Maurício Copertino
Brazilian footballer (born 1970)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Maurício de Almeida Copertino (born 6 April 1970), known as Maurício Copertino, is a Brazilian professional football coach and former player who played as a centre-back. He is the current head coach of Maranhão.
|
Copertino in 2023 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Maurício de Almeida Copertino | ||
| Date of birth | 6 April 1970 | ||
| Place of birth | Santos, Brazil | ||
| Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||
| Position | Centre-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Maranhão (head coach) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1984–1990 | Santos | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1990–1996 | Santos | 46 | (1) |
| 1990 | → Jabaquara (loan) | ||
| 1991 | → Tupã (loan) | 25 | (1) |
| 1992 | → Oeste (loan) | 27 | (6) |
| 1996 | → Caxias (loan) | 22 | (2) |
| 1996 | Coritiba | 2 | (0) |
| 1997 | Portuguesa Santista | 9 | (0) |
| 1997–1998 | Al-Ahli | 21 | (1) |
| 1998 | Ferroviária | 8 | (0) |
| 1999 | Inter de Limeira | 14 | (2) |
| 1999–2001 | Panachaiki | 41 | (3) |
| 2003 | Henan Construction | 25 | (9) |
| 2005 | União São João | 7 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2006 | Serrano | ||
| 2006–2007 | Sertãozinho (assistant) | ||
| 2007 | Botafogo-SP (assistant) | ||
| 2007 | Internacional (assistant) | ||
| 2007–2008 | Figueirense (assistant) | ||
| 2008 | Atlético Mineiro (assistant) | ||
| 2009 | Bahia (assistant) | ||
| 2009 | Santo André (assistant) | ||
| 2010 | Náutico (assistant) | ||
| 2011 | Al-Ain (assistant) | ||
| 2011 | Avaí (assistant) | ||
| 2012 | Náutico (assistant) | ||
| 2013–2015 | Brazil U20 (assistant) | ||
| 2015 | Portuguesa U20 | ||
| 2016 | Tianjin Quanjian (assistant) | ||
| 2017 | Zhejiang Yiteng | ||
| 2017 | Bahia (assistant) | ||
| 2018 | Zhejiang Yiteng | ||
| 2019 | Vasco da Gama (assistant) | ||
| 2020 | Palmeiras (assistant) | ||
| 2021 | Cruzeiro (assistant) | ||
| 2022 | ASA | ||
| 2022–2023 | Baniyas U23 | ||
| 2023 | Corinthians (assistant) | ||
| 2024 | Ferroviário | ||
| 2025 | Santos U20 | ||
| 2026 | Santo André | ||
| 2027– | Maranhão | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Playing career
Born in Santos, São Paulo, Copertino joined the youth categories of Santos FC in 1984.[1] He made his senior debut while on loan at Jabaquara in 1990, later serving another temporary spells at Tupã[2] and Oeste[3] before returning to his parent club for the 1993 season.[4]
In 1996, after another loan spell at Caxias,[5] Copertino joined Coritiba. In 1997, after representing Portuguesa Santista, he moved abroad and joined Saudi club Al-Ahli.
Back to his home country in 1998, Copertino played for Ferroviária and Inter de Limeira before again moving abroad in the following year, with Panachaiki in Greece.[6]
In 2003, Copertino signed for Chinese side Henan Construction. After a period at União São João, he announced his retirement on 10 December 2005, aged 35.[7]
Coaching career
After retiring, Copertino went on to take his coaching licenses and was named head coach of Serrano in 2006, but was dismissed soon after. In 2007, he worked as an assistant of Nenê Belarmino at Sertãozinho and Botafogo-SP, before joining Alexandre Gallo's staff at Internacional in April of that year, under the same role.[8]
Copertino continued to work as Gallo's assistant in the following years, at Figueirense, Atlético Mineiro, Bahia, Santo André, Náutico (two stints), Al-Ain, Avaí and the Brazil national under-20 team.[9] In 2016, after a period as head coach of the under-20 team of Portuguesa,[10] he joined Vanderlei Luxemburgo's staff at Chinese side Tianjin Quanjian, also as an assistant.
On 1 December 2016, Copertino was appointed manager of China League One side Zhejiang Yiteng for the upcoming season.[11] Sacked the following 28 May,[12] he returned to Brazil and became an assistant of Preto Casagrande at Bahia,[13] before being again named at the helm of Zhejiang on 2 January 2018.[14]
Again dismissed by the Chinese side on 24 September 2018,[15] Copertino reunited with Luxemburgo in 2019, being his assistant at Vasco da Gama.[16] Another spells in the same role at Palmeiras and Cruzeiro followed, and he was later announced as head coach of ASA on 17 April 2022.[17]
On 17 May 2022, Copertino resigned from ASA after receiving an offer from the United Arab Emirates,[18] later revealed to be the under-23 side of Baniyas.[19] In May 2023, he returned to Brazil and Corinthians, again as Luxemburgo's assistant.[20]
On 31 January 2024, Copertino was appointed head coach of Ferroviário.[21] On 7 May, however, he was sacked after a 5–0 loss to São Bernardo.[22]
On 27 April 2025, Copertino returned to his first club Santos, as head coach of the under-20 team.[23] He was dismissed on 22 August,[24] and was announced as head coach of Santo André on 6 October.[25]
Copertino was sacked by Ramalhão on 26 February 2026, after four wins in 13 matches.[26] On 11 September, he was appointed in charge of Maranhão for the upcoming season.[27]
Career statistics
| Club | Season | League | State League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Tupã (loan) | 1991 | Paulista A3 | — | 25 | 1 | — | — | — | 25 | 1 | ||||
| Oeste (loan) | 1992 | Paulista A3 | — | 27 | 6 | — | — | — | 27 | 6 | ||||
| Santos | 1993 | Série A | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 3[a] | 0 | 8 | 0 | |
| 1994 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | 7[b] | 0 | 31 | 1 | |||
| 1995 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 3[c] | 0 | 20 | 0 | |||
| Total | 8 | 0 | 38 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 59 | 1 | |||
| Caxias (loan) | 1996 | Série C | — | 22 | 2 | — | — | — | 22 | 2 | ||||
| Coritiba | 1996 | Série A | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||||
| Portuguesa Santista | 1997 | Série C | — | 9 | 0 | — | — | — | 9 | 0 | ||||
| Al-Ahli | 1997–98 | Saudi Premier League | 21 | 1 | — | — | — | — | 21 | 1 | ||||
| Ferroviária | 1998 | Paulista A3 | — | 8 | 0 | — | — | — | 8 | 0 | ||||
| Inter de Limeira | 1999[28] | Paulista | — | 14 | 2 | — | — | — | 14 | 2 | ||||
| Panachaiki | 1999–2000 | Alpha Ethniki | 24 | 2 | — | — | — | — | 24 | 2 | ||||
| 2000–01 | 17 | 1 | — | 5 | 0 | — | 1[d] | 0 | 23 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 41 | 3 | — | 5 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | 47 | 3 | ||||
| União São João | 2005[29] | Série C | — | 6 | 0 | — | — | — | 5 | 0 | ||||
| Career total | 72 | 4 | 149 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 240 | 16 | ||
- Appearance(s) in Torneio Rio–São Paulo
- Appearance(s) in Copa Bandeirantes
- Appearance(s) in Copa dos Campeões Mundiais
- Appearance(s) in Relegation play-offs
Coaching statistics
- As of 19 September 2026
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | Ref | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | |||||
| Serrano |  |
1 January 2006 | 17 April 2006 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | −8 | 0.00 | |
| Zhejiang Yiteng |  |
1 December 2016 | 28 May 2017 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 13 | +1 | 41.67 | |
| Zhejiang Yiteng | 2 January 2018 | 24 September 2018 | 26 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 40 | 42 | −2 | 38.46 | ||
| ASA | |
17 April 2022 | 17 May 2022 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 8 | −3 | 50.00 | |
| Ferroviário | 31 January 2024 | 7 May 2024 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 13 | 16 | −3 | 27.27 | ||
| Santo André | 6 October 2025 | 26 February 2026 | 13 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 11 | 19 | −8 | 30.77 | [26] | |
| Maranhão | 11 September 2026 | present | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | — | ||
| Total | 69 | 24 | 16 | 29 | 83 | 106 | −23 | 34.78 | — | |||
Honours
Player
Oeste