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The new coach for the national soccer team is Wanderley Luxemburgo da Silva, 46. He is the 36th man to occupy the post. As expected, the Brazilian media are treating him with kid gloves.

Rodolfo Espinoza

An offensive bathroom door on soccer star Romário's recently-opened bar in Rio has been brought down by the justice. It was a victory for Mário Lobo Zagallo, the man who last June and July coached the Brazilian soccer squad in the French fields into a second-place in the World Cup. Zagallo is also suing for $1 million in damages for a painting on the door that showed him with his pants down sitting on a toilet.

All of this happened weeks before the Bar do Gol, located in the Barra da Tijuca neighborhood, was even opened to the public. Romário alleged that the drawing was an homage to the coach and that the door was going to be auctioned after three months with the money going to charity. Zagallo didn't buy the explanation and accused the player of using the caricature as retaliation for being cut from the national team 10 days before the start of the Cup. The reason for the cut was a calf muscle injury, which two months after the Cup's final game is still plaguing the striker.

Since the Cup's end Brazil mourned and overcame the grief over its loss to France, CBD (Confederação Brasileira de Desportos—Brazilian Sports Confederation) fired Zagallo and chose his substitute, and the country seems resigned to have not discovered the truth behind the ill that befell superstar Ronaldinho in the final match, turning him unrecognizable and useless on the field. But the media continue to give him star treatment even when announcing that Ronaldinho also had opened its own hip bar in Rio and that his name was left out the list prepared by the new coach for the first friendly of the post-Cup national team.

New Blood

By the way, the new coach in the land where 10 out of 10 are born with the soccer coach genes, is Wanderley Luxemburgo da Silva, 46. He is the 36th man to occupy the much-coveted and ulcer-inducing post. As expected, the media have been giving him the honeymoon treatment despite his habit of using rococo terminology and expressions that don't make too much sense and his insistence on always wearing a suit in the European tradition even during the games he is coaching. He dresses in Giorgio Armanis, Gianni Versaces, Tweeds, and Vila Romanas and is believed to have an extensive collection of ties to go with 120 shirts and 30 suits. Forty pairs of shoes complete his wardrobe.

With a college degree in administration and another one in PE, Luxemburgo is a serious adept of marketing for his own work even though he sounds humble when talking about his plans and the help he will need from aides. He is also an avid reader of neurolinguistics books and in high demand on the motivational seminary circuit where he is paid an average of $15,000 for a conference. He talks about creating a "macro plan" for the national team and preaches the need to "escalate parameters." One of his favorite maxims: "The fear to lose takes away the will to win."

Luxemburgo believes in computers and always uses animation software Data Show to make a point. He has even his own Internet site: http://www.wanderleyluxemburgo.com.br As his predecessor, the new coach also appeals to the supernatural and has his superstitions and lucky charms. For example, he will not stay in any other suite than the 171 when at his favorite hanging-out place, the Park Hotel Atibaia, 37 miles from São Paulo.

Born in Tinguá, Rio de Janeiro, on May 10, 1952, he is considered a Paulista for having developed his career in São Paulo. He has been married for 25 years with Josefa with whom he has three girls: Valeska, Vanessa, and Vanusa. A Campinas (interior of São Paulo) manicurist sued him for sexual harassment, but nothing could be proved against the coach.

In a show of independence, and a hint that things might have changed, he presented early August his first team. For the surprise of everybody, among the 22 names a mere four (Cafu, Émerson, Rivaldo, and Denílson) were in the squad that went to France last June for the World Cup. He preferred younger and more versatile players who can be used in more than one position on the field slighting experience. Even superstar Ronaldinho did not make the cut.

The new coach was a mediocre soccer player from 1971 to 1982, having played at Botafogo and Flamengo, both from Rio, before starting a glorious coaching career that took him to 15 different clubs, including two from Saudi Arabia. Notorious for fighting prima donnas, the coach has clashed with several soccer stars, including Romário from Flamengo, Edmundo from Palmeiras and more recently Marcelinho Carioca from Corinthians.

As coach for Palmeiras, a team from São Paulo, he won the national soccer championship in 1993 and 1994. He got his first head-coaching job in 1983 at Campo Grande, a Rio team. His first brush with fame came in 1990 after Luxemburgo took the small soccer club Bragantino to the São Paulo state championship. He coached Flamengo in 1995, returning to Palmeiras where he won the 1996 Paulista (from São Paulo) championship. In 1997 he moved to Santos Futebol Clube. The coach is with Corinthians now and intends to accumulate the functions of national team coach with his work at Corinthians, until December, planning to dedicate himself solely to the national team starting January 1999. That's when he will begin in earnest the so-called Cup 2002 project.

How long is the honeymoon with the media and the public going to last? While the new coach keeps winning. It is a daunting task. Much maligned Zagallo was at the helm when Brazil became champion of the latest Confederations Cup (to be disputed again in January 1999) came in first on the America Cup (the new tournament is June 1999), and won the pre-Olympic (to be disputed again on January 2000). He has an obligation to at least win them all. How about this for a challenge?

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