Campinense
2010 São José-RS
2010 Criciúma
2011 Guarani
2011 Botafogo-SP
2011 Caxias
2011 Brasiliense
2011 Oeste
2012 Joinville
2012 Figueirense
2012 Avaí
2013 Red Bull Brasil
2013 América de Natal
2013 Criciúma
2014 Portuguesa
2014–2015 Figueirense
2015–2016 Internacional
2016 Figueirense
2016–2017 Vitória
2017 Goiás
2018 Criciúma
2018–2019 Coritiba
2019 CSA
2019–2020 Ceará
2020 CSA
2021 Botafogo-SP
2021–2022 Alverca
2023 Chapecoense
2023 ABC
2024 Caxias
2025 Paraná
* Club domestic league appearances and goals
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His professional career spanned 15 years, during which he was mainly associated with Benfica and Internacional. He also played in Japan, Spain and China, and appeared in one international match for Brazil.

Fuchs started working as a coach in 2008, going on to be in charge of more than 25 clubs.

Club career

Known simply as Argel as a player, he was born in Santa Rosa, Rio Grande do Sul. He began his career with Internacional, Santos and Palmeiras, with a brief stint in Japan in between and an unsuccessful spell at Portugal's Porto, which finished after a serious run-in with the board of directors and prompted his Brazil return.[4]

In early June 2001, Argel returned to Portugal with Benfica,[5][6] which he helped win the Primeira Liga in his fourth season and the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, the former after an 11-year drought.[7] The player contributed to this feat with ten matches and one goal.[8]

After falling down the pecking order at Benfica, Argel had a six-month stay at Racing de Santander,[9] going on to retire in 2007 after representing Cruzeiro, Canoas and Chinese club Zhejiang Lucheng.[10]

International career

Argel represented Brazil at under-20 level, winning both the South American Youth Football Championship[11][12] and the FIFA U-20 World Cup.[13] On 29 March 1995 he earned his only cap for the full side, appearing in a friendly against Honduras.[14]

Coaching career

Summarize
Perspective
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Argel as head coach of Internacional in 2016

Argel's coaching career began when he was hired as Guaratinguetá's head coach on 8 February 2008,[15] being sacked exactly one year later.[16] Three days later, he was hired by Caxias.[17]

On 2 June 2009, Argel was hired by Campinense in the same capacity, replacing Fernando Teixeira.[18] On 9 April of the following year, he signed for Criciúma.[19]

Argel was announced as coach of former club Internacional on 13 August 2015, after leaving Figueirense which he had already managed in two separate spells.[20] He was fired on 11 July after six games without a win,[21] but hours later he returned to Figueirense.[22]

On 13 September 2016, Argel was named head coach of Vitória.[23][24] The following 1 May, after elimination from the Copa do Nordeste against Bahia and the massive brawl that ensued, he was sacked.[25] This was his tenth dismissal in the decade – three alone in 2011 – while he had also resigned from seven jobs; only at Figueirense did he complete a full year in charge of a team.[26]

After rejoining Criciúma, Argel was dismissed in May 2018.[27] In September, he was announced as the new head coach of fellow Série B team Coritiba,[28] being relieved of his duties on 16 February 2019 after being knocked out of the Copa do Brasil.[29]

On 2 July 2019, Argel replaced Marcelo Cabo at the helm of first division newcomers CSA.[30] On 28 November, he took over fellow top-tier side Ceará in the place of fired Adílson Batista,[31] but was dismissed the following 9 February.[32]

Argel returned to CSA on 31 August 2020, but was fired after only 18 days in charge.[33] In October 2021, following a second spell at Botafogo de Ribeirão Preto, he returned to Portugal 17 years after leaving to take charge of third-division club Alverca.[34]

On 19 March 2023, Argel went back to Brazil after being named at Chapecoense in the second tier.[35] He was dismissed on 29 May,[36] and took over ABC in the same league on 3 September;[37] he left the latter on 22 November before the last match of the season, with his team already relegated.[38]

On 16 February 2024, Argel returned to Caxias for a third stint.[39] On 27 June, he was fired.[40]

Surname

Some of Argel's fame stemmed from his prior surname, which coincided with a form of the English word "fuck". This led to some double entendre headlines, including one from Eurosport.com titled "Fucks off to Benfica";[41] this headline received press coverage itself with The Register calling it "snappy and eye-catching", and football humour site Laugh FC deeming it "one of the all time greats".[42]

Argel corrected his surname to "Fuchs" in 2020, explaining that the previous one resulted from a registry error and it was always supposed to have been Fuchs.[3]

Career statistics

Club

More information Club, Season ...
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[43][2]
Club Season League
DivisionAppsGoals
Internacional 1993 Série A 40
1994 222
1995 161
Total 423
Verdy Kawasaki 1996 J1 League 140
1997 180
Total 320
Santos 1998 Série A 212
1999 00
Total 212
Porto 1999–2000 Primeira Liga 51
Palmeiras 2000 Série A 00
2001 00
Total 00
Benfica 2001–02 Primeira Liga222
2002–03 282
2003–04 191
2004–05 101
Total 574
Racing Santander 2004–05 La Liga 20
Cruzeiro 2005 Série A 100
Canoas 2006 Série C 00
Hangzhou Greentown 2007 Super League 221
Career total 21313
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International

More information National team, Year ...
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Brazil[14] 199510
Total10
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Managerial statistics

As of match played 12 July 2025[44][2]
More information Team, Nat ...
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team Nat From To Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Figueirense Brazil 24 July 2014 13 August 2015 683019198272+10044.12
Internacional Brazil 14 August 2015 10 July 2016 603115148446+38051.67
Figueirense Brazil 11 July 2016 21 August 2016 8143512−7012.50
Vitória Brazil 12 September 2016 1 May 2017 42275107638+38064.29
Goiás Brazil 19 July 2017 25 August 2017 8224710−3025.00
Criciúma Brazil 22 February 2018 9 May 2018 145271718−1035.71
Coritiba Brazil 17 September 2018 15 February 2019 186842322+1033.33
CSA Brazil 2 July 2019 29 November 2019 2675141936−17026.92
Ceará Brazil 29 November 2019 9 February 2020 816177+0012.50
CSA Brazil 31 August 2020 16 September 2020 401347−3000.00
Botafogo-SP Brazil 9 April 2021 19 September 2021 268992729−2030.77
Alverca Portugal 4 October 2021 3 October 2022 35196105036+14054.29
Chapecoense Brazil 21 March 2023 29 May 2023 92341413+1022.22
ABC Brazil 4 September 2023 22 November 2023 123361217−5025.00
Caxias-RS Brazil 19 February 2024 27 June 2024 206592429−5030.00
Paraná Brazil 11 November 2024 27 January 2025 502327−5000.00
Total 36314895120453399+54040.77
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Honours

Internacional

Santos

Porto

Palmeiras

Benfica

Brazil U17

Brazil U20

References

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