Santos was born in Maringá, Brazil on July 20, 1977. He moved to Japan in 1994. After graduating from Meitoku Gijuku High School, he joined J1 League club Shimizu S-Pulse in 1997. He played as many matches as left side midfielder from first season. In 1999, the club won the 2nd place and he received the "J.League MVP". In Asia, the club won the champions 1999–00 Asian Cup Winners' Cup and the 3rd place 2000–01 Asian Cup Winners' Cup. In 2004, he joined Urawa Reds. After won the 2nd place at J1 League for 2 years in a row (2004, 2005), the club won the champions in 2006 J1 League. In January 2007, he was loaned out to Red Bull Salzburg. He went back to Urawa in January 2008. He received a serious injury in a test match and had only one appearance in this season. In July 2009, he agreed to move to Nagoya Grampus. He made 55 appearances for the club, before joining J2 League side Tochigi SC for the 2013 season. He made 25 appearances there, scoring twice. In January 2014, he joined fellow J2 League team FC Gifu.