Rafael Guanaes, 44, refers to the experience lived in the worker-PR as “worthy of a book.” The young coach of Mirassol, a big surprise of the first round of the Brazilian Championship, carries what he lived in Serie C of the Brazilian Championship in his good work in Serie A.
The Paulistano was hired by the team from Paraná at the end of 2022, after his relegation to the third national division. He commanded a process of reformulation of the cast and obtained access to the second exciting.
The place in Serie B was only guaranteed in the last game, against São Bernardo, thanks to a goal scored 40 minutes into the second half, with the lawn already committed due to a heavy rain, combined with a stumbling block from São José-RS against Brusque-SC.
“I carry a lot of stories everywhere I went through, but this latest is a book worthy. I live this moment here today, in Mirassol, not by luck, but for the people who worked by my side and why there were those who believed,” he told the Sheet.
Even with three games less than some of the competitors, the São Paulo countryside club appears very close to the Libertadores Copa qualifying zone. Nevertheless, Guanaes prefers to make realistic projections for a team that disputes the national elite for the first time in its history. This Monday (18), the formation of the interior of São Paulo will receive Cruzeiro, which fights for the first positions.
“Mirassol came to the first division preparing to stay. It invested in structure, hired, but it is my first time and the first of the club. We did not know exactly what to expect. Internally, we are clear that our position in the table is a momentary situation. We live a sustainable projection.
With a brief career as a player, Guanaes acted as a professional athlete only by Nacional-SP and Joseense, at the time chaired by his father, Nelson Guanaes. During the formation, he played futsal for Palmeiras, but abbreviated the dream for the need to support himself.
“When we achieve adulthood, the desire to have some financial return, to be someone in life, soon comes. And in smaller, interior clubs, there are many difficulties. I started working and no longer wanted to give up it. I dreamed of having my car, building a family, being independent,” he recalled.
During a test in Recife, he was invited by a recruiter to play and study in the United States, starting training in the Physical Education course at Campbell University in North Carolina, later completed in Brazil. Studies outside the country have increased the desire to become a coach, fed since adolescence.
Guanaes is passionate about games that simulate careers of soccer coaches, such as Elifoot, Championship Manager and Football Manager. He spent dawn at the house of friends imagining one day repeating in football the deeds of the virtual world.
“At the time, it was just a distraction, but unintentionally helped to feed a dream of doing something similar.”
So far, there are 14 clubs as a base technician and four professional level titles: the state of 2019 and 2021 with Athletico Paranaense and Sampaio Corrêa, respectively, the 2018 Paulista Copa with Votuporanguense and Serie B of Paulista 2015 (equivalent at the time, to the fourth division) with São Carlos.
The coach concluded all CBF licenses, also graduated from the ATFA (Association of Argentine Football Technicians) and attended distance neuroscience at the Integrated Knowledge Educational Center. He studies how the nervous system and the brain affect athletes’ emotions.
“We study the anatomical part more. I want to use this a lot about managing emotions and behaviors. It’s two years, I’m in the second half. It’s hard to reconcile with my routine, I’m counting on the university’s understanding,” he said.
At Mirassol, he actively participates in the analysis of athletes’ GP numbers, which offer data on their field movement, and gives great attention to statistics.
“Since the passage through Athletico Paranaense [entre 2018 e 2020]I usually relate GPS issues to the tactical context and my choices. I am trying to make correlations to understand the player’s condition and the ability to really be able to deliver what I think, “he said.
“I am always deepening in everything that encompasses the game, seeking mechanisms that allow us to play. I do not attach to numbers or nomenclatures,” added the coach, who in 2023 was compared to the Argentine inventive Jorge Sampaoli for using different lines in all 24 workers in series C.
Guanaes’ references include coaches such as Tite, Fernando Diniz and successful professionals in Europe. “I really like Guardiola, of course, the essence of Simeone and the football practiced by PSG and Barcelona, but I don’t read and live only football.”
