Milton Cruz

Milton da Cruz (born 1 August 1957) is a Brazilian professional football coach and former player who played as a forward. He is the current assistant manager of São Paulo.

Milton Cruz

Milton Cruz with São Paulo in 2010
Personal information
Full name	Milton da Cruz
Date of birth	(1957-08-01) 1 August 1957 (age 68)
Place of birth	Cubatão, Brazil
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	São Paulo (assistant)
Youth career
1975–1977	São Paulo
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1977–1979	São Paulo
1980–1982	Estudiantes Tecos	31	(3)
1982–1983	Nacional
1983–1985	Internacional	6	(2)
1985–1986	Sport Recife	15	(2)
1987	Catuense
1987	Náutico
1988	Yomiuri	13	(4)
1989	Nissan Motors
1989–1990	Botafogo	12	(4)
1990–1992	Kashima Antlers	48	(35)
1993	Oklahoma City Slickers	16	(14)
International career
1984	Brazil Olympic	3	(0)
Managerial career
1996–2002	São Paulo (assistant)
1999	São Paulo (interim)
2002	Ittihad (assistant)
2003–2016	São Paulo (assistant)
2005	São Paulo (interim)
2009	São Paulo (interim)
2010	São Paulo (interim)
2011	São Paulo (interim)
2011	São Paulo (interim)
2012	São Paulo (interim)
2013	São Paulo (interim)
2015	São Paulo (interim)
2015	São Paulo (interim)
2017	Náutico
2017–2018	Figueirense
2019	Sport Recife
2021–	São Paulo (assistant)
Medal record Men's Football 1984 Los Angeles Team Competition
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

His career is widely related to São Paulo, club he represented as a player and served as an interim manager on a number of occasions before leaving in 2016.

Club career

Known as Milton in his playing days, he joined São Paulo's youth setup in 1975, being promoted to the first team in 1977.^[1] He subsequently represented Estudiantes Tecos, Nacional Montevideo, Internacional, Sport Recife, Catuense, Náutico, Yomiuri FC, Nissan Motors FC, Botafogo and Kashima Antlers.

In May 1993, Cruz joined Oklahoma City Slickers of the USISL.^[2] He was the club's topscorer, as his side finished third, and subsequently retired at the age of 36.

International career

Cruz appeared with Brazil under-23s at the 1984 Summer Olympics in United States, appearing in three matches only as a substitute.^[3]

Coaching career

In 1997 Cruz returned to his first club São Paulo, as an assistant manager. In 1999, after Paulo César Carpegiani's dismissal, he was named interim.

In 2002, Cruz left Tricolor to join Oscar's staff at Ittihad, but returned to the club in the following year. Until his dismissal from the club in March 2016, he worked as an assistant coach, being an interim on nine further occasions.^[4]

On 19 February 2017, Cruz had his first experience as a head coach, being named in charge of Náutico.^[5] He was sacked on 7 May, despite having only three defeats in 12 matches.^[6]

On 8 August 2017, Cruz was appointed head coach of Figueirense in the Série B,^[7] but left on 10 September of the following year.^[8] On 18 December 2018, he was named at the helm of Sport Recife for the upcoming season.^[9]

On 18 February 2019, after just seven matches, Cruz resigned from Sport.^[10] He returned to São Paulo on 9 March 2021, as a technical consultant,^[11] being later named Rogério Ceni's assistant on 19 October.^[12]

Club statistics

Club performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Japan			League		Emperor's Cup		J.League Cup		Total
1987/88	Yomiuri	JSL Division 1	8	4	0	0	0	0	8	4
1988/89			5	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
1990/91	Sumitomo Metal	JSL Division 2	24	22	-		2	1	26	23
1991/92			24	13	-		1	0	25	13
1992	Kashima Antlers	J1 League	-		0	0	9	2	9	2
Country	Japan		61	39	0	0	12	3	73	42
Total			61	39	0	0	12	3	73	42

Honours

Figueirense

• Campeonato Catarinense: 2018