He is the only non-European, more precisely Brazilian, among the 24 coaches vying for Germany 2024. And in this context of coaches qualified for the German event, he is part of the renowned quintet that has won, at least once, the prestigious Champions League as a player. The Frenchman is with him Deschamps with his compatriot Sagnol (coach of Georgia), the Dutch Ronald Koeman and the Serbian Stojkovic. The character in question is Sylvio Mendes Campos Juniorto the century Sylvinhothe fifty-year-old Paulista coach of Albania who will challenge Italy in Dortmund on Saturday evening in the first day of Group B of the Champions League, for the record, he actually won two (like Koeman, for the “tulip” the first with PSV) when he played left wing in the stellar Barcelona of Messi, Eto’o and Ronaldinho (later Henry).
Reja’s replacement
Since January 2023 he has signed an 18-month contract with the Tirana Football Federation – which will expire after the conclusion of the European Championships – for the modest sum of 750,000 euros net per year. His signing effectively put an end to the cycle of Italian coaches who had preceded him or, in descending order, the Giuliano Edy Rejathe Ligurian Christian Panucci and the Venetian Gianni De Biasi. Sylvinho also intends to confirm his role as the Italian “eliminator” on the pitch, directly against Spalletti. Another surprising coincidence, almost a sinister omen, hovers over Saturday’s match at the Signal Iduna Park. Albania occupies 66th place in the current FIFA “ranking”, practically the same position as North Macedonia (67th, a state with an Albanian ethnic minority among other things… ) before defeating Italy in Palermo, ousting them from the last World Cup in Qatar. The decisive goal of that historic and still painful elimination for the Azzurri was scored in the 92nd minute by the former Palermo player Trajkovski, just as in today’s Albania, as many as 10 “Italians” or former members of our league appear in the list of 26 players called up (Berisha, Hysaj, Djimsiti, Kumbulla, Ismajli, Asllani, Bajrami, Ramadani, Manaj, Strakosha).
On the bench of Mancini
On that “cursed” night in spring 2022 the then coach sat on the blue bench Roberto Mancini, who not only had been Sylvinho’s coach in Manchester City, but then he even wanted him at his side (from 2014 to 2016) as a technical assistant at Inter. The Brazilian with a Spanish passport should have been the deputy of “Mancio”, but officially he couldn’t because he still didn’t have a license at the time and so it was up to the former goalkeeper Giulio Nuciari to save the… façade. It was during his adventure in Italy that the Paulista obtained his UEFA A and Pro coaching diplomas. The coach of the “Red and Black Eagles” speaks in flattering terms about his colleague now on the Saudi Arabia bench: «I learned a lot from him, he is one of the best coaches around. He always wants his teams to play football and take possession. He works assiduously to instill this mentality in his players. I also like the attitude of wanting to keep the ball, build the game from the defense and play the game. Roberto he loves football and wants to win with the beautiful game. We have stayed in touch, we speak frequently. He was the first, together with the former Brazilian coach Tite of whom I was also assistant, to send me a congratulatory message when I signed for Albania».
From Wenger to Pep
Sylvinho was also coached by other famous coaches such as Arsène Wenger, Frank Rijkaard and Pep Guardiola, in addition to the Marche region. And he draws an identikit of the ideal “coach”, drawing the best qualities from each of them: «he should be a father like Rijkaard, having the obsessive care in preparing matches of Guardiola – someone who spent hours studying rivals and countermoves – the managerial intelligence of Wenger and the dynamic intensity of Mancini. Roberto sometimes goes crazy if he sees that something isn’t improving. He knows how to be tough, he gets angry knowing how to smell the air. And he knows the art of improvisation, which is essential in some matches.”
Zabaleta and Doriva
From the training camp at the SportCentrum Kaiserau in Kamen, just over twenty kilometers north-east of Dortmund, the Albanian coach also speaks in flattering terms about his staff. Absolutely top notch. The assistant coaches are both former internationals: the Argentine Pablo Zabaleta (39 years old, gold at the Under 20 World Cup in 2005, Olympic gold in Beijing 2008, silver at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, ex Espanyol, Manchester City, West Ham) and the Brazilian Doriva (52 years old, former Atlético Mineiro, Porto, Sampdoria, Celta Vigo, Middlesbrough). In this respect, the difference with Spalletti’s assistants, namely the “carneadi” Marco Domenichini, Daniele Baldini and Salvatore Russo, is abysmal. «We are a multi-cultural and polyglot “team” – gloss Sylvinho – . All three South American, but also very European. “Zaba” spent ten years in the Premier League. Doriva played in Italy and Portugal. I also played a bit in England, for a long time in Spain and in fact I worked in Milan with Mancini. We are a multicultural team». In 2001 he could even have joined Mazzone and Corioni’s Brescia: the prospect of playing alongside champions like Baggio and Guardiola was intriguing. But in the end he preferred the “pesetas” of Celta Vigo and the “swallows” fell back on Andrea Sussi…
Euro 2024, Italy is in Germany: what enthusiasm for the Azzurri
