Renato Gaúcho criticizes preference for Portuguese in Brazilian football and praises Filipe Luís

Free on the market since leaving Grêmio at the end of last season, Renato Gaúcho criticized the "preference" for foreign coaches in Brazilian football , at the same time that Carlo Ancelotti and Jorge Jesus appear as possible successors to then coach Dorival Júnior in the national team.

Among the 20 clubs in Series A, nine have foreign managers: the Portuguese Renato Paiva (Botafogo), Leonardo Jardim (Cruzeiro), Abel Ferreira (Palmeiras), Pedro Caixinha (Santos) and Pepa (Sport), the Argentines Juan Pablo Vojvoda (Fortaleza), Ramón Díaz (Corinthians) and Zubeldía (São Paulo), and the Argentine naturalized Bolivian Gustavo Quinteros (Grêmio).

— This is not to flatter our coaches, but Brazil has good coaches. That's what I'm asking. With all due respect to the Portuguese coaches, who were the successful Portuguese coaches here in Brazil? — Renato asked ESPN, who added: — It seems like 100 Portuguese coaches have come here and 90 of them have done well. The patience that the Brazilian press often has with foreign coaches is not with Brazilian coaches. With all due respect to them, whether they're Portuguese, Mexican, or Spanish. I think there's room for everyone, as long as you prove your worth.

In recent years, Artur Jorge and Jorge Jesus won the Libertadores and the Brazilian Championship in a single year for Botafogo and Flamengo, respectively , while Abel Ferreira became the most successful coach in the history of Palmeiras. Even so, the former Grêmio coach believes that the Brazilian coach is more accustomed to the particularities of national football, which could be a problem for the foreigner with the World Cup approaching.

— You can be sure that Brazil has good coaches to train the Brazilian national team, and that they understand Brazilian football, which is the most important thing, they understand the characteristics of the Brazilian player, because, sometimes, you bring a foreign coach who has his own ideas, and until he learns and gets to know Brazilian football well, in a year's time it's the World Cup — he highlighted.

One manager who catches his eye is Filipe Luís, who took over Flamengo after Tite left last year and has already won three titles: the 2024 Copa do Brasil, the 2025 Supercopa do Brasil and the 2025 Campeonato Carioca. In five months, there have been 19 wins, 7 draws and just one defeat.

— A guy who is way above average and intelligent. I told him myself at the time (when he was coaching Flamengo): look, it's time for you to leave left back and go to defense, so you can play for another two or three years. You're very intelligent, you take shortcuts, you'll do well as a defender too. And he said he was taking a coaching course. I said I had no doubt that he would do well as a coach, that I had no doubt that, due to his ability and intelligence, he would be a great coach. So, the work he's doing now at Flamengo is no surprise to me — praised Renato,