Levir Culpi · Biography

Levir Culpi began his coaching career in 1986 at Juventude in Caxias do Sul, the same club where he had just ended his playing days as a defender. Born on 28 February 1953 in Curitiba, in the state of Paraná, he went on to manage some of Brazil’s biggest clubs over more than three decades, with several spells in Japan along the way. He won two Copa do Brasil titles, two Recopa Sudamericana trophies and five Campeonato Mineiro titles. In Brazil he is known by a nickname he wore with some irony: “Burro com sorte”, roughly “the lucky donkey”.

A defender from Coritiba to Juventude

He came through the youth ranks at Coritiba and broke into the first team there. With his hometown club he won the 1973 Campeonato Paranaense, the same year he spent a loan spell at Botafogo. He then moved to the northeast, where he won the 1976 Campeonato Pernambucano with Santa Cruz of Recife. He also had two spells at Colorado in Paraná, played for Mexican side Atlante, Vila Nova and Figueirense, and was capped by Brazil at under-20 level in 1972. Juventude was his last club as a player, in the mid-1980s.

Early years in the dugout

After Juventude he coached Atlético Paranaense in 1986 and 1987. His first title came in 1988, when he won Brazil’s Série B with Inter de Limeira. In 1989 he took the Santa Catarina state title with Criciúma, and on his return to the club in 1992 he led them to the quarter-finals of the Copa Libertadores, where they went out to São Paulo. In 1993 he won the Campeonato Paranaense with Paraná Clube. His first spell at Atlético Mineiro ran from 1994 to 1995 and brought the 1995 Minas Gerais state title.

Cruzeiro and Brazil’s big clubs

He took charge of Cruzeiro in 1996 and won both the Campeonato Mineiro and the Copa do Brasil that year. In 1997 he had a first taste of Japan with Cerezo Osaka, and in 1998 he was back at Cruzeiro, adding another state title and the Recopa Sudamericana while reaching the finals of both the Copa do Brasil and the Brasileirão. In 1999 he won the Copa Centro-Oeste. In 2000 he won the Campeonato Paulista with São Paulo and reached another Copa do Brasil final. Spells followed at Sport in 2001, at Palmeiras in 2002, the year the club was relegated, and at Botafogo between 2003 and 2004. With Atlético Paranaense he finished runner-up in the 2004 Brazilian championship.

Promotion with Atlético Mineiro and the Osaka years

After a spell at São Caetano in 2005, he returned to Atlético Mineiro and won the 2006 Série B, followed by the 2007 Campeonato Mineiro. Later that year he moved to Cerezo Osaka, then in Japan’s second tier. In 2009 the club finished second in J2 and won promotion, with Shinji Kagawa as the division’s top scorer, and in 2010 they finished third in J1. He left after the 2011 season and returned in August 2012 to steer the team clear of relegation, staying on through 2013.

The 2014 Copa do Brasil

On 24 April 2014 Atlético Mineiro brought him back once more. In his fourth spell at the club he won the Recopa Sudamericana and the 2014 Copa do Brasil, the second of his career. In 2015 he added the state title and finished runner-up in the Brasileirão. The club let him go on 26 November 2015, after 288 matches in charge across all his spells.

Fluminense, Santos and Gamba Osaka

In 2016 he coached Fluminense and won the Primeira Liga. In 2017 he was at Santos, who sacked him, rehired him and then dismissed him for good that October. His next club was Gamba Osaka, who let him go in July 2018. Later that year he returned to Atlético Mineiro after Thiago Larghi’s departure; that fifth spell ended in April 2019, following a defeat to Cerro Porteño in the Copa Libertadores group stage.

Retirement and a return to Japan

On 16 December 2019 he announced he was stepping away from coaching to spend time with his family and look after his health. The break lasted just over a year: in January 2021 he signed again with Cerezo Osaka for the J1 season. It was his fourth spell at the Japanese club, and it ended in August 2021, when the contract was terminated by mutual agreement and his assistant Akio Kogiku took over the team.