He Flamengothe most popular club in Brazil and reigning champion of the Libertadores Cupannounced this Friday to the Argentine Jorge Sampaoli as its new coach, in the place of the Portuguese Vítor Pereira, dismissed on Tuesday after the elimination of the Rio de Janeiro team from three important competitions.
Flamengo “announces that it has signed an agreement with coach Jorge Sampaoli to lead the professional soccer team until December 31, 2024,” states the brief note released by the also current champion of the Copa do Brasil on his social networks.
Sampaoli, who in Brazil has already commanded clubs such as Santos (2019) and Atlético Mineiro (2020), is expected in Rio de Janeiro this weekend, once he manages to resolve the pending issues due to the termination of his contract with Sevilla, which fired him recently.
Beginnings in Chile
Sampaoli began his coaching career in 2011 as the coach of Universidad de Chile, with which he won the Copa Sudamericana.
In 2012, he assumed command of the Chilean team and won the first Copa América in the country’s history in 2015. His first opportunity in European football was in 2016, also with Sevilla, which he quickly left to take over as Argentina coach.
His good results with Santos and Mineiro in Brazil allowed him to return to Europe, first as coach of French Olympique de Marseille and then as coach of Sevilla, with whom he worked for only six months and was fired due to the threat of relegation.
Second option
The Argentine was the option chosen by the leaders of Flamengo after the frustrated negotiations to bring back the also Portuguese Jorge Jesus, one of the most successful coaches in the history of the Brazilian team and with whom the team won the Libertadores between 2019 and 2020, the League and the Copa do Brasil.
The dismissed Vítor Pereira arrived at Flamengo last December after the controversial dismissal of Dorival Júnior, an experienced Brazilian coach who had recovered the potential of a team full of stars and last year had led him to win the Copa do Brasil and the Copa Libertadores .
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But the Portuguese did not convince. Pereira’s Flamengo failed in the FIFA Club World Cup, in which they did not reach a desired final against Real Madrid after losing in the semifinals against Saudi Al Hilal.
They also lost the final of the South American Cup Winners Cup against the Ecuadorian Independiente Del Valle, bit the dust against Palmeiras in the Supercopa do Brasil and failed in the Carioca Championship, in which definition they were thrashed 4-1 last Sunday by Fluminense.
