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The hiring of NA rekindled a controversy that surrounds Brazilian football in recent years: the presence of foreign technicians in football in the country. If Portuguese dominance in post-Jorge Jesus clubs was already considered a problem for some professionals in the field, imagine the arrival of an Italian hopscotch.
No wonder Carletto already collects a legion of critics – who go far beyond the tactical aspect. In recent days, Abel Braga had already criticized. Now, it was Antonio Lopes’s turn: “This coach should not be hired. Brazil was a five -time champion with five Brazilian coaches. Why will it put a foreign coach?” Began the veteran.
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“So the mistake was there. I have nothing against this coach. But I think it shouldn’t. A mistake of the board and the president. He’s italian, right? He was already coach of the Italian selection? It wasn’t. So, something has been wrong there. If the guy was not coach of the Italian national team, the national team … So, I think it had to be a Brazilian coach,” Lopes concluded.
Foreigners in the selection
The hiring of Ancelotti is an atypical case in the history of Brazilian football. Before him, the last non -Brazilian had been 60 years ago. Only three foreigners commanded the world champion of the world:
- Uruguayan Ramón Platero – 6 games in 1925;
- The Portuguese Joreca – divided the Flávio Costa command into 2 games in 1944;
- Argentine Filpo Nñez – 1 game in 1965. Palmeiras represented Brazil in a friendly against Uruguay and, being alviverde coach, led the national team.
Regarding the observation of Antonio Lopes makes sense, since no gringo was on the edge of the field representing the Brazilian elite. In addition, Brazil’s possible title with Ancelotti in 2026 would be an unprecedented feat for world football: never a foreigner raised the cup from another country. The last one that reached the final was Austrian Ernst Happel, the Netherlands coach in the 1978 runner-up against Argentina.
In addition, only three of the eight world champions have had foreign technicians in a World Cup: Argentina and Italy with one each, Spain with two, and England had three. However, Brazil is not the only one that should break the paradigms with globalization: by 2026, the tendency is for Argentine Marcelo Bielsa, a Uruguayan coach, and German Thomas Tuchel, who commands England, should increase the list.
The “Portuguese invasion” to the Brasileirão
Already in club football, the presence of gringo has always been more common in Brazilian football. And “more common” does not mean a common fact. This is because, adding 2017, 2018 and 2019, there were three foreigners: Dejan Petkovic in Vitória 2017, Reinaldo Rueda in Flamengo 2017 and Diego Aguirre in Sao Paulo 2018.
From the following year, the scenario has changed! And it can be said that one of the great responsible was the Portuguese Jorge Jesus, Flamengo coach in the historic 2019 team, champion of and. The following year, another Lusitanian landed in Brazil to make historic:, champion of Libertadores in 2020 and 2021 and has been in Palmeiras since then.
And if there is no proof of gringo success in the national team, the scenario is the reverse in clubs. Taking Libertadores into consideration: Of the last six editions, four trophies went to Portuguese bookshelves. In addition to Jesus and Abel, in 2024 the title was with Artur Jorge, from Botafogo. The exceptions are Dorival Jr. (Flamengo, 2022) and Fernando Diniz (Fluminense, 2023).
The American, for example, is another enthusiast of the coaches of Portugal. When he took over the club in 2022, he hired Luís Castro, who came out the following year after making the best 1st round in the history of Brasileirão. The substitute was Bruno Lage, fired after the beginning of the alvinegra collapse. In 2024, Artur Jorge. In 2025, Renato Paiva, already off, hired by Fortaleza and also fired by the team of the capital of Ceará.
In addition to those from “land”, others who are successful (albeit only in participation, and not effectively in titles) are the Argentines: Ramón Díaz (Botafogo, Vasco and Corinthians), Juan Pablo Vojvoda (Fortaleza and Santos), Zubeldía and Crespo (São Paulo), Jorge Sampaoli (Atlético-MG, Flamengo, Santos) (Atletico-MG and International) are some examples.
And more critical!
In March, before the officialization of, Renato Gaúcho was another who criticized the massive presence of foreigners. In an interview with ESPN, he defended the hiring of Brazilians in the national team: “Brazil has good coaches to train the Brazilian team, and who understand Brazilian football, which is the most important. They understand the characteristics of the Brazilian player, because sometimes you bring a foreign coach who has his ideas, and until he learns and knowing Brazilian football well…”.
“It’s not pulling sardines to our coaches, but Brazil has good coaches. I ask like that. With all due respect to Portuguese coaches, what were the victorious Portuguese coaches here in Brazil? It seems that 100 Portuguese coaches have come here and 90 of them got along. With all due respect to them, they are Portuguese, Spanish. Fluminense technician.
In the current season, Serie A Brasileirão had ten teams led by professionals from another countries. Currently, there are five :, Botafogo (Davide Ancelotti), Cruzeiro (Leonardo Jardim), Fortaleza (Renato Paiva), Sao Paulo (Hernán Crespo) and Palmeiras (Abel Ferreira). However, with frequent command changes, this number is likely to change again.
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