Alexandre Guimarães

Early career

Guimarães was born on 7 November 1959 in the city of Maceió, Alagoas, in the northeast of Brazil. He is widely influenced by footballers like Pelé, Garrincha, and Zagallo, and started practicing the sport in youth system of club Fluminense. At age of 13, he and his parents Luis de Souza Borges and Maria Alice Guimarães moved to Costa Rica, as part of their jobs at the World Health Organization. Alexandre is the youngest son of that relationship, having four siblings: Carlos, Guillermo, and Ana. When Alexandre arrived in Costa Rica, he had many problems to communicate with people because of the language difference. However, he started to learn Spanish and was making new friends so new opportunities were given him in activities. A young Guimarães began studying in Saint Francis College located in Moravia city. He represented his school team in disciplines of football and basketball, and also for two to three years he was part of local club in Barrio Escalante, playing many matches. In 1977, Alexandre traveled to México where he studied Physical Education, career that he continued at University of Costa Rica. Upon his return, friends told him to join a soccer team where he can show his skills. During an internal championship played at the university, by influence of Walter Taylor, Alexandre was signed by Durpanel San Blas that was about to compete in the second division of Costa Rica. He made his debut on 25 March 1979 in an away 5–1 defeat against Pérez…

After being granted with the Costa Rican nationality on 17 January 1985, Alexandre was eligible to represent the Costa Rica national team. He received his first call-up on 21 August 1985 by coach Álvaro Grant and made his senior debut on 1 September in a 0–0 draw against Canada. Alexandre scored his first goal on 8 September over Honduras (3–1 defeat). Guimarães had 16 appearances and scored 2 goals. He also participated in the first stage of the 1989 CONCACAF Championship, that served as qualifier for the 1990 World Cup. He was a member of the Costa Rican team during the World Cup. After being a substitute in the first match against Scotland (1–0 victory), Guimarães would see action in the last 12 minutes against Brazil (1–0 loss), replacing Juan Cayasso. This was the first time that a footballer born in Brazil played against the representative of his country of origin in a World Cup. He then repeated his variant role in the game that closed the group stage against Sweden (1–2 win), as well as the round of 16 against Czechoslovakia (4–1 loss).

After his professional football retirement at the age of 32, he ventured into the field as a color commentator on Canal 7, and it was this way that he would be preparing himself to be a head coach. He studied in Germany, France, Italy and Spain through intensive courses and along his journey he learned five languages: Portuguese, Spanish, German, French and Italian. After his return he was in charge of the Saprissa youth system league, and later became the assistant of the Uruguayan Carlos Linaris of the absolute team. On 19 December 1994, he was appointed head coach of Belén with the initial task of avoiding the relegation zone. When the opportunity was presented to him, Alexandre asked Linaris for advice and he told him: "Guima, come on, you're ready." He made his competitive debut on 24 December in a 0–2 loss against San Carlos. In this club he was able to exceed expectations and quickly identified the figures who helped him realize his idea, such as José Pablo Fonseca, Walter Centeno, Óscar Ramírez, Geraldo Da Silva, Luis Fernández, Gilbert Solano and Alfredo Contreras. On 2 June 1996, he won his first title as a coach, winning the Costa Rican Cup undefeated and beating Cartaginés in the final match. On 17 July 1996, his incorporation as Herediano's new head coach was made official, replacing the Spanish Juan Luis Hernández. Although he was only there for one season, he received the distinction of best national coach. On 28 May 1997, his departure from the rojimarillo…

Club

International

Scores and results list Costa Rica's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Guimarães goal

Managerial

As of match played 18 April 2025