The love story between Flamengo and Jorge Sampaoli will have come to an end. This Thursday, the famous Rio de Janeiro club announced the dismissal of its Argentine coach, just five months after his recruitment, following its failure in the Brazilian Cup final against Sao Paulo (0-1, 1-1) . “Coach Jorge Sampaoli and his staff will no longer manage the Red and Black team,” indicated the Carioca club on its X account (formerly Twitter), wishing “good luck” to the Argentinian technician “for the rest of his career “.
While Sampaoli’s contract ran until the end of 2024, Flamengo was expected to pay him 1.8 million euros in compensation, local media reported. According to the same sources, the Rio club is now looking to recruit Tite, the former Brazil coach.
Tensions with the players
Already challenged, Jorge Sampaoli and his staff could not resist failure on Sunday in the final of the Brazilian Cup. After a 1-0 defeat in the first leg at the Maracana, the “Fla” could not do better than a 1-1 draw on the field of Sao Paulo. Before that, the Rio club had been eliminated in August in the round of 16 of the Copa Libertadores by the Paraguayan team of Olimpia, and it currently only occupies a modest 7th place in the championship, 11 points behind. from leader Botafogo.
Brazilian media had also reported the existence of tensions within the locker room and in the corridors of the club. In July in particular, one of his assistants, physical trainer Pablo Fernandez, was accused of assault by the team’s star striker, Pedro.
Jorge Sampaoli was recruited in April, shortly after his dismissal from Sevilla FC, where he also only lasted five months at the head of the Spanish team. Former coach of Chile (2012-16) and Argentina (2017-18), the fiery Argentinian technician had already managed Brazilian teams – Santos FC, from December 2018 to December 2019, then Atletico Mineiro, from March 2020 to February 2021-, before joining Olympique de Marseille during the 2021-2022 season.
