Flamengo director blames Jorge Jesus for Abel at Palmeiras | OneFootball

José Boto said Portuguese coaches should be grateful for what Brazil provides

The 2026 Brasileirão began with nine foreign coaches among the 20 clubs in the top flight. For José Boto, the number of foreigners in Brazilian soccer is a side effect of Jorge Jesus, since Portuguese coaches without an established career in Europe were able to grow in South America.

– He opened up (Jorge Jesus) clearly opened doors and opportunities for Portuguese coaches. You have a number of coaches here — and this is not criticism of those coaches, quite the opposite — who built their careers here in Brazil -, said the executive, who added:

– They are coaches... you go to Portugal and many people would not even have considered them top coaches, and today they are coaches who built very good careers here in Brazil and who have to be grateful for what Brazil provided them in order to get there -, Boto told Portugal’s A Bola.

Who is José Boto referring to?

In the interview, Mengo’s football director made it clear that this is not the case with Jorge Jesus or Leonardo Jardim, who had already built their history on the Old Continent. However, the executive said that many compatriots found work in Brazil because of Flamengo’s 2019 team.

One of the most successful after ‘Mister’ was Abel Ferreira at Palmeiras. That is because the Portuguese coach had managed teams such as PAOK (GRE) and Braga (POR), jobs outside Europe’s elite. At the São Paulo club, however, he won everything except the Club World Cup.

What did Jorge Jesus do at Flamengo in 2019?

The Rubro-Negro side was underperforming under Abel Braga, who resigned halfway through the season. Then Jorge Jesus arrived and went on to win the Brasileirão and the Libertadores in 2019. The manager left Mengo with more titles than defeats.

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