Argélico "Argel" Fuchs (born Argélico Fucks; 4 September 1974) is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a central defender. He is the current head coach of São José-RS.
His professional career spanned 15 years, during which he was mainly associated with Benfica and Internacional. He also played in Japan, Spain and China, and appeared in one international match for Brazil.
Fuchs started working as a coach in 2008, going on to be in charge of more than 25 clubs.
Club career Known simply as Argel as a player, he was born in Santa Rosa, Rio Grande do Sul. He began his career with Internacional, Santos and Palmeiras, with a brief stint in Japan in between and an unsuccessful spell at Portugal's Porto, which finished after a serious run-in with the board of directors and prompted his Brazil return.
In early June 2001, Argel returned to Portugal with Benfica, which he helped win the Primeira Liga in his fourth season and the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, the former after an 11-year drought. The player contributed to this feat with ten matches and one goal.
After falling down the pecking order at Benfica, Argel had a six-month stay at Racing de Santander, going on to retire in 2007 after representing Cruzeiro, Canoas and Chinese club Zhejiang Lucheng.
International career Argel represented Brazil at under-20 level, winning both the South American Youth Football Championship and the FIFA U-20 World Cup. On 29 March 1995 he earned his only cap for the full side, appearing in a friendly against Honduras.
Coaching career
Argel's coaching career began when he was hired as Guaratinguetá's head coach on 8 February 2008, being sacked exactly one year later. Three days later, he was hired by Caxias.
On 2 June 2009, Argel was hired by Campinense in the same capacity, replacing Fernando Teixeira. On 9 April of the following year, he signed for Criciúma.
Argel was announced as coach of former club Internacional on 13 August 2015, after leaving Figueirense which he had already managed in two separate spells. He was fired on 11 July after six games without a win, but hours later he returned to Figueirense.
On 13 September 2016, Argel was named head coach of Vitória. The following 1 May, after elimination from the Copa do Nordeste against Bahia and the massive brawl that ensued, he was sacked. This was his tenth dismissal in the decade – three alone in 2011 – while he had also resigned from seven jobs; only at Figueirense did he complete a full year in charge of a team.
After rejoining Criciúma, Argel was dismissed in May 2018. In September, he was announced as the new head coach of fellow Série B team Coritiba, being relieved of his duties on 16 February 2019 after being knocked out of the Copa do Brasil.
On 2 July 2019, Argel replaced Marcelo Cabo at the helm of first division newcomers CSA. On 28 November, he took over fellow top-tier side Ceará in the place of fired Adílson Batista, but was dismissed the following 9 February.
Argel returned to CSA on 31 August 2020, but was fired after only 18 days in charge. In October 2021, following a second spell at Botafogo de Ribeirão Preto, he returned to Portugal 17 years after leaving to take charge of third-division club Alverca.
On 19 March 2023, Argel went back to Brazil after being named at Chapecoense in the second tier. He was dismissed on 29 May, and took over ABC in the same league on 3 September; he left the latter on 22 November before the last match of the season, with his team already relegated.
On 16 February 2024, Argel returned to Caxias for a third stint. On 27 June, he was fired.
Surname Some of Argel's fame stemmed from his prior surname, which coincided with a form of the English word "fuck". This led to some double entendre headlines, including one from Eurosport.com titled "Fucks off to Benfica"; this headline received press coverage itself with The Register calling it "snappy and eye-catching", and football humour site Laugh FC deeming it "one of the all time greats".
Argel corrected his surname to "Fuchs" in 2020, explaining that the previous one resulted from a registry error and it was always supposed to have been Fuchs.
Career statistics Club + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueDivisionAppsGoalsInternacional1993Série A4019942221995161Total423Verdy Kawasaki1996J1 League1401997180Total320Santos1998Série A212199900Total212Porto1999–2000Primeira Liga51Palmeiras2000Série A00200100Total00Benfica2001–02Primeira Liga2222002–032822003–041912004–05101Total574Racing Santander2004–05La Liga20Cruzeiro2005Série A100Canoas2006Série C00Hangzhou Greentown2007Super League221Career total21313
International + Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsBrazil199510Total10
Managerial statistics
+ Managerial record by team and tenure Team Nat From To RecordPortuguesa2 February 201417 May 2014Figueirense24 July 201413 August 2015Internacional14 August 201510 July 2016Figueirense11 July 201621 August 2016Vitória12 September 20161 May 2017Goiás19 July 201725 August 2017Criciúma22 February 20189 May 2018Coritiba17 September 201815 February 2019CSA2 July 201929 November 2019Ceará29 November 20199 February 2020CSA31 August 202016 September 2020Botafogo-SP9 April 202119 September 2021Alverca4 October 20213 October 2022Chapecoense21 March 202329 May 2023ABC4 September 202322 November 2023Caxias-RS19 February 202427 June 2024Paraná11 November 202427 January 2025Total
Honours Internacional Campeonato Gaúcho: 1992, 1994 Copa do Brasil: 1992
Santos Copa CONMEBOL: 1998
Porto Taça de Portugal: 1999–2000 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 2000
Palmeiras Torneio Rio-São Paulo: 2000 Copa dos Campeões: 2000
Benfica Primeira Liga: 2004–05 Taça de Portugal: 2003–04 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira runner-up: 2004
Brazil U17 South American Under-17 Football Championship: 1991
Brazil U20 FIFA World Youth Championship: 1993 South American Youth Football Championship: 1992
References
External links