Eduardo Baptista is Internacional’s new manager | OneFootball

Internacional announced the hiring of coach Eduardo Baptista on the morning of Wednesday the 23rd. The manager has signed a contract with the Rio Grande do Sul club until the end of the Brazilian Championship. The new coach’s main objective will be to keep Inter from being relegated to the second division in 2027. If he succeeds, he will receive bonuses set out in his contract.

Under the agreement, Internacional will pay around R$600,000 to Criciúma, the club Eduardo Baptista was under contract with. He led the team on Tuesday night against Operário in the 29th round of Série B. The Santa Catarina side, which is fighting for promotion to the top division, was beaten 2-0 at home.

Eduardo Baptista will replace Paulo Pezzolano, who was fired last weekend after a 1-0 defeat to São Paulo in the Brazilian Championship. He will take over a team sitting in 18th place with 28 points. The coach will need at least six wins in the final stretch of the Brasileirão to save Inter from relegation to Série B.

Eduardo Baptista has not worked in Série A since 2022

Eduardo Baptista was not the first choice of the Rio Grande do Sul club’s board. Before reaching an agreement with him, Colorado contacted Luís Zubeldía, Jair Ventura, Diego Aguirre, Rafael Lacerda, and Maurício Barbieri. After being turned down by those names, the board widened its search until it reached the Criciúma coach.

The deal with Internacional brings Eduardo Baptista back to Brazil’s Série A, where he had not worked since 2022, when he managed Atlético-GO. Now 54, the coach began his career at Sport in 2014. After that, he managed Fluminense, Ponte Preta, Palmeiras, Athletico Paranaense, Coritiba, Vila Nova, CSA, Mirassol, Remo, Juventude, Atlético-GO, and Novorizontino.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.