International Football - Menezes named Brazil boss

Reuters - Sat, 24 Jul 15:56:00 2010

Mano Menezes, a specialist in leading big clubs out of the doldrums but little-known outside his own country, became the coach of Brazil when he accepted an offer from the five-times world champions.

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The 48-year-old, currently coach of Corinthians, confirmed he had said yes to the Brazilian Football Confederation, who were turned down by Muricy Ramalho the day before after his club refused to release him.

"For the whole of Brazil, I say that I officially accept the invitation," Menezes said.

Menezes, who replaces Dunga in the hot seat, will have the huge task of trying to rebuild Brazil's national team, discredited after their quarter-final exit World Cup exit against Netherlands three weeks ago, and win a sixth world title when they host the 2014 World Cup.

Winning their own World Cup is seen as an obligation by Brazil's 190 million inhabitants. With Brazil's failure to win on home soil in 1950 still being mentioned regularly, the pressure on Menezes and his team will be greater than ever.

Menezes, 48, made his name in 2005 when he led former South American champions Gremio out of Serie B.

In an extraordinary decisive game, Gremio had four players sent off, survived a penalty miss by opponents Nautico and then snatched a goal to win 1-0 and clinch promotion.

Two years later, he took them to the final of the Copa de Libertadores, the South American equivalent of the Champions League.

He then joined Corinthians, another hugely popular team, and led them out of the second tier in 2008.

Since then, his side have won the Copa Brasil and signed former Brazil World Cup winners Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos.

  • Brazil name coach
Reuters

Comment 1 - 18 of 18

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  1. FIRST TEAM:

    ­ 1. Julio Cesar

    ­ 2. Maicon - 3. Mario Fernandes - 4. David Luiz - 6.­ Filipe Luis

    8.­ Ramires - 10. Ganso - 5. Hernanes

    ­ 7. Neymar - 9. Pato - 11.­ Robinho

    RESERVE TEAM:

    Goalkeeper - Fernando Henrique­ | Victor

    Defense - Dani Alves | Luisao | Thiago Silva­ | Marcelo

    Midfielder - Elano | Kaka | Sandro | Thiago­ Motta

    Forward - Nilmar | Ronaldinho

    STANDBY­ LIST:

    Phillipe Coutinho , Keirrison , Diego , Felipe­ Melo , Denilson , Lucas , Luis Fabiano , Rafinha ,­ Michel Bastos , Alex

    From Amir, on Sun 25 Jul 21:23

  2. FIRST TEAM:

    ­ 1. Julio Cesar

    ­ 2. Maicon - 3. Mario Fernandes - 4. David Luiz - 6.­ Filipe Luis

    8.­ Ramires - 10. Ganso - 5. Hernanes

    ­ 7. Neymar - 9. Pato - 11.­ Robinho

    RESERVE TEAM:

    Goalkeeper - Fernando Henrique­ | Victor

    Defense - Dani Alves | Luisao | Thiago Silva­ | Marcelo

    Midfielder - Elano | Kaka | Sandro | Thiago­ Motta

    Forward - Nilmar | Ronaldinho

    STANDBY­ LIST:

    Phillipe Coutinho , Keirrison , Diego , Felipe­ Melo , Denilson , Lucas , Luis Fabiano , Rafinha ,­ Michel Bastos , Alex

    From Amir, on Sun 25 Jul 21:22

  3. "the Yellow Cowdenbeath"

    Made me laugh, at­ least.

    From Josef, on Sun 25 Jul 15:00

  4. I think Brazil is seriously competing with Argentina­ trying to have the least unexperienced coach when it­ comes to international football.

    From hair, on Sun 25 Jul 14:43

  5. Managing the Yellow Cowdenbeath playing at home in the­ world Cup Finals is a huge challenge. Only one result­ will be acceptable to the fans.

    From damlf, on Sun 25 Jul 13:28

  6. brazil is just another team in yellow any one can beat­ them.

    From Carlos, on Sun 25 Jul 13:09

  7. Who is this guy??

    From justin, on Sun 25 Jul 10:26

  8. I don't think that was the best choice myself. The­ confederation should have brought Felipão back to us as­ Brasil's manager. Anyway, since I'm a­ brasileiro all I have to do now is root for everything­ works out to Mano. Good luck.

    From Leonardo, on Sun 25 Jul 9:43

  9. A guy with little international experience. It is a­ risk for sure and i hope the Brazilian Football­ Confederation have got it right. Only time will tell

    From Homer, on Sun 25 Jul 9:25

  10. # 12. There really isn't a general tactic for him.­ He adapts to the way the other team plays and what his­ team has. For a few months now, he has been recognized­ as a counter-attacker and plays too defensive, but­ that's because Corinthians is limited in the­ attacking positions. I'm sure he's going to­ play nice attacking football with Brazil, but a 4-4-2­ formation is more likely. I've seen him play often­ with a 4-4-3 with 2 wingers, which could happen as well­ (Neymar, Robinho and Pato in the middle or Hulk).

    From Victor, on Sun 25 Jul 9:06

  11. Could anyone tell me please how his teams are playing,­ what his general aproach is and what his general­ tactics are? thanks in advance.

    From Mick, on Sun 25 Jul 8:46

  12. He should be a great coach as he has been in the big­ leagues like Spain, Enland or Italy just brazilian­ football so he should bring the Brazilian style of­ football back.

    From MARION, on Sun 25 Jul 8:38

  13. Now this is the time for Menezes to build a team of­ character founded on the values that define what brazil­ is all about! He now has a whole four years to rebuild­ a team that will re-define brazilian football and not­ copy the european style of play wholesale as dunga did!

    From paulm, on Sun 25 Jul 8:17

  14. Mano Menezes is a great coach here in Brazil, only­ Muricy is better than him in my opinion. Europeans do­ not know him because you guys do not follow Brazilian­ soccer. Corinthians 2 years ago was in the second­ division and in a crisis; Mano Menezes assumed­ Corinthians and now is in second place this year in the­ first division. And who's best to make the­ renovation of the Seleçao than a coach in Brazil, since­ most of the young talent is in Brazil, with an­ exception of a few (Pato, Denilson, Philippe Coutinho,­ Ramires). Best of luck to Mano.

    From Victor, on Sun 25 Jul 6:50

  15. this is a good choice and the people are very happy­ with this appointment he was working wonders in­ corinthians winning the brazil fa cup

    From Ashley B, on Sun 25 Jul 6:42

  16. Best of luck to them... they'll need it with all­ the egoistic characters they possess

    From Abbakaer, on Sun 25 Jul 6:06

  17. I WANT EX-MILAN COACH, LEONARDO........!!!!!!

    From Amir, on Sat 24 Jul 23:01

  18. I am amazed at this whole saga .
    Up until the second­ half of their match with Holland , Brazil looked the­ most solid and enterprising side in the competition and­ by a considerable margin.
    They led by a goal and if­ this had been by three , it would have better reflected­ their vast superiority .
    Their crime was to be caught­ napping---- if not fully asleep --- not once , but­ twice , allowing "silly ' Dutch goals ,­ and then being unable to raise their tempo --- as­ players know , a notoriously difficult thing to do­ after over half the match has gone .
    Naturally , one­ must give credit to the Dutch for overwhelming them­ in what was a fairly clumsy /physical and untidy way .­ And , of course , matches are decided by the number­ of scored goals -- unless you are England !
    As a­ successful Betting man , I would expect that Brazilian­ side to beat the Dutch nine times out of ten -- and I­ am not whining because I lost money . Which I did not­ .
    Perhaps Brazil just lacked a captain or one character­ player who could have lifted their tempo in what was --­ for them -- a rarely encountered situation .
    For the­ long term future and style of the game , I­ desperately wish that Brazil had won the World Cup­ instead of Spain . But that is another discussion and­ one which would , no doubt , produce a lot of­ shouting and swearing .
    Particularly you know where­ .Ray in Brighton .

    From raymond, on Sat 24 Jul 21:45
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