Argel Fucks · Biography

In June 2001, Benfica signed Argélico Fucks from Palmeiras. It was his longest spell in Europe and the period in which he settled as a centre-back in Portuguese football. Born on 4 September 1974 in Santa Rosa, Rio Grande do Sul, he is better known as Argel. The press has spelled his surname two ways, Fucks and Fuchs. He was a right-footed central defender, 1.80 metres tall. After retiring he began a long coaching career in Brazil and Portugal.

Internacional and Brazil youth teams

Argel came through the youth system at Internacional in Porto Alegre and made his first-team debut in 1992. In his first spell at the club he played 41 matches and scored 3 goals. He won the Campeonato Gaúcho in 1992 and 1994 and the 1992 Copa do Brasil. He also played for Brazil's youth sides. He won the 1991 South American Under-17 Championship and the 1992 South American Under-20 Championship, and was part of the squad that won the 1993 FIFA World Youth Championship. He won a single senior cap, in a friendly against Honduras on 29 March 1995.

Japan, Santos, Porto and Palmeiras

In 1996 he moved to Japan to play for Verdy Kawasaki and made 32 appearances over two seasons. On his return he joined Santos and won the 1998 Copa Conmebol. In 1999 he went to Portugal with Porto. He played little league football there, five matches and one goal, but won the 1999-2000 Taça de Portugal and the 2000 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira. He then went back to Brazil to play for Palmeiras, winning the Torneio Rio-São Paulo and the Copa dos Campeões in 2000.

Benfica and the end of his playing career

In Lisbon he made 79 appearances and scored 7 goals. He won the 2003-04 Taça de Portugal and played ten matches, scoring once, in 2004-05, the season in which Benfica won the league and ended an eleven-year wait for the title. By then he had lost his place. In 2005 he moved to Racing Santander in the Spanish top flight but played only twice. He then had spells at Cruzeiro and Canoas, formerly Ulbra, and finished his career in China with Zhejiang Greentown, making 22 appearances in 2007.

Early coaching years

He started coaching in 2008 at Mogi Mirim and moved to Guaratinguetá the same year. In his early seasons he changed clubs often. He managed Caxias, Campinense, São José, Criciúma, Guarani, Botafogo-SP, Brasiliense, Joinville, Avaí, Red Bull Brasil, América de Natal and Portuguesa, among others. His first spell at Figueirense came in 2012, and he returned to the Florianópolis club in July 2014. He won the 2015 Campeonato Catarinense with them.

Internacional and Vitória

Internacional named him head coach on 13 August 2015. In 2016 he won the Recopa Gaúcha and the Campeonato Gaúcho. He was sacked on 11 July 2016 after six Brasileirão matches without a win. He finished with 31 wins, 15 draws and 14 defeats in 60 matches, and within hours he was back at Figueirense. In September 2016 he joined Vitória and won 27 of his 42 matches in charge. He was dismissed on 1 May 2017, after a Copa do Nordeste exit against Bahia and the brawl that followed. The club went on to win that year's Campeonato Baiano.

From Goiás to São José

In July 2017 he took over at Goiás. In September 2018 he joined Coritiba in Série B and left on 16 February 2019 after a Copa do Brasil exit. In July 2019 he took charge of CSA, and that November he left to manage Ceará, who stayed in Série A in 2019. He left Ceará in February 2020 and returned to CSA on 31 August 2020. In October 2021 he went back to Portugal to manage Alverca in the third tier. In 2023 he coached Chapecoense, who sacked him after ten matches and two wins, and then ABC. In February 2024 he began a third spell at Caxias. He later coached Paraná Clube, and in 2026 he took charge of São José of Porto Alegre.