Hélio dos Anjos

Hélio César dos Anjos Pinto (born 7 March 1958), known as Hélio dos Anjos, is a Brazilian professional football coach and former player who played as a goalkeeper. He is the current head coach of Paysandu.

After a short playing career, Hélio dos Anjos began his coaching career with Joinville, and went on to win 12 state league titles with different clubs. He often returned to clubs he previously coached, being charge of Goiás (six times), Náutico (four times), Vitória, Juventude, Fortaleza, Sport Recife, Atlético Goianiense and Paysandu (three times each).

Playing career
Born in Januária, Minas Gerais, Hélio dos Anjos moved to Belo Horizonte as a teenager, where he featured in the youth sides of ESAB Esporte Clube. From the side, he moved to Flamengo after being spotted by Sebastião Lazaroni, youth coordinator at the time.

Known as just Hélio during his playing days, his spell at Fla was mainly as a third-choice behind Raul Plassmann and Cantarele. He was swapped with Joinville in 1981, with Lico moving in the opposite direction.

In 1982, aged just 23, Hélio suffered an injury in training which broke two of his vertebras; he was paralyzed for 45 days, and later retired.

Coaching career
After retiring, Hélio dos Anjos worked as a scout for Diede Lameiro at JEC, before taking over the club's youth sides. An interim coach of the main squad in 1986, he became a permanent head coach of the club in 1988, leaving in the following year.

In the 1990s, Hélio dos Anjos was in charge of Avaí, Catanduvense, Juventude, Vitória (three spells), Ceará (achieving promotion in the 1992 Série B with the club), Sãocarlense, Joinville, Novorizontino, Náutico, Santo André, Atlético Paranaense, XV de Piracicaba, Remo (winning the 1995 Campeonato Paraense in an unbeaten status), Goiás (two spells), Sport Recife (winning two consecutive Campeonato Pernambucano titles), Grêmio and América Mineiro. He achieved two consecutive promotions from the Campeonato Paulista Série A2 in 1993 and 1994, with Santo André and XV, respectively, and won the 1999 Série B and two Campeonato Goiano trophies with Goiás.

Ahead of the 2001 season, Hélio dos Anjos became Eurico Miranda's first head coach at Vasco da Gama, but only lasted 16 matches. He later took over Guarani on 7 June 2001.

Sacked by Bugre on 13 August 2001, he subsequently returned to Juventude and Goiás, and was in charge of Gama in the first rounds of the 2002 Série A, leaving in September to take over Paysandu. He returned to Sport for a second spell for the 2003 campaign, winning the year's Pernambucano before leaving in the following year; for the remainder of the 2004 season, he was in charge of Fortaleza and Vitória.

Hélio dos Anjos agreed to return to Santo André on 22 November 2004, but left the club on 8 December, and was named Bahia head coach fourteen days later. Sacked on 18 April 2005, he returned to Fortaleza on 29 June, being dismissed in October and taking over Juventude afterwards.

On 7 June 2006, Hélio dos Anjos left Ju to return to Fortaleza, but resigned on 5 September to take over São Caetano. On 15 October, after seven losses in as many matches, he resigned from the latter.

In October 2006, Hélio dos Anjos returned to Náutico, and renewed his contract on 22 November, after achieving promotion to the Série A. On 16 March 2007, he moved abroad and replaced compatriot Marcos Paquetá as manager of the Saudi Arabia national team.

Hélio dos Anjos led Saudi Arabia to the 2007 AFC Asian Cup final, losing to Iraq. He was dismissed from the national team on 9 June 2008, and returned to Goiás seven days later. He was relieved from his duties at the latter on 25 January 2010, after a poor start of the season.

On 28 December 2010, after a short period in charge of Emirati side Al-Nasr, Hélio dos Anjos was announced as Vila Nova head coach for the ensuing campaign. He left on 8 February to return to Sport, but resigned on 20 June.

Hélio dos Anjos was appointed head coach of Atlético Goianiense on 12 August 2011, but left the club the following 3 March, after a fitness coach also resigned. He returned to the club on 30 May 2012, however, but resigned again on 9 July.

On 23 July 2012, Hélio dos Anjos replaced Argel Fuchs at the helm of Figueirense in the top tier, but was sacked on 24 August after the club's elimination in the 2012 Copa Sudamericana. On 6 March 2013, he returned to Fortaleza for a third spell, but was dismissed on 4 August.

Hélio dos Anjos returned to Atlético Goianiense for a third spell on 16 June 2014, but only lasted two months at the club. On 13 March 2015, after nearly six months unemployed, he took over Caxias.

On 5 April 2015, Hélio dos Anjos returned to Goiás after five years, but was sacked on 22 June, after five winless matches. On 18 August, he took over ABC in the second division, but left on a mutual agreement on 9 October.

On 31 December 2015, Hélio dos Anjos returned to Saudi Arabia to take over Najran. He was also in charge of Al-Faisaly and Al-Qadisiyah in the same country in 2016, before returning to Goiás on 16 September 2017.

Sacked by Goiás on 6 May 2018, Hélio dos Anjos spent more than a year unemployed before returning to Paysandu on 31 May 2019. He left the club on 15 September 2020, after having altercations with the club's board.

On 18 November 2020, Hélio dos Anjos returned to Náutico, and led the club to their best-ever start in the 2021 Série B, with the club being in the leadership for 14 rounds. On 18 August 2021, he resigned, but returned to the club on 23 September.

Sacked by Timbu on 11 February 2022, Hélio dos Anjos became head coach of fellow second division side Ponte Preta twelve days later. He led the club to the 2023 Paulista Série A2 title, but left on a mutual agreement on 18 April of that year, ten days after winning the competition.

Hélio dos Anjos returned to Paysandu on 28 June 2023, and led the club to a promotion in the year's Série C.

Personal life
Hélio dos Anjos' son Guilherme also works with football; both have been working together since 2012, with Guilherme as his assistant. He is also a businessman, member of the Construction G4.

In June 2016, Hélio dos Anjos was ordered by the Justice to pay an indemnization to player Edmílson Paulista after calling him a "homosexual" during a press conference in 1992, when both were at Joinville. In October 2023, he was suspended for nine matches after uttering homophobic curses to a referee.

Player
Flamengo
 * Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: 1980
 * Campeonato Carioca: 1978, 1979

Coach
Vitória
 * Campeonato Baiano: 1992

Remo
 * Campeonato Paraense: 1995

Sport Recife
 * Campeonato Pernambucano: 1996, 1997, 2003

Goiás
 * Campeonato Brasileiro Série B: 1999
 * Campeonato Goiano: 1999, 2000, 2009, 2015, 2018
 * Copa Centro-Oeste: 2000

Paysandu
 * Campeonato Paraense: 2020, 2024
 * Copa Verde: 2024

Náutico
 * Campeonato Pernambucano: 2021

Ponte Preta
 * Campeonato Paulista Série A2: 2023