Once again Jorge Sampaoli will not finish his lease at the head of a team. This time it is the Flamengo club, in Rio de Janeiro, the most popular in Brazil, which put an end to the contract of the tempestuous 63-year-old Argentine coach on Thursday.
In a very laconic message on only wishing him “good luck in the continuation of his career”. Once again Jorge Sampaoli will receive severance pay, here of 1.8 million euros according to local media, for the termination of his contract which ran until December 31, 2024. Tite, the former Brazil coach 62 years old, would hold the rope to replace him.
Sampaoli knew he was in an ejection seat for several weeks after the poor elimination in the round of 16 of the Copa Libertadores (the South American equivalent of the Champions League) and the setbacks in the domestic championship where Flamengo is in an unusual seventh place , eleven points behind the leader, Botafogo.
Sunday’s defeat in the Brazilian Cup final, which leaves Flamengo with virtually no chance of winning any title in 2023, seems to have sealed its fate. In addition, as with each of Jorge Sampaoli’s visits to a club, problems of tense relations with the locker room or management arise. Sampaoli only lasted five months at Flamengo, an equivalent time spent at his previous club, Sevilla, from where he was sacked on March 21.
It was Sampaoli’s third experience at a Brazilian club, after Santos (2019) and Atletico Mineiro (2020-21). The former coach of Olympique de Marseille (2021-22) and ex-coach of Chile (2012-16) and Argentina (2017-18) is not solely responsible for the instability at the head of Flamengo which has seen nine coaches pass through in five years. But during this period, the Red and Black club shared the domination of South America with Palmeiras, a club from Sao Paulo, winning two league titles, two Libertadores, two Brazilian Super Cups, a local cup and a Brazilian Cup. South America Cup Winners.