The colossal success of Jorge Jesus at Flamengowhere, in one year, he won five titles, including the 2019 Copa Libertadores, paved the way for Portuguese coaches in Brazil.
His compatriot Abel Ferreira took over from him at Palmeiras, with two consecutive continental titles (2000 and 2001). And, from then on, as if it were an alchemist’s formula, all the Brazilian clubs went after their Portuguese coach, believing, almost esoterically, that he would be synonymous with guaranteed success.
Vitor Pereira replaced Sylvinho on the Corinthians bench
| Rodrigo Coca/Ag. Corinthians
Fashion has caught on. There are already four historic players who face the great challenges of 2022 with Lusitanian technicians: Abel Ferreramore empowered than ever at Palmeiras; Paulo Sousa who came to Flamengo to cure the sickness left by Jorge Jesus; Vitor Pereira, who replaced the highly criticized Sylvinho in a Corinthians that wants to fight for the titles again; and LLuis Castro in the reborn Botafogo, with financial muscle since it is now a Sports Limited Company.
And there could have been many more. Atlético Mineiro, current champion of the League, Cup and Super Cup and which is running to win it all, wanted to make up for Cuca’s desertion with Jorge Jesus, then went for Carlos Carvalhal (Braga), and in the end, as a consolation prize, the Argentinian El Turco Mohamed, with a lot of prestige in Mexican soccer, joined.
Santos, before hiring the Argentine Fabian Bustos (Barcelona, from Guayaquil), survey in February to Ricardo Soares (Gil Vicente) already Renato Paiva (Independent of the Valley, in Ecuador).
Surreal situations have been experienced such as an open war, with grandiloquent headlines, between Corinthians and Botafogo for taking over Luis Castrowho with all due respect nobody knew in Brazil months ago and who trained in a league as minor as Qatar’s.
And after the pulse defeated by the Lone Star club, Timao went for Vitor Pereira, who has been received as a messiah, before he had also contacted Paulo Fonseca.
THE FLAMENGO SHOW IN PORTUGAL
Flamengo set up an authentic casting call in December to find their new coach. The vice president of football, Marcos Braz, and the executive director, Bruno Spindel, settled in Portugal. The only requirement that the new hire had to have was… Portuguese nationality.
He negotiated with Jorge Jesus (who hesitated since he had not yet been fired from Benfica), André Villas-Boas, Rui Vitoria, Vitor Pereira, Carlos Carvalhal, Paulo Fonseca…It didn’t matter his experience, his style and conception of the game, if he was purely offensive or a reactive soccer mourinhista like Abel Ferreira. Even the Portuguese press, which obviously celebrates the successes of his compatriots, he came to show his perplexity.
In this Portuguese wave, logically there have been technicians who have crashed, or have been crushed at record speed as is usually done in Brazil: this is the case of Ricardo Sá Pinto, who only spent two months at Vasco da Gama in 2020, or the veteran Josualdo Ferreira, who directed 15 Santos games in 2021. Antonio Oliveira resigned at Ath. Paranense in October… and shortly after, Furaco won its second Copa Sudamericana in its history.
