Last Friday, many Brazilians were in a frenzy. The new head coach for the national soccer team was to be chosen. All day Friday, all anyone could talk about was how Muricy Ramalho, the carioca team, Fluminense‘s head coach, was going to take CBF’s (Clube Brasileiro de Futebol) offer. However, when he did, his current team didn’t allow him to leave them. So they went on to their next choice, Mano Menezes, head coach of Corinthians. Corinthians, a São Paulo club, is today in first place in the Brazilian tournament, o brasileirão, and has the largest fan base in the entire country.
So you can imagine all the hoopla surrounding this decision!! Terra featured some quotes from all sorts of people talking about Mano as Brazil’s new head coach which I thought would be interesting to share with you all!
“Que ele está bem ferrado, está. Tem 200 milhões de olho e vai ser cobrado sempre” – Andrés Sanchez, president of Corinthians Futebol Clube.
“Chego para ser o técnico da Seleção com muito orgulho. Devemos ter no futebol brasileiro 30,40 ou 50 excelentes profissionais. Sou o segundo, estou bem colocado.” – Mano Menezes, playing off he was CBF’s number 2.
“Acredito nessas coisas, respeitar as pessoas. Acredito nisso. Alguém pode dizer: esses cara parece louco, mais eu não sou louco. Para mim, é assim que funciona.” – Muricy Ramalho, defending his decision to stay with Fluminense.
“Ele mostrou coragem e também orgulho por ter a oportunidade que todo técnico do mundo sonhas, que é dirigir a Seleção Brasileira. Tenho a certeza de que realizará um grande trabalho até 2014.” - Ricardo Texeita, CBF president, praising Mano, and nudging Muricy.
After reading this, what do you think the overall sentiment is with Mano as our new head coach. How do they portray the “politics” of soccer in Brazil?
