Brazil's former coach Santana dies at 74

Sad news for the soccer world...

Tele Santana, 74, one of Brazil's greatest soccer coaches, died on Friday in a Belo Horizonte hospital where he had been in intensive care for an intestinal infection since March 25, the hospital said.

Santana, who led Brazil at the 1982 and 1986 World Cups, was forced to retire in 1996 following a stroke.

Three years ago, Santana had his left leg amputated below the knee after developing ischemia -- a decrease in blood supply caused by blockage of the blood vessels.

Santana believed in attacking football throughout his career and the 1982 World Cup team, featuring players such as Zico, Socrates, Falcao, Junior and Eder took the game to new heights.

Brazil were surprisingly knocked out in the second round group stage following a 3-2 defeat by Italy in one of the most memorable games in the sport's history.

Santana returned to lead Brazil again four years later in Mexico where they were beaten by France in a penalty shoot-out in the quarter-finals.

Santana went on to coach a memorable Sao Paulo team in the early 1990s, winning the South American Libertadores Cup in successive years and the World Club Cup on each occasion.

He was in charge of Atletico Mineiro when they won the inaugural Brazilian championship in 1971 -- the only time Belo Horizonte's most popular club have been Brazilian champions -- and also coached top clubs Fluminense, Flamengo, Palmeiras and Gremio.

posted by nscafuro @ 9:44 AM