Dino Sani

Dino Sani (Brazilian Portuguese: [ˈdʒinu ˈsɐni], Italian: [ˈdiːno ˈsaːni]; born 23 May 1932) is a Brazilian former footballer and coach. Sani was an experienced playmaking central midfielder with goalscoring prowess, and a "team player", who was well known for his ball skills, technique, accurate passing, creativity, and close control. Although he was not gifted with notable pace or athleticism, his positioning, keen tactical intelligence, outstanding vision, and his adeptness at long balls, in particular, made him a capable assist provider throughout his career.^[1][2]

Dino Sani

Dino Sani in 2008
Personal information
Date of birth	(1932-05-23) 23 May 1932 (age 93)
Place of birth	São Paulo, Brazil
Position(s)	Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1950–1951	Palmeiras
1951	XV de Jaú
1952–1953	Comercial-SP
1954–1960	São Paulo
1961	Boca Juniors	14	(4)
1961–1964	Milan	63	(14)
1965–1968	Corinthians
International career
1957–1966	Brazil	15	(1)
Managerial career
1969–1970	Corinthians
1971–1974	Internacional
1974	Goiás
1975	Corinthians
1975	Palmeiras
1976	Coritiba
1977–1980	Peñarol
1981	Flamengo
1982	Fluminense
1982	Ponte Preta
1983–1984	Internacional
1984	Boca Juniors
1985	Coritiba
1989–1990	Qatar
1991–1992	Grêmio
Medal record Men's Football Representing  Brazil FIFA World Cup Winner 1958 Sweden
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

The son of Italian immigrants, Gaetano Sani and Maria Gabrielli, Sani started his career at local club Palmeiras, XV de Jaú, Comercial-SP and São Paulo FC,^[3] and played in the Argentine First Division for Boca Juniors^[4] in 1961, where he played 13 games, scoring 4 goals. He then played in Italy for Serie A club A.C. Milan,^[5] with whom he won one scudetto in the 1961–62 season, followed by the 1962–63 European Cup.^[2][6]

As a member of the Brazil national team, Dino Sani participated at the South American Championship tournaments of 1957 in Peru and 1959 in Argentina, reaching the final on both occasions; he was also part of the squad that won the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. He made 15 appearances in total for Brazil between 1957 and 1966, scoring 1 goal.^[7]

After he left Milan in 1964, he returned to South America, and played for Corinthians before becoming a coach. He managed Internacional,^[8] Goiás, Palmeiras, Coritiba, Peñarol,^[9] Flamengo, Fluminense, Boca Juniors, Qatar and Grêmio.

Managerial statistics

As of match played 20 January 2025

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				G	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Corinthians		1 January 1969	4 January 1971	89	39	27	23	131	83	+48	043.82
Internacional		10 January 1971	2 January 1974	175	99	54	22	264	108	+156	056.57
Goiás		4 January 1974	23 September 1974	41	12	16	13	46	40	+6	029.27
Corinthians		12 June 1975	13 August 1975	10	4	3	3	10	11	−1	040.00
Palmeiras		14 August 1975	7 May 1976	44	15	21	8	57	42	+15	034.09
Coritiba		21 July 1976	9 December 1976	29	13	9	7	27	20	+7	044.83
Peñarol		2 January 1977	30 June 1980	103	63	24	16	203	86	+117	061.17
Puebla		1 July 1980	29 March 1981	23	7	10	6	27	31	−4	030.43
Flamengo		8 April 1981	19 July 1981	18	10	6	2	42	18	+24	055.56
Fluminense		5 October 1981	11 May 1982	32	16	7	9	62	34	+28	050.00
Ponte Preta		25 May 1982	21 September 1982	18	5	9	4	20	14	+6	027.78
Internacional		22 March 1983	27 March 1984	52	20	27	5	61	28	+33	038.46
Boca Juniors		12 May 1984	25 October 1984	21	7	6	8	18	22	−4	033.33
Coritiba		5 January 1985	8 February 1985	4	2	0	2	6	7	−1	050.00
Qatar		1 July 1985	2 April 1986	8	1	4	3	6	9	−3	012.50
Tokyo Verdy		1 July 1986	30 June 1989	92	45	27	20	137	74	+63	048.91
Qatar		1 October 1989	4 January 1990	5	1	3	1	4	5	−1	020.00
Grêmio		20 March 1991	3 June 1991	20	6	7	7	18	19	−1	030.00
Ponte Preta		8 March 1995	31 March 1995	7	1	1	5	6	16	−10	014.29
Career total				793	366	261	166	1,145	667	+478	046.15

Honours

Player

Club

Palmeiras

• Campeonato Paulista: 1950

São paulo

• Campeonato Paulista: 1957

Milan^[2]

• Serie A (1): 1961–62
• European Cup (1): 1962–63

Corinthans

• Torneio Rio–São Paulo: 1966

International

Brazil

• FIFA World Cup (1): 1958
• Copa América Runner-up (2): 1957, 1959

Individual

• A.C. Milan Hall of Fame^[2]
• São Paulo FC Hall of Fame

Manager

Internacional

• Campeonato Gaúcho: 1971, 1972, 1973

Peñarol

• Uruguayan Primera División: 1978, 1979