Corinthians announced this Wednesday the Portuguese Vítor Pereira as its new coach to replace Sylvinho, a former Barça, Celta and Arsenal player who was fired at the beginning of the month due to a poor run of results.
“Sport Club Corinthians Paulista agreed to hire Vítor Pereira for the technical command of the main team. The Portuguese coach arrives at ‘Timao’ with a contract valid until December 31, 2022,” the Sao Paulo club reported in a statement.
Pereira, 53, has been free since leaving the Turkish Fenerbahçe bench last December, less than six months after taking over.
In his coaching career, he has also managed his country’s Porto, Greek Olympiacos, German 1860 Munich, Chinese Shanghai SIPG and Saudi Al-Ahli, among others.
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The board of the São Paulo club had been looking for a coach for the first team for 20 days, after the dismissal of Sylvinho, which materialized on February 3 after losing at home against Santos in the São Paulo Championship.
In a video uploaded this Wednesday on the club’s social networks, the president of Corinthians, Duilio Alves, acknowledged that the hiring of Pereira “took longer” than expected, but the “result” was “exactly” what the club “wanted “.
“Now we welcome a guy who was a champion wherever he went and who arrives in Brazil ready to work in a unique club,” celebrated the leader.
The Sylvinho stage
Pereira will replace Sylvinho, a former player for Arsenal, Celta de Vigo and Barcelona, who arrived at Corinthians in May of last year, although he never had the sympathy of the local fans, who were highly critical of his style of play.
Despite this rejection, last season the team finished the Brazilian Championship in a creditable fifth position and qualified directly for the group stage of the Copa Libertadores in 2022.
The board decided to give it continuity this season, but the bad image of the team ended up precipitating his departure.
Portuguese fashion in Brazil
Pereira will thus join the long list of Portuguese coaches who have landed in Brazil in recent seasons, especially since the success of Jorge Jesus with Flamengo, between 2019 and 2020.
The São Paulo club also opted for another Portuguese coach for this new course, Paulo Sousa, former coach of Poland and who last Sunday had his first disappointment when he lost the Brazilian Super Cup against Atlético Mineiro.
