Flamengo decides not to wait for Jorge Jesus and closes with the former Sevilla coach, who will sign until December 2024
Sampaoli will arrive in Rio de Janeiro with the intention of raising the spirits of a team that has lost four consecutive titles
Jorge Sampaoli is chosen to lead Flamengo. The charismatic Argentine coach, who trained Sevilla up to three weeks ago, has engaged this Friday with the current Copa Libertadores champion. He will sign until December 2024.
At first, everything indicated that Jorge Jesus would return to ‘Mengao’, but a change in the script has emerged and the events have precipitated this Friday due to the difficulty of the Portuguese coach to obtain the loss by Fenerbahçe and the facilities that he has given ‘Sampa’, which will land this weekend in Rio de Janeiro.
This will be the Argentine’s third adventure in Brazilian football, where he enjoys great prestige, after his good experiences at Santos FC (in 2019) and At. Mineiro (in 2020). Now, finally, he will be able to lead a team that goes out to win all the titles despite the bump suffered at the start of 2023.
There is no doubt that Flamengo has the best squad on the continent. In 2022, he won his third Copa Libertadores in its history and the Copa do Brasil. And, this year, he went out to conquer the world under the baton of Victor Pereirabut the former Corinthians has failed miserably.
The cariocas, in a quarter to forget, have lost the four titles they aspired to win: the Supercopa do Brasil (against Palmeiras); the Club World Cup (where they lost in the semifinals against Al-Hilal 3-2); the South American Recopa (against Independiente del Valle); and, last weekend, the Carioca Championship, when, after the favorable 2-0 win in the first leg, Fluminense endorsed him a 4-1 win that led to the sudden dismissal of Vitor Pereira.
Flamengo is in a sporting rut, because it has accumulated three consecutive defeats: in the debut in the group stage of the Copa Libertadores (lost 2-1 against Aucas in Ecuador), the Carioca final and, this Thursday, an embarrassing 2-0 against Maringá in the Copa do Brasil.
Sampaoli, however, will have time to reverse the situation, because the Brasileirao 2023 starts this weekend. Therefore, he will be able to direct his new team in 37 of the 38 scheduled days. And he still has five days left in the group stage of the Libertadores.