José 'Mehdi' Faria (April 26, 1933 – October 8, 2013) was a Brazilianfootball coach.[1] He coachedMorocco in the1986 FIFA World Cup, when they became the first African team to advance to the second round.
Faria started his managerial career inFluminense's junior teams, where he worked for more than 10 years. He was responsible for the rise of many Brazilian stars, such as World Cup captainEdinho. He received many offers while working in Brazil. However, he rejected them all due to the risk involved. He eventually changed his mind, and accepted an offer to coach theQatar under-20 team as a replacement forEvaristo de Macedo who temporarily took charge ofIraq in Mexico. He claimed to have made as much money in Qatar in two years as he had made in last 23 years.[4]
He coached the Morocco national team from 1983 till 1988. He rejected an offer from Inter Milan while coaching the team,[4] and converted to Islam, adopting the middle name of "Mehdi".
