Francisco Dos Santos

Francisco Dos Santos (born 9 April 1974 in Rio de Janeiro) is a Brazilian footballer who played the majority of career with Canadian clubs in the Canadian Soccer League, and the Toronto Lynx of the USL A-League.

Dos Santos began his professional career in Switzerland with FC Kreuzlingen in 1998. In 1999, he went abroad to Canada to play in the USL A-League with the Toronto Lynx. In his first season with the club he led his team in scoring with 13 goals and was awarded the club's offensive player of the year award. The following year he repeated his success with Toronto by once again leading the team in scoring with 9 goals and being awarded the club's offensive player of the year award for the second consecutive year in a row. He assisted the club by reaching the postseason the second time in the clubs history. He contributed in the playoffs by scoring an equalizing goal in a 1-1 tie against the Rochester Rhinos. On May 8, 2001 the Toronto Lynx announced the re-signing of Dos Santos for the 2001 season. Unfortunately he had a disappointing season with the Lynx appearing only in 10 matches and having a scoring drought. It was reported in a press release on July 13, 2001 after having not scored a single goal in 10 matches, Dos Santos was released from his contract.

After his release from Toronto he signed a contract with the Brampton Hitmen, making his debut on July 15, 2001 in a match against the North York Astros where he recorded a goal in a 2-1 defeat.After only appearing in single match for Barmpton, Dos Santos and along with Hitmen's head coach Paul Kitson were released from their contracts. Dos Santos signed with the Toronto Supra of the Canadian Professional Soccer League for the 2002 season. He made his debut for the club in a Open Canada Cup match against the Toronto Croatia. In 2003, Dos Santos was transferred to the North York Astros; he made his debut for the club on July 21, 2003 in a match against the Mississauga Olympians and scored two goals in 3-1 victory. He had a tremendous season with the Astros scoring seven goals for the club. He would return to the Supra in 2005, and had stints with North York in 2006, and another stint with the Supra in 2007.

Dos Santos also had a stint in the National Professional Soccer League with the short lived expansion franchise the Toronto ThunderHawks during the 2000-2001 winter indoor season. He helped the ThunderHawks reach the postseason by finishing second in the National Conference, and reached the Conference finals where they were defeated by the Milwaukee Wave.