Santos players in the squad who have played under Cuca | OneFootball

Although it has not yet been made official in the BID (Daily Information Bulletin), coach Cuca is already preparing to begin his fourth stint in charge of Santos. To ease his adaptation process with the new squad, he will count on some familiar faces. Seven players from the current Alvinegro Praiano group have already worked with the coach in previous spells: defenders Lucas Veríssimo and Luan Peres, full-backs Mayke and Igor Vinícius, midfielder Gabriel Menino, and forwards Gabigol and Rony.

The center-back duo of Lucas Veríssimo and Luan Peres was extremely important during Cuca’s third spell at Santos. Veríssimo had already been coached by Alexis Stival in 2018, but it was in 2020 that he hit his best form. That season, the partnership was fielded 26 times by the coach and reached a Libertadores final during that period, finishing as runners-up.

The other player Cuca met while coaching Santos was forward Gabigol. In the second spell of both at Peixe, the partnership worked well. Cuca started Gabriel Barbosa 24 times, and the striker contributed 14 goals and two assists.

In addition to the trio he met at Santos, Cuca worked with the duo Gabriel Menino and Rony during his last spell at Atlético-MG. Coming from Palmeiras, both players were starters under the coach. Together, the coach and players won the 2025 Campeonato Mineiro.

Another player familiar to the coach is Mayke. The right-back joined Palmeiras in 2017 and worked with Cuca in the same year. At the time, the coach alternated the right-back position between him and Marcos Rocha, an old acquaintance from Atlético-MG days, and used Mayke only 19 times.

Another player from the defensive system is right-back Igor Vinícius. When he was at São Paulo in 2019, Cuca used the player on 19 occasions.

Arrival at Santos

Cuca, who takes over the position previously held by Juan Pablo Vojvoda, arrives at Santos after a spell at Atlético-MG. The coach led Galo from December 2024 to August 2025, when he resigned. In total, there were 45 matches, 24 wins, 11 draws, and 10 losses.

Before his fourth spell at Atlético-MG, Cuca had stints at several Brazilian football clubs, including Botafogo, Corinthians, Grêmio, Flamengo, Fluminense, São Paulo, and Palmeiras. At Galo, he won the Mineiro four times, the Brasileirão, the Copa do Brasil, and the Libertadores. At Verdão, he won the Brazilian Championship in 2016, ending a 22-year title drought for the club.

See also: All the news from Gazeta Esportiva Gazeta Esportiva’s YouTube Channel Follow Gazeta Esportiva on Instagram Gazeta Esportiva’s WhatsApp Channel 

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.