 Telê Santana holding aSão Paulo F.C. jersey | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Telê Santana da Silva | ||
| Date of birth | (1931-07-26)26 July 1931 | ||
| Place of birth | Itabirito, Brazil | ||
| Date of death | 21 April 2006(2006-04-21) (aged 74) | ||
| Place of death | Belo Horizonte, Brazil | ||
| Position | Winger | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1951–1960 | Fluminense | 557 | (162) |
| 1960–1962 | Guarani | ||
| 1963 | Vasco da Gama | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| 1969–1970 | Fluminense | ||
| 1970–1972 | Atlético Mineiro | ||
| 1973 | São Paulo | ||
| 1973–1975 | Atlético Mineiro | ||
| 1976 | Botafogo | ||
| 1976–1978 | Grêmio | ||
| 1979–1980 | Palmeiras | ||
| 1980–1982 | Brazil | ||
| 1983–1985 | Al-Ahli | ||
| 1985–1986 | Brazil | ||
| 1987–1988 | Atlético Mineiro | ||
| 1988–1989 | Flamengo | ||
| 1989 | Fluminense | ||
| 1990 | Palmeiras | ||
| 1990–1996 | São Paulo | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Telê Santana da Silva, also known asTelê Santana (July 26, 1931 – April 21, 2006) was a Brazilianfootballmanager and former player (right winger). He was born inItabirito,Minas Gerais.[1]
Telê was the manager responsible for putting together the1982 and1986Brazil national squads. The 1982 squad in particular is remembered as one of the greatest teams in football history not to win theWorld Cup. It included players such asZico,Sócrates,Falcão,Júnior andToninho Cerezo. He was also a highly successful manager of variousclub teams, including the legendary 1992 and 1993São Paulo, and was also very influential withAtlético Mineiro andFluminense.
Telê is often mentioned by the Brazilian sports press as being one of the most relevant football managers to ever work in the country.[2] His preferred style of play was very offensive-minded, and he believed in training athletes by using relentless repetition of elementary fundamentals of the game, such as passing the ball andset piece training.
Telê started playing forItabirense Esporte Clube, headquartered near his home inItabirito, and later played forAmérica, fromSão João del-Rei.
Telê played for clubs such asFluminense,Madureira andVasco da Gama. He was also a reserve player of theBrazil national football team. As a player, his preferred position wascentre forward. However, he started his career as agoalkeeper.
His career as a manager started in 1967, coaching the Fluminense youth squad. Four years later, Telê ledAtlético Mineiro to win its firstBrazilian championship title. Regarded to have coached two of the best Brazil national squads ever in the1982 and1986 World Cups, he failed, however, to win the tournament in both occasions.
Besides the coaching of the Brazil national team, Santana returned to club management in 1988 atFlamengo, but enjoyed his palmiest days with São Paulo between 1990 and 1996. With an outstanding team featuringZetti,Cafu,Raí, andLeonardo (all of the aforementioned players eventually made it to the national squad in 1994), the side won the Brazilian championship title in 1991, and then theLibertadores Cup in 1992 and 1993, the first time that a Brazilian club had won it in 10 years. In those same two seasons, São Paulo also claimed theworld club title inTokyo, beating firstJohan Cruyff'sFC Barcelona and thenFabio Capello'sA.C. Milan.[3] The memory of this squad is still very much regarded by the fans as one of the most spectacular in São Paulo's history.[4][5]
Santana is widely credited for the re-invention of thejogo bonito ("beautiful game" in Portuguese) by the vast majority of the Brazilian press. His full-attack mentality of play was best displayed with the 1982 Brazil national squad who fell 3–2 to Italy in the Second Round of the Cup.[6] Santana was criticized by many for refusing to switch Brazil's forward style of play versus Italy, since Brazil only needed to tie the game to reach the Semifinals due to the original World Cup setup at the time. Some pundits felt that Santana should have placed more emphasis on defence and a counterattack strategy due to circumstances of the match. Regardless of the fact that Santana never led the Brazilian squad to glory, he is still regarded as one of greatest managers and innovators in the history of Brazilian football.[7][8]
With regards to role models, Santana has mentioned in one interview that he had no idols, though: "my greatest satisfaction would be to manage a team such as1974 Holland. It was a team where you could pick [Johan] Cruyff and place him on the right wing. If I had to put him in the left-wing, he would still play [the same]. I could chooseNeeskens, who played both to the right and to the left of the midfield. Thus, everyone played in any position."[9] He said he tried to use a similar tactic strategy in 1992's São Paulo, by using versatile players in different positions according to what was required in a match.
He was once considered by the media the "last romantic of the Brazilian football",[9] and had always been a strong campaigner for the fair play and against violence in the game.[10]
In 1996, he had to retire, after suffering a stroke.[11] He had part of his left leg amputated in 2003 because ofischemia in his left foot. He was operated at Hospital Felício Roxo, inBelo Horizonte.[12]
Santana died on April 21, 2006, due to an abdominal infection.[13] His body was buried at Cemitério Parque da Colina, in Belo Horizonte.[14] His wife Ivonete and their son and daughter survive him.
| Team | Nation | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Win % | ||||
| Fluminense |  Brazil | 1969 | 1969 | 44 | 23 | 11 | 10 | 66 | 40 | +26 | 52.27 |
| Atlético Mineiro | Brazil | 1970 | 1972 | 149 | 76 | 46 | 27 | 223 | 117 | +105 | 51.01 |
| São Paulo | Brazil | 1973 | 1973 | 30 | 11 | 13 | 6 | 30 | 24 | +6 | 36.67 |
| Atlético Mineiro | Brazil | 1973 | 1975 | 151 | 82 | 37 | 32 | 243 | 125 | +118 | 54.3 |
| Botafogo | Brazil | 1976 | 1976 | 21 | 11 | 4 | 6 | 29 | 17 | +12 | 52.38 |
| Gremio | Brazil | 1976 | 1978 | 130 | 79 | 31 | 20 | 249 | 86 | +163 | 60.77 |
| Palmeiras | Brazil | 1979 | 1980 | 56 | 30 | 15 | 11 | 105 | 51 | +54 | 53.57 |
| Brazil | Brazil | 2 April 1980 | 5 July 1982 | 38 | 29 | 6 | 3 | 74 | 25 | +49 | 76.32 |
| Al-Ahli |  Saudi Arabia | 1983 | 1985 | 52 | 32 | 14 | 6 | 74 | 29 | +45 | 61.54 |
| Brazil | Brazil | 2 June 1985 | 21 June 1986 | 17 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 45 | 12 | +33 | 64.71 |
| Atlético Mineiro | Brazil | 1987 | 1988 | 102 | 52 | 34 | 11 | 143 | 72 | +71 | 50.98 |
| Flamengo | Brazil | 1988 | 1989 | 62 | 37 | 15 | 10 | 74 | 39 | +45 | 64.71 |
| Fluminense | Brazil | 1989 | 1989 | 28 | 9 | 6 | 13 | 24 | 35 | -11 | 32.14 |
| Palmeiras | Brazil | 1990 | 1990 | 47 | 22 | 12 | 13 | 54 | 31 | +23 | 46.81 |
| São Paulo | Brazil | 1990 | 1996 | 391 | 191 | 114 | 86 | 603 | 375 | +228 | 48.85 |
| Total | 1,318 | 695 | 362 | 261 | 2,036 | 1,078 | +955 | 52.73 | |||
| Preceded by | South American Coach of the Year 1992 | Succeeded by |
Telê Santana international tournaments | |||||||||||||
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| International | |
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| National | |
