guto ferreira · Biography

Augusto Sérgio Ferreira, known as Guto Ferreira, was born in Piracicaba, in the interior of São Paulo state, on 7 September 1965. He earned a degree in physical education from the Methodist University of Piracicaba (Unimep) in 1985 and has spent his whole career in the dugout. His years in Série A and Série B of the Campeonato Brasileiro earned him the nicknames «Gordiola» and «King of Promotion», for the number of sides he took from the second tier to the top flight.

Youth coaching

He began in the youth ranks of XV de Piracicaba, his hometown club, and then worked in São Paulo's academy. In 1997 he joined Internacional in Porto Alegre to run the under-20 team, which he led to the 1998 Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior, Brazil's leading youth tournament. From 2000 he moved up to the first-team staff as an assistant.

First jobs as head coach

His first job in charge of a professional side came at Internacional in 2002, the year the club won the Campeonato Gaúcho. The following year he coached Noroeste, from Bauru, before crossing the Atlantic to work in Portugal: he managed Penafiel from 2003 to 2004 and Naval in 2004. Back in Brazil, he took over Corinthians Alagoano in 2005. Between 2008 and 2010 he returned to Internacional as an assistant, and in 2008 he took charge of the team on an interim basis.

From the São Paulo interior to Série A

In 2011 he had spells at Mogi Mirim, Criciúma and ABC, and in 2012 he went back to Mogi Mirim. Later that year he was appointed at Ponte Preta, where he stayed into 2013. In July 2013 he joined Portuguesa, who finished that Brasileirão relegated after a four-point deduction by the Superior Court of Sports Justice; he left the club in February 2014. After a brief stint at Figueirense between April and July 2014, he returned to Ponte Preta and led them to promotion to Série A in 2014. Across his two spells he took charge of the Campinas club in 107 matches, with 51 wins, 28 draws and 28 defeats, until he was dismissed in August 2015.

Chapecoense, Bahia and Internacional

In September 2015 he took over Chapecoense, kept them up that season and reached the quarter-finals of the Copa Sudamericana. In 2016 he won the Campeonato Catarinense. In June of that year he moved to Salvador to coach Bahia, who were promoted to Série A in November 2016. With Bahia he won the 2017 Copa do Nordeste, and in May 2017 he accepted an offer from Internacional, then in Série B. The Porto Alegre club went up that season, although he was dismissed in November. He returned to Bahia in December 2017, won the 2018 Campeonato Baiano and left in June 2018. In August that year he went back to Chapecoense, where he stayed until October.

Sport and Ceará

Hired by Sport in February 2019, he won that year's Campeonato Pernambucano and brought the Recife club back to Série A at the end of the season. He left Sport in February 2020 and took over Ceará in March. With the Fortaleza side he won the 2020 Copa do Nordeste, becoming the first coach to win it twice in the competition's modern era, and he was the first manager to start and finish a Campeonato Brasileiro season with the club. In 2021 he reached the Copa do Nordeste final again, this time losing it, and was dismissed in August.

Later spells and promotion with Remo

From October 2021 to June 2022 he had a third spell at Bahia. Coritiba followed, from August to December 2022; then Goiás, runners-up in the 2023 Campeonato Goiano; a return to Ceará between June and August 2023; another spell at Coritiba from November 2023 to May 2024; and a short stint at Sport in July and August 2024. In February 2025 he took over Cuiabá, runners-up in the Campeonato Mato-Grossense, and left in August. In September 2025 he was appointed by Remo, who were chasing a promotion place in Série B. The Belém club finished fourth and returned to the top flight after 31 years. It was the fifth promotion from Série B to Série A of his career, a figure only Givanildo Oliveira had reached before him. On 22 March 2026 he was appointed head coach of Vila Nova, from Goiânia, in Série B.