Flamengo appointed former Brazil goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni as their new head coach, the Brazilian champions announced on Tuesday.
Ceni – who holds the record for most goals scored by a goalkeeper with 131 – replaces Domenec Torrent at the Campeonato Brasileiro and Copa Libertadores champions, after leaving Fortaleza.
Flamengo turned to Ceni after Torrent was sacked following just three months in charge following a 4-0 rout at the hands of title rivals Atletico Mineiro, having also lost 4-1 to Sao Paulo a week earlier.
The 47-year-old joins a Flamengo side third in the table and only a point adrift of leaders Internacional.
Veja algumas imagens de como foi o primeiro treino do técnico Rogério Ceni no Mengão!
— Flamengo (@Flamengo)
Thank you all, Ceni, who spent his entire senior playing career with Sao Paulo up until 2015, said. It is a very special day for me. I have 30 years of football. I already faced the crowded Maracana.
I saw Zico play, I even called him and asked for his permission to join the club. He s a unique guy, who I admire a lot for the free-kicks.
I am very grateful to Fortaleza, he said. The fans are sad, but I think they can understand the size of this challenge that I accepted. It is very difficult to refuse Flamengo because of the greatness, structure and the players who are here.
Ceni – a World Cup winner with Brazil in 2002 who had brief and unsuccessfully spells in charge of Sao Paulo and Cruzeiro – guided Fortaleza to promotion to Brazil s first division in 2018.
: Alexandre Vidal/CRF
— Flamengo (@Flamengo)
Everyone wants to win everything in football, Ceni, who won three Brasileiro titles, two Copa Libertadores trophies and the 2005 Club World Cup with Sao Paulo, added.
We have to see how much each one is willing to give up to reach the goal. It is a very winning group. Who said it is not possible [to win everything]? Even more so with a group of players as qualified and a crowd as passionate as Flamengo s.
