Athletico Paranaense are the only team in Brazil to hold a 100% record after almost a month of the 2021 Brasileirão. The team’s coach, 38-year-old Antonio Oliveira, is the new man in charge in what is his first senior managerial role and just the latest Luso boss to land in South America.
If Oliveira is relishing the new Brazilian season, South American champions Palmeiras and their coach Abel Ferreira have found domestic matters a little less comfortable after a 3-1 midweek defeat to Bragantino. Meanwhile, former Vasco da Gama coach Ricardo Sá Pinto has revealed the financial problems which marred his tenure in Brazil.
Antonio Oliveira was promoted to manager at Athletico Paranaense earlier this year ahead of the 2021 Brazilian season, having worked as part of the Curitiba club’s technical team last year. Oliveira, who is the son of Benfica legend Toni, has worked in the Middle East and Slovenia since leaving his homeland and originally arrived in Brazil as part of Jesualdo Ferreira’s staff at Santos.
Related article: From Benfica to Iran: The lowdown on António Oliveira – Brazil’s latest Portuguese coaching import
A 1-0 home win for Athletico over America Mineiro on the season’s opener was followed by a 3-0 victory at Juventude and an impressive 1-0 triumph away against Gremio. Oliveira’s men conceded their first goal on matchday 4 but nevertheless edged the visiting Atletico Goianiense 2-1 at the Arena da Baixada.
A tremendous start for Oliveira, who has so far chosen to direct the praise straight to his players. “I must congratulate the players,” he said after beating Gremio. “We the coaches are just advisors to give tips, ideas, plans. And it is they, with their quality, professionalism and above all their human condition, who performed in the best possible way. This has given us confidence. We believe in what we’re doing.”
Oliveira has already shown some tactical flexibility, having won matches with three central defenders as well as a back four. “Each game has its own history and each opponent studied in a different way, but we never stray from our game matrix, we just create some nuances depending on the opponent,” Oliveira said. “This is just the beginning. There’s a long way to go. But of course victories like this are tasty!”
Abel tetchy after Palmeiras defeat
Abel Ferreira’s Palmeiras won the Copa Libertadores and Copa do Brasil last season, but their start to the new domestic campaign has been far from perfect. A 1-0 defeat to champions Flamengo on the opening day was followed by a shock exit in the Brazilian Cup to second-tier side CRB on penalties. Although a few victories over some of the league’s weaker opponents recovered form, Abel’s men were beaten 3-1 at RB Bragantino on Wednesday to make it ten points from their opening six matches.
Speaking after the match, Abel appeared to increase tensions between himself and the Palmeiras board by lamenting the lack of signings made during the close season. “To make it clear to everyone, in March I delivered a report to the board with everything that was needed. Palmeiras needed the players to compete in the Recopa, The Super Cup and the Paulista. Right now, I cannot count on those players.
“I have had no hope of reinforcements for a while now. This is our team; this is our squad and these are our players.
“I said that I crossed the Atlantic to win and I am paying a very high price to be here, and I am willing to be here to win. But I think the fans and the press must listen to the speech of the Palmeiras coach at the end of the Club World Cup game. I warned what would happen if we did not pay attention. I don’t change even a comma of what I said.
“I'm disappointed because after the Champions League final, they asked Guardiola a question about Foden. He said: 'I don't know what he is going to be like next year, if he'll be willing to listen in the same way, if he's going to give everything for the team and be on the bench when I tell him he has to. That is the message I wanted to give to everyone. After winning, the demand is much greater for everyone. Just read or listen to what I said at the end of the World Club Cup. When I arrived, the team was not as weak as they said it was, and now we aren’t the world’s best like some say.”
While Palmeiras have stuttered in the league, passage to the knockout stages of the Copa Libertadores was secured with minimal complication. Verdão topped Group A with five wins from their six matches and will meet Universidad Catolica of Chile in the last-16 across two legs next month.
“I had to give Vasco players money” – Sá Pinto
Finally, one of the more short-lived Portuguese coaching experiences in Brazil was Ricardo Sá Pinto’s spell with Vasco da Gama between October and December 2020. The former Braga and Sporting boss had just 15 matches in charge of Vasco, who were riddled with financial problems and were relegated two months after Sá Pinto was fired.
Speaking to Globo, Sá Pinto revealed the shocking extents of the club’s problems and says he is still owed money six months after leaving. “I already knew the financial situation was difficult,” he said. “A month's delay is fine, but I was there for three months in which my coaching team and I didn't receive a salary. The players did not receive a salary, nobody did. I had to help players financially because they had nothing to eat.
“Basically, unbelievable things. I helped a player who had no money. Other directors helped because there was no money to buy bread, ham or juice. Sometimes I wanted to make changes to the training pitch and there was no money to buy paint. We had to buy it.
“I didn’t know there were club elections, which took place 15 days after I arrived. I was prepared for a difficult financial situation, with the club paying here and there, but almost three months without paying me and the players is an unbelievable thing. I still have not received a salary. Until today, they owe me and my technical team months of salary. Nobody in the new management was man enough or decent enough to explain or apologise.”
Antonio Oliveira’s Athletico Paranaense travel to Bahia on Thursday, before Palmeiras host the same opponents with Bahia headed to São Paulo at the weekend.
By Sean Gillen
