RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazil's most popular club, Flamengo, announced Friday they have hired Jorge Sampaoli as coach, a quick rebound for the Argentine less than a month after he was fired by Sevilla.
The reigning Copa Libertadores champions signed the 63-year-old coach until December 31, 2024, they said on Twitter.
Sampaoli, who led struggling Sevilla for just five months, is Flamengo's third coach since winning the Libertadores -- the South American equivalent of the Champions League -- in October.
They struggled to deliver results under his Portuguese predecessor, Vitor Pereira, crashing out of the Brazilian Super Cup, the South American “Recopa” and the Club World Cup.
The last straw for Pereira came last week, after Flamengo lost the Rio de Janeiro state championship finals to arch-rivals Fluminense.
Sampaoli, who has previously coached Marseille (2021-22) and the Argentine national team (2017-18), will now try to turn around a club whose talented roster includes stars such as Brazilian internationals Everton Ribeiro and Pedro, Uruguay's Giorgian de Arrascaeta and Chile's Arturo Vidal.
Flamengo kick off their Brazilian league campaign Sunday against Coritiba. -AFP
