Abel reaches the round of 16 with less work time than only Guardiola's.
SAO PAULO, SP (FOLHAPRESS) - Since November 2020, when Abel Ferreira took command of Palmeiras, Botafogo has had nine different effective coaches.
Instability for coaches at the Rio de Janeiro team is not an exception in Brazilian football. On the other hand, the longevity of the Portuguese coach at the São Paulo team is rare even outside Brazil. Abel himself usually mentions that in Europe, coaches also face early dismissals, and attributes his long stay in the same position to the support of the board – his achievements on the field obviously make a difference.
Starting from the quarterfinals of the FIFA Club World Cup - the round in which Palmeiras will face the Rio team on Saturday (28), at 13:00 (BRT), in Philadelphia - the head coach of the Verdão will become the second oldest among the coaches present in the tournament, behind only Pep Guardiola, who was with Manchester City nine years ago.
Both gained positions on the list due to the eliminations of Atlético Madrid, under Diego Simeone, and Seattle Sounders, under Brian Schmetzer, in the first phase—the Argentine was leading the rankings, with his work at the helm of the Spanish team since December 2011. The American was third, employed at the same club since July 2016.
Simeone and Schmetzer, however, did not translate their stability into titles as Abel and Guardiola did. The leader of the green formation became the most victorious coach in the club's history, with ten achievements, tied with Oswaldo Brandão. The Portuguese coach's list includes two Copa Libertadores and two Brazilian Championship trophies.
The Portuguese arrived at the club at 41 years old and brought experience as a coach of Braga in Portugal and PAOK in Greece, where he won the Greek Cup in 2019, his first title as head coach.
Now, it is quite possible that he will manage to isolate himself as the greatest winner in the club's history from the Barra Funda. He will have time for that. His current contract goes until December, but he is already maintaining conversations with the Palmeiras president, Leila Pereira, to extend his bond until 2027, when the term of the director ends.
More important than the ambition to seek new trophies, an important factor for his stay at the club is the fact that his family currently lives in Brazil.
"I'm not going to switch from Palmeiras to the other side now without my family being with me. It cost me so much to have my family with me," said Abel in a recent interview with TV Globo. "At a certain point in my life, as a coach, I was very selfish. Because I only thought about myself and didn't think about them," he added.
The coach of Palmeiras also wanted to show his more vulnerable side, in contrast to his public image as an explosive leader known for gesturing on the sidelines and arguing with referees and rivals.
If he extends his contract for another two years, he will complete six seasons with the team from Barra Funda. It's a significant period, but shorter than the time enjoyed by Guardiola, who spent nine years in Manchester.
It is also under the command of their current coach that City is experiencing the most glorious period in its history. With the Spanish coach, the English team has accumulated 18 trophies, with highlights being the unprecedented victories in the Champions League (2022-23) and the World Cup (2023), in its former format, recently renamed as the Intercontinental Cup.
Abel had two chances to give Palmeiras a trophy from a world-class competition, but he failed in the editions held in 2020 and 2021, which were his biggest failures in his successful relationship with the club. He himself recognizes these losses as "open wounds" that he uses as fuel to continue in search of the unprecedented title.
Your new attempt has an opponent that the Palmeiras has been competing with in the last two years, even without giving its coaches the stability seen at the São Paulo club.
In the reserves bench of Botafogo will be the Portuguese Renato Paiva, the ninth different professional to command the club as manager since November 2020, when Abel arrived in the country.
Paiva arrived in General Severiano in February of this year. His debut was at the beginning of March, exactly against Palmeiras, in the opening of the Brazilian Championship. The goalless draw did not reflect the great games that the two clubs had in recent seasons.
The most recent decisive meetings don't bring good memories for Abel. In 2024, Botafogo emerged victorious in the clash for the 36th round of the Brazilian Championship at the Allianz Parque, and with their win by 3 to 1, they secured the title they would go on to win. This was a rematch of the 2023 edition when he let the trophy slip away to the rival.
The campaign won by the Palmeiras team was particularly marked by the encounter with Botafogo in the second round, when the São Paulo team came back to win 4-3 after seeing their opponent open up a 3-0 lead on the scoreboard.
Also in 2024, the Rio team eliminated the São Paulo team in the round of 16 of the Libertadores, with a 2-1 victory in Rio and a 2-2 draw away from home, in a campaign that ended with the unprecedented conquest of the tournament.
The newest clash between Palmeiras and Botafogo in the World Cup is a new chance for Abel to avenge recent losses.
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