The Brazilian Who'll Cheer Against Brazil

At 48, the Maringá-born player who wore Japan's shirt in two World Cups has a warning for Brazilian fans: "Collectively, they're better than us."

Alex Santos by the numbers

• World Cups for Japan2
• Years in Japanese football15+
• Best Player awardsJapan '99, Asia 2000
• His assist in 2006Japan 1-4 Brazil
• Recent Japan win3-2 vs Brazil

"I'll definitely be cheering for Japan," Alex Santos says without hesitation. "There are already millions rooting for Brazil. Let me root for little Japan." It's a striking declaration from a man born in Maringá, Paraná — but entirely consistent with the path he chose at 15, when he left Brazil for Japan to study before turning professional.

Now 48 and back in his hometown running a youth football institute, Santos knows both sides of Monday's clash intimately. He faced Brazil at the 2006 World Cup wearing Japan's number 3 shirt, providing the assist for Keiji Tamada's opening goal before watching Ronaldo, Juninho, and Gilberto complete a 4-1 turnaround. That moment — beating Cicinho on the wing, cutting inside, threading a pass behind Lúcio for Tamada to finish past Dida — remains one of his career's most charged memories.

"I'd never gotten goosebumps from an assist before," he recalls. "There was something behind it, because we needed to beat Brazil. Going ahead gave us that feeling... Then we took a hell of a comeback." The laugh that follows is wry but fond. He wasn't supposed to win that day, and he didn't — but for a brief moment, the kid from Paraná made Brazil sweat.

Why Japan can surprise Brazil again

Santos sees a Japanese team far more dangerous than the one he played for. "All 23 called up play abroad now," he notes. "There are players at Liverpool, Bayern... If Brazil slips up, they can lose. Like they did in the friendly." That 3-2 defeat last October wasn't a fluke in his analysis — it was evidence of Japan's evolution from the naive, high-pressing side of his era to something more controlled and systematic.

"The Japanese team is very organized, works as a collective. They control the game, it's not that somewhat naive rushing around anymore. Collectively, they're better than Brazil." It's a bold claim, and he immediately hedges: "Brazil is the favorite, but Japan can surprise." Still, the underlying argument is clear. Japan no longer relies on individual brilliance because they don't have it in Brazilian quantities. What they've built instead is a system where 23 solid professionals execute a plan better than eleven gifted individuals who don't.

The tactical discipline he describes wasn't there in his playing days. "We had nothing to lose," he remembers of the 2006 match. "The pressure was all on the other side: 'If they lose, they're screwed. But we can make history.'" That underdog mentality remains, but it's now backed by players who've proven themselves in Europe's top leagues rather than relying on domestic-based squads.

From Flamengo fan to Zico's tactical experiment

Santos arrived in Japan at 15 for academic study, spent three years adapting to the culture, then signed professionally with Shimizu S-Pulse in 1997 — the league's fifth year of existence. By his third season he was Japan's Player of the Year, beating out Brazilian imports like Dunga, Leonardo, Jorginho, and Mazinho. In 2000 he won Asian Player of the Year. Naturalization followed in December 2001, his debut in February 2002, and that June he played in a home World Cup.

It was Zico who transformed his career. "I was a winger. That annoying winger who'd go at you all the time," Santos explains. "Zico made me a left-back." In 2002 he'd played the World Cup as a forward; when Zico became national team coach, he called Santos in with a proposal. "He said, 'Alex, I'm thinking about a team formation and I see you as a full-back with freedom to go forward.' I said I didn't think anything of it. Whatever he said, let's go... Come on, who am I? If Zico calls me and tells me to play, let's go!"

For a Flamengo supporter, taking orders from the Galinho de Quintino was surreal. "It was a hell of a pleasure having Zico as a coach. Especially since I was a Flamengo fan, imagine... At first it didn't sink in. Living that with an idol was really cool." The tactical shift worked. By 2006 Santos was an established international left-back, earning the assignment to mark Kaká, Robinho, and Ronaldinho.

Alex Santos: Brazil to Japan

• 1991 Left Maringá for Japan at age 15 — Spent three years studying and adapting to Japanese culture
• 1997 Signed with Shimizu S-Pulse — Turned professional in Japan's fifth season of pro football
• 1999 Named Japan's best player — Became a starter, displacing national team regulars
• 2000 Asian Player of the Year
• Dec 2001 Naturalized as Japanese citizen
• 2002 First World Cup for Japan — Played as a winger, eliminated in round of 16 by Turkey
• 2002-06 Worked under Zico — Converted from winger to attacking left-back
• 2006 Faced Brazil at World Cup — Assisted Japan's goal in 1-4 defeat
• 2020 Became CEO of Galo Maringá — Now runs Instituto Alex Santos youth project in his hometown

The assist he'll never forget

Monday's match will be only the second World Cup meeting between Brazil and Japan. The first, in 2006, came a year after the teams drew 2-2 in a friendly. "When you see Brazil in a World Cup you say, 'Damn, we're going to play against the best in the world,'" Santos remembers. "It was a very difficult task, but for us it was really cool. Facing Kaká, Robinho, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Cafu..."

Then came the moment that still gives him chills. "The first goal comes from a play where I go at Cicinho, pull inside, and give the pass behind Lúcio's back. The striker arrives shooting and scores on Dida." The emotion in his telling is immediate. "Damn... Man, it was that euphoria. I had never gotten goosebumps from an assist before."

The feeling was short-lived. Ronaldo scored twice, Juninho and Gilberto added one each, and Brazil's class showed. But for Santos, the memory of making Brazil's defense scramble — even briefly — remains vivid nearly two decades later.

The World Cup experience he couldn't enjoy

Despite playing in two World Cups, Santos admits the 2002 tournament — hosted in Japan and South Korea — felt hollow. "I didn't get to enjoy the 2002 World Cup. Because the World Cup that we watch and cheer for is much bigger than for those who are playing. Because whoever plays is so focused on the match, on what they have to do, that they forget the fans, how cool that motivation is..."

The team was sequestered far from everything. "We had no contact with fans, we couldn't watch newspapers, we couldn't watch TV... It was very focused on the day-to-day." Japan reached the round of 16 before losing to Turkey, and Santos confesses he "expected more" from the experience. The tournament was happening in his adopted country, but he experienced it in isolation, not celebration.

Now, watching from Maringá where he founded Instituto Alex Santos — a social project for kids dreaming of football careers — and serves as CEO of Galo Maringá, he'll experience Monday's match the way he never could in 2002 or 2006: as a fan. Just not the one most Brazilians might expect.

FAQ

Alex Santos moved to Japan at 15 to study, signed professionally with Shimizu S-Pulse in 1997, and naturalized in December 2001 after building his career there. He won Japan's Player of the Year in 1999 and Asia's in 2000, making him eligible and attractive for national team selection.

Yes. In the 2006 World Cup group stage, Santos beat Cicinho on the wing, cut inside, and passed behind Lúcio for Keiji Tamada to score past Dida, giving Japan a 1-0 lead. Brazil came back to win 4-1, but Santos calls that assist the most emotional moment of his career.

Santos points to Japan's evolution into a more organized, collective side with all 23 players competing abroad at clubs like Liverpool and Bayern Munich. He cites their 3-2 friendly win over Brazil in October as proof they can control games systematically, even without Brazil's individual talent.

At 48, he lives in Maringá where he founded Instituto Alex Santos, a youth football project. Since 2020 he's also been CEO of Galo Maringá, a club that competed in the top division of the Paraná state championship in 2026.