Fernando Diniz

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.

Early career

One year after retiring, Diniz was appointed head coach of lowly Votoraty, where he was 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 with the side. On 5 February 2011, Diniz was named Botafogo-SP head coach, 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 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 head coach of Oeste after a partnership between Oeste and Audax was established. Diniz returned to Audax for a third spell in 2017, but suffered relegation.

Atlético Paranaense

Diniz only returned to managerial duties in the following season; after being announced as head coach 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 coach Tiago Nunes.

Fluminense

On 19 December 2018, Diniz was appointed head coach of another club he represented as a…

Player

Corinthians

Campeonato Paulista: 1997 Fluminense

Campeonato Carioca: 2002

Coach

Votoraty

Copa Paulista: 2009 Campeonato Paulista Série A3: 2009 Paulista

Copa Paulista: 2010 Audax

Campeonato Paulista: runner-up 2016 Fluminense

Copa Libertadores: 2023 Recopa Sudamericana: 2024 Campeonato Carioca: 2023 Cruzeiro

Copa Sudamericana: runner-up 2024 Vasco da Gama

Copa do Brasil: runner-up 2025 Individual

South American Coach of the Year: 2023