Gentil Cardoso

Gentil Cardoso
Personal information
Full name	Gentil Alves Cardoso
Date of birth	5 July 1906
Place of birth	Recife, Brazil
Date of death	8 September 1970 (aged 64)
Place of death	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Senior career*
Years	Team
1920s	São Cristóvão
1920s	Palmeiras-RJ [pt]
1920s	Syrio e Libanez-RJ
Managerial career
1930	Syrio e Libanez-RJ
1931–1932	Bonsucesso
1933	Olaria
1934	America-RJ
1935–1936	Bonsucesso
1937	Rio-Grandense
1938–1939	Vasco da Gama
1939–1940	Cruzeiro-RS
1941	Bonsucesso
1942–1943	America-RJ
1943–1945	Rio-Grandense
1945–1947	Fluminense
1948	Corinthians
1949	Olaria
1949–1950	Flamengo
1950–1951	Cruzeiro-RS
1951–1952	Bonsucesso
1952	Vasco da Gama
1953–1954	Botafogo
1954–1955	Sport Recife
1956	Bonsucesso
1957–1958	Bangu
1959	Santa Cruz
1959	Brazil
1960–1961	Náutico
1961–1963	Paysandu
1963–1964	Sporting CP
1964	Portuguesa-RJ
1965	America-RJ
1965	Bangu
1966	Santa Cruz
1967	Campo Grande-RJ
1967	Vasco da Gama
1968	Paysandu
1968	El Nacional
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19 April 2024

Gentil Cardoso (5 July 1906 – 8 September 1970), was a Brazilian footballer and manager.

Player career

As a player, Gentil Cardoso had little renown, playing for minor football teams in Rio de Janeiro during the 1920s, most notably for São Cristóvão.^[1]^[2]

Managerial career

Gentil worked as a coach for several clubs, having started his career at Syrio and Libanez in 1930, the club with which he ended his career as a player. He won the Campeonato Carioca twice (in 1946 with Fluminense and 1952 with Vasco da Gama), in addition to being the coach of the Brazil national team in the 1959 South American Championship, held in Ecuador, and which included football representatives from Pernambuco state in the dispute. He also coached Sporting CP, winning the Taça de Honor and scoring the biggest defeat in European competitions, with a 16–0 victory over APOEL. He ended his career in 1969 at El Nacional de Quito.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Personal life

Gentil ran away from home at the age of 13 to try his luck in Rio de Janeiro, working various odd jobs before becoming a player. As a coach he was marked by folkloric phases, the most folkloric being "It's going to be a zebra" (Portuguese: "Vai dar zebra"), referring to unusual results in football.^[2]