Discover the history of international commanders who have led the Brazilian team

National football is about to experience an unprecedented chapter in its century-old trajectory, as the five-time world champion squad will enter the fields of FIFA’s biggest tournament under the guidance of a professional born beyond our borders.

Completing a year of work at the headquarters of the sport’s highest entity in the country, the renowned Italian strategist Carlo Ancelotti, holder of an enviable CV in European football with four Champions League titles, takes on the challenge of guiding a national team for the first time in his victorious career.

However, the belief that the multi-time European champion is the absolute international trailblazer to wear the green and yellow jersey constitutes a historical mistake. Over the past decades, three other professionals born abroad had the honor of guiding the Canarian team, even though none of them managed to compete for the coveted World Cup trophy.

In the following paragraphs, we rescue the memory and details of the passages of these pioneering commanders who left their signatures on the bench of the most respected team on the planet.

Uruguayan pioneering in the beginnings of national sport

The break in national exclusivity occurred in the 1920s, when Uruguayan Ramón Platero took over the reins of the Canarian team. At that time, the Breton sport was still in its infancy towards professionalization in the country, and the Brazilian team had just over a decade of official performances on South American lawns.

Deeply knowledgeable about the local scene, the South American built a solid reputation by coaching giants from Rio de Janeiro, such as Flamengo, Vasco da Gama and Fluminense. This prestige qualified him to lead the delegation at the 1925 South American Championship, a tournament based in Argentina that would become the current Copa América.

The confederation’s original planning appointed Brazilian Joaquim Guimarães to the role on the edge of the pitch. However, a last-minute restructuring elevated Guimarães to the position of sporting director, granting the professional from the neighboring country direct responsibility for implementing training and defining tactics with the players called up.

The result of that international tour resulted in the national squad finishing runner-up in the competition. The team’s final record under the Uruguayan’s tutelage featured two impressive triumphs against the Paraguayan team, as well as a hard-fought draw and a setback against the home team, Argentina.

The unusual division of tasks with a journalist from Portugal

Almost two decades later, Lisbon native Jorge Gomes de Lima wrote his name on that select list. Having arrived in Brazilian territory at a very young age, the European, popularly called Joreca, built a multifaceted career: he shone on sports radio microphones, graduated in physical education and even worked as a referee before definitively migrating to the tactical drawing board.

The great leap in his career occurred in charge of São Paulo Futebol Clube, an institution for which he won state trophies in the 1943, 1945 and 1946 seasons. The overwhelming performance in São Paulo football caught the attention of federal directors, who proposed a shared management model, placing the Portuguese player to work side by side with the legendary Flávio Costa.

The double command experience, held at the Pacaembu and São Januário stadiums, lasted the equivalent of two friendly matches against the Uruguayan team. Despite reaping significant victories in these clashes, the management decided to abandon the innovative format, disconnecting the European from the project and centralizing decisions in the hands of the Brazilian coach, who would end up suffering the painful defeat at the 1950 Maracanazo.

The day a São Paulo club represented the country under Argentine orders

The third name in this chronology, and the last one before the contemporary era, came precisely from the nation that is the protagonist of the greatest continental rivalry with Brazilians. Argentine Nelson Ernesto Filpo Núñez carved his name into history when he led the national team in the sixties.

The Buenos Aires player built a lasting relationship with the country that would go on to become the world’s only five-time champion. Over a long period, which lasted from the middle of the last century until the nineties, the charismatic commander toured countless clubs spread across different regions of the country.

At the height of his career, the Argentine was the brains behind the legendary “Primeira Academia” of Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras, a formidable squad that went head to head with Santos led by King Pelé. Due to this flashy football, the federation took an atypical decision: it invited the entire squad of the São Paulo club to wear the Brazil shirt at the inauguration event of the Mineirão stadium, on September 7, 1965, automatically transferring the clipboard to the foreign coach.

The lightning passage lasted exactly ninety minutes of that festive event. The improvised team, which maintained the chemistry and soul of the alviverde team, took no notice of Uruguay and scored a resounding 3-0 rout, guaranteeing a complete party for the Minas Gerais fans present in the stands.

The path designed for the search for a sixth world championship

These days, the scene is one of intense preparation in the corridors of the Brazilian Football Confederation, where the current European technical committee pores over spreadsheets and performance analyzes aimed at imminent commitments on the international calendar.

The group of athletes, whose main technical reference is striker Vinicius Jr., will make their long-awaited debut in the global tournament against the Moroccan team, shortly after the conclusion of the last period of testing in friendly matches. Inserted in group C of the competition, the green and yellow squad has meetings scheduled against Haiti, scheduled for the 19th, and closes the initial phase by measuring up against Scotland, on the 24th.

Depending on the performance in the group stage, the path towards the title will present different levels of difficulty in the round of 16. The mathematical projections indicate the following crossover scenarios for the first knockout stage:

• Advancing in first or second place in group C, the opponent will necessarily leave Group F.
• In this direct qualifying scenario, potential opponents include teams from the Netherlands, Japan, Sweden or Tunisia.

On the other hand, if a stumble occurs and the classification comes only through the repechage of the best third-placed teams, the level of demand will rise drastically. In this hypothetical situation, the cross would point to the leaders of groups A, E or I, which would put Brazil on an early collision course against powers that have already lifted the cup, such as the feared teams from Germany or France.