São Paulo have just hired Dorival Júnior as the new coach of their A team yesterday (20), while Corinthians have hired Cuca to replace Fernando Lázaro. These two events took place on the same day, which is interesting given that these two teams are historical rivals in the Brazilian championship.
Dorival Júnior has been named São Paulo’s new coach to replace Rogério Ceni, who was sacked last week. The agreement was reached on Thursday morning and the new coach is expected to lead the team from Saturday against América in Morumbi, for the second day of the Brazilian championship. The contract was finalized after initial contacts as early as Wednesday and a meeting with Dorival Júnior’s representative on Thursday.
READ MORE
++ Ederson is praised by the Manchester press after City’s semifinal qualification
++ Former Chelsea midfielder Oscar talks about the desire to return to the Premier League
++ Vinicius Jr vs. Erling Haaland one-on-one duel in the FIFA award
This is not the first time that Dorival Júnior will work for the Morumbi club, since he had already been hired in 2017 to replace Rogério Ceni. Dorival Júnior’s main focus as São Paulo coach will be to perform, especially in a Brazilian league, where the club has had poor performances for the past two seasons, even risking relegation. As for the ongoing competitions, Dorival will have the task of winning the second leg of the Copa do Brasil third round against Ituano next week. In the first leg at Morumbi, there was a scoreless draw. As for the Copa Sudamericana, São Paulo have not yet experienced any scares and have won both of their games.
Before arriving in São Paulo, Dorival had been without a club since the end of his contract with Flamengo in December. In Rio de Janeiro, he won the Copa do Brasil and the Libertadores in 2022. Dorival Júnior’s experience and his knowledge of the club will certainly be assets to put São Paulo back on track.
Same story for the Corinthians
For its part, Corinthians also announced the dismissal of its coach, Fernando Lázaro, who was replaced by Cuca. The coach notably won the 2013 Copa Libertadores with Atlético Mineiro. He had also passed through most of the big clubs in Brazil, but this is his first stop at Corinthians, considered the second team with the most fans in Brazil. He signed a contract that binds him to the Paulista club until December 2023.
Also, recently, he won the Brazilian League and the Copa de Brasil in 2021 with Atlético Mineiro, a club from which he was sacked last November. At Corinthians, his mission will be to bring the team back to fight for a domestic title, which the club have not won since 2017, and to have a good run in the Copa Libertadores.
This coaching change comes a day after the 0-1 defeat against Argentinos Juniors.
Things are moving fast in Brazil.
