[1][2][3] Abelha began his career at Ferroviária, a club in the city where he was born.
He arrived at São Paulo to compete for a position with Barbirotto, but was unsuccessful, and then played for São Bento, Inter de Limeira, Botafogo de Ribeirão Preto, ABC, Honda Hamamatsu and São Bento, his last club in 1992.
He managed São Bento for the first time in 1997, and in 1999 he was Nelsinho Baptista's assistant at Colo-Colo.[2] He would still coach EC São Bento on several other occasions, with emphasis on his time in 2002 where he was champion of the Copa Paulista.
[6][7] He was also a coach for the youth sectors at Figueirense, where he was directly responsible for the promotion of athletes Filipe Luís and Roberto Firmino to the professional ranks.
[8] He took over his wife's sweets company in Sorocaba, after she died in 2012, abandoning his position as manager.