Zizinho (footballer, born 1962)

Geraldo Francisco dos Santos (11 June 1962 – 29 July 2021), nicknamed Zizinho, was a Brazilian professional footballer who played as a midfielder.^[1]

Zizinho

Personal information
Full name	Geraldo Francisco dos Santos
Date of birth	(1962-06-11)11 June 1962
Place of birth	São Paulo, Brazil
Date of death	29 July 2021(2021-07-29) (aged 59)
Place of death	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Position(s)	Midfielder[1]
Youth career
–1977	São Paulo
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1978–1980	São Paulo
1980–1982	América
1982–1983	León
1983–1984	América
1984–1985	Necaxa
1986–1987	FAS
1987–1989	Monterrey
1990–1991	León
1993–1997	Monterrey La Raza (indoor)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

Born in São Paulo,^[2] started his career with São Paulo FC, being the youngest player and goal scorer of the club in 1978, aged only 15 years and 311 days.^[3][4]

Began his professional career in Mexico in 1980 with América. He also played for León and Necaxa, making a total of 135 appearances, scoring 27 goals, in the Primera División de México.^[5]

Dos Santos played in MISL for Los Angeles Lazers for the 1986 and 1987 seasons.^[6][7]

He later played for Monterrey La Raza, an indoor team that played in the Continental Indoor Soccer League, between 1993 and 1997.

Personal life

Dos Santos had three sons, who were also all footballers - Éder (born 1984), Giovani (born 1989) and Jonathan (born 1990).^[1][8]

He died from COVID-19 on 29 July 2021, at the age of 59.^[9]