Italian Carlo Ancelotti will be the fourth foreigner to take charge
of the Brazilian national team but, unlike his short-lived predecessors,
the former Real Madrid coach will take over with the idea of turning the
tide and guiding the five-time champions to a successful World Cup in 2026.
The first overseas manager to coach Brazil was Uruguayan Ramon Platero
in the 1925 Copa America (then South American Championship).
Although Joaquim Guimaraes was officially presented for the competition,
Platero was the de facto coach while the Brazilian took on managerial duties,
according to the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) in 2015.
Brazil were runners-up in the tournament, played between late November and
December in Buenos Aires with only two other teams:
Argentina - the champions - and Paraguay.
The Brazilians' numbers at the World Cup? Two wins,
one draw and one defeat. After the tournament ended,
he left his post, which he had taken on after making a name for
himself in local football.
After winning the South American Championship in 1917,
Platero took over at Fluminense (1919) and was the first coach of
Flamengo (1921), which before his arrival, was run by a committee.
In 1922, he was the protagonist of a curious event:
he coached Fla in the first division of the Carioca
Championship and Vasco in the second division.
That season, he finished runner-up to Rubro-Negro Carioca
and won promotion to Vasco da Gama, where he remained in 1923.
He went on to coach Botafogo, Santos, Palmeiras and Sao Paulo.
For many years, Platero's time with the Amarelinha was unrecognised,
even by the CBF. For some, the first foreigner to take charge of the
Selecao was the Portuguese Jorge Gomes de Lima, known as Joreca.
The then-coach of Sao Paulo formed a coaching duo with Brazilian
Flavio Costa in 1944.
The pair coached Brazil in two friendly matches against Uruguay: 6
-1 on May 14th in Rio and 4-0 four days later in Sao Paulo.
After this experience, Joreca continued at Sao Paulo until 1947,
two years before he died of a heart attack, and is still considered
one of the best managers of the Tricolor Paulista.
Costa was the coach of the Brazilian national team during the "Maracanaco",
when Uruguay won 2-1 in the 1950 World Cup final. The coach died on November 22nd, 1999, aged 93.
A very Palmeiras-oriented squad
The last foreigner to coach Brazil was Argentina's Filpo Nunez,
on September 7th, 1965, when the team were already two-time World
Cup champions. These came at Sweden in 1958 and Chile in 1962.
At the time, the former San Lorenzo and Independiente player was
in charge of a great Palmeiras team, which became famous for beating
Pele's Santos.
The Brazilian Sports Confederation, CBF's predecessor,
paid Palmeiras to represent the national team in a single
friendly against Uruguay to celebrate the inauguration of the Mineirao
stadium in Belo Horizonte.
Wearing the Canarinha, Palmeiras de Nunez beat the Uruguayans 3-0 and then returned to Sao Paulo, where the coach, who died on March 6th, 1999 at the age of 78, completed the consolidation of the so-called "Academia Palmeirense" (1961-70), one of the most glorious eras of the Sao Paulo team.
The pair coached Brazil in two friendly matches against Uruguay: 6-1 on May 14th in Rio and 4-0 four days later in Sao Paulo. After this experience, Joreca continued at Sao Paulo until 1947, two years before he died of a heart attack, and is still considered one of the best managers of the Tricolor Paulista.