Three weeks after Sylvinho’s dismissal, Corinthians agreed to hire a new coach. The club reached an agreement with the Portuguese Vítor Pereira, 53, who had been free on the market since leaving Turkey’s Fenerbahce in December.
The technician will sign an appointment valid until December 2022.
“This decision took longer than we expected, but the result is exactly what we wanted. Now, we welcome a guy who was champion wherever he went”, said President Duilio Monteiro Alves, to the announce on video the hiring of the new commander.
Pereira was one of the first names considered by the board, but did not signal positively after the initial conversations. Pointing out family issues, he demonstrated that he preferred to remain in Europe.
Corinthians then started to work with different names and was close to agreeing with another Portuguese, Luís Castro, 60. However, the coach’s demands increased, and Duilio ended the negotiation, recommending that he sign with Botafogo, also interested.
The president resumed negotiations with Vítor Pereira, improved the proposal and had a positive response. The coach was introduced to the managers by an old acquaintance, the Iranian Kia Joorabchian, who participated in the management of the club in the days of MSI and now works as an agent.
A midfielder with a modest career, built in small teams in Portugal, Pereira had some of his first experiences at the base of Porto. He grew up at the club, took over the first team and with it won two editions of the Portuguese Championship, in 2011/12 and 2012/13.
After that, he directed Saudi Al Ahli, Greek Olympiacos, Turkish Fenerbahçe, German 1860 München and Chinese Shanghai SIPG before returning to Fenerbahçe. Fired in December, he even had an interview to take over England’s Everton, but was not chosen.
The Portuguese, who assisted André Villas-Boas at Porto, is considered a coach capable of putting together strong defensive systems. It was with consistent teams that he won important duels with Jorge Jesus’s Benfica on the way to the national championship.
Despite the results, he never achieved the prestige of his predecessor and was criticized for what was pointed out as a communication difficulty. “Charisma doesn’t win titles,” replied Pereira, who also has a Greek Championship (2014/15) and a Chinese Championship (2018) on his resume.
With the signing of the Portuguese, Corinthians becomes the seventh club in Serie A of the Brazilian Championship to have a foreign commander in 2022. His compatriots Abel Ferreira and Paulo Sousa coach Palmeiras and Flamengo, respectively. There are also two Argentines, “Turco” Mohamed (Atlético-MG) and Juan Pablo Vojvoda (Fortaleza), in addition to the Paraguayan Gustavo Morínigo and the Uruguayan Alexander “Cacique” Medina (International).
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