Luiz Felipe Scolari, renowned ex-manager of Brazil and Portugal, has come out of retirement and is now set to manage Atletico Mineiro. The 74-year-old, who had previously announced his retirement from coaching last November, has agreed to an 18-month contract with the Brazilian club.
The development was announced soon after Athletico Paranaense confirmed Scolari’s departure from his position as technical director. Atletico Mineiro then announced its deal with the illustrious coach, who led Brazil to a World Cup victory in 2002.
In the previous year, Scolari had successfully led Athletico Paranaense to the Copa Libertadores final, where they, unfortunately, lost to Flamengo. Scolari, who served the club from May to November of the previous year, stated he had fulfilled all his football ambitions.
At Atletico Mineiro, Scolari will be replacing the Argentinian coach, Eduardo Coudet, who resigned earlier this week due to a series of poor results and public disagreements with the club executives.
Despite telling The Associated Press in October that he no longer saw himself as a coach, Scolari has not yet made any comments about his new agreement with Atletico Mineiro.
Citing Scolari’s “gregarious profile” and successful track record, Atletico Mineiro announced that they had signed the former World Cup-winning coach. The club is currently fourth in the Brazilian championship after ten games, trailing six points behind leader Botafogo.
The club was recently ousted from the Brazilian Cup this month but was on the verge of securing a spot in the knockout stage of the Copa Libertadores.
Scolari’s illustrious career includes leading Brazil to a World Cup victory, two Copa Libertadores trophies, and guiding Portugal to the final of the 2004 European Championship. A notable low point in his career was Brazil’s 7-1 defeat to Germany in the 2014 World Cup semi-finals.
