Alexandre Henrique Borges Guimarães (born 7 November 1959) is a Costa Rican football manager and former player who played as a midfielder.

Guimarães was born on 7 November 1959 in the city of Maceió, Alagoas, northeast of Brazil, considering football as an esential part of a brazilian child.

[1] He is widely influenced by footballers like Pelé, Garrincha, and Zagallo, and started practicing the sport in youth system of club Fluminense.

At age of 13, his parents Luis de Souza Borges and María Alice Guimarães were forced to leave Brazil and go to Costa Rica due to they were working with World Health Organization.

He represented his school team in disciplines of football and basketball, and also for two to three years he was part of local club in Barrio Escalante, playing many matches.

During an internal championship played at the university, by influence of Walter Taylor, Alexandre was signed by Durpanel San Blas that was about to compete in the second division of Costa Rica.

[11] On 22 December, the second leg of the final match against Puntarenas, he scored the goal that led his club to a victory that would hand them their first league title in four years.

After becoming Saprissa head coach, on 15 November 1991, Rolando Villalobos informed Guimarães he was no longer wanted in the team because of his physical conditions.

[16] He received his first call-up on 21 August 1985 by coach Álvaro Grant and made his senior debut on 1 September in a 0–0 draw against Canada.

After being a substitute in the first match against Scotland (1–0 victory), Guimarães would see action in the last 12 minutes against Brazil (1–0 loss), replacing Juan Cayasso.

After his professional football retirement at the age of 32, he ventured into the field as a color commentator on Canal 7, and it was this way that he would be preparing himself to be a head coach.

He studied in Germany, France, Italy and Spain through intensive courses and along his journey he learned five languages: Portuguese, Spanish, German, French and Italian.

After his return he was in charge of the Saprissa youth system league, and later became the assistant of the Uruguayan Carlos Linaris of the absolute team.

[22] In this club he was able to exceed expectations and quickly identified the figures who helped him realize his idea, such as José Pablo Fonseca, Walter Centeno, Óscar Ramírez, Geraldo Da Silva, Luis Fernández, Gilbert Solano and Alfredo Contreras.

On 2 June 1996, he won his first title as a coach, winning the Costa Rican Cup undefeated and beating Cartaginés in the final match.

[28][29] However, he resigned on 2 September due to the poor results of the team at the UNCAF Interclub Cup despite he was having a good record in national league.

[34] He was questioned for his relaxed attitude in the quadrangular phase of the World Cup qualifiers, where on several occasions he had to watch the games from the stands, which was evidence of the communication problems that arose between Nunes and Guimarães in that period.

[citation needed] On 17 June 2003, Alexandre ended up the rumors that linked him to the Honduras national team by signing the one-year deal for Costa Rican club Cartaginés.

On 18 November, he was fired from his position due to the poor results that the team presented in the Apertura Tournament, having a balance of eight defeats, three draws and three victories.

[52] On 8 October, they won 3–0 over the United States and secured qualification for the 2006 World Cup with one game left for the conclusion of the round.

[53] At the 2006 World Cup, Alexandre debuted in his second tournament on 9 June on the opening match against the host Germany (4–2 defeat),[54] at the Munich Stadium.

[75] On 13 June 2019, Alexandre was appointed as the manager of América de Cali in Colombia, accompanied by Juliano Silveira as assistant and Rodrigo Poletto as physical trainer.

[78] On 30 November 2020, Colombian club Atlético Nacional announced that Alexandre signed the one-year contract as its new coach, replacing Juan Carlos Osorio.