Fernando Diniz


Fernando Diniz Silva, known as Fernando Diniz, is a Brazilian football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is the current manager of São Paulo FC.

Playing career

Born in Patos de Minas, Minas Gerais, Diniz started his career with Juventus-SP in 1993. In 1996 he moved to Guarani, but agreed to a contract with Palmeiras shortly after.
In 1997, Diniz moved to Palmeiras' fierce rivals Corinthians, featuring regularly during his two-year spell at the club. He subsequently represented Paraná, Fluminense, Flamengo, Juventude, Cruzeiro and Santos, all in the top tier.
In 2006 Diniz signed for Paulista, and later played for Santo André and Gama. He retired with the latter in 2008, aged 34.

Managerial career

One year after retiring, Diniz was appointed manager of lowly Votoraty, being crowned champions of both Copa Paulista and Campeonato Paulista Série A3. In 2010 he moved to Paulista, club he already represented as a player, and won another Copa Paulista for the side.
On 5 February 2011, Diniz was named Botafogo-SP manager, but was fired after only four matches in charge. He was appointed at the helm of Atlético Sorocaba in 2012. Despite achieving promotion from the Campeonato Paulista Série A2, he was relieved from his duties in October of that year.
In 2013 Diniz joined Audax, and introduced the tiki-taka, style of FC Barcelona, in the club. On 8 July 2015 he moved to another club he represented as a player, Paraná.
Diniz returned to Audax for the 2016 Campeonato Paulista, which he managed to lead the side to the finals, but lost to Santos. Subsequently, he was appointed manager of Oeste after a partnership between Oeste and Audax was established.
Diniz returned to Audax for a third spell in 2017, but suffered relegation. He only returned to managerial duties in the following season; after being announced as manager of Guarani in November 2017, he signed with Atlético Paranaense in January 2018. He was dismissed from the team in June, being subsequently replaced by under-23 manager Tiago Nunes.
On 19 December 2018, Diniz was appointed manager of another club he represented as a player, Fluminense. Sacked on 19 August, he took over São Paulo on 27 September.

Honours

Player

; Palmeiras
; Corinthians
; Fluminense
; Cruzeiro
; Votoraty
; Paulista