James Francisco Freitas Iahnke (born 16 August 1968), known as James Freitas, is a Brazilian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Career

Freitas was born in

São Lourenço do Sul São Lourenço do Sul is a Brazilian municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The municipality had 43,111 inhabitants in the last Census (2010). Its population in 2020 was estimated in 43,540 inhabitants. It is located at the west bank of ...

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, , ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative_units_of_Brazil#List, fifth-most-populous state and the List of Brazilian st ...

, and started his career in lower clubs in his state, as a fitness coach. His first managerial experience came up in 2000, as he took over Grêmio's women squad. After being an assistant of

Internacional Sport Club Internacional (), commonly known as Internacional or simply Inter, is a Brazilian professional football club based in Porto Alegre. They play in the Série A, the first division of the Brazilian league, as well as in Campeonato ...

's under-17 squad, Freitas took over the under-20 sides of

Brasil de Farroupilha Sociedade Esportiva Recreativa e Cultural Brasil, commonly referred to as Brasil de Farroupilha, is a Brazilian football club based in Farroupilha, Rio Grande do Sul. It currently plays in Campeonato Gaúcho Série A2 The Campeonato Gaúcho ...

, and Santa Cruz-RS before returning to Grêmio in 2005, as manager of the under-17s. He left the club in 2008 for Juventude, being in charge of the under-17s and under-20s while also acting as an interim first team manager for one Série B match. For the 2010 season, Freitas returned to Internacional, being named in charge of the under-20 team. In April of the following year, he was appointed

Lisca Lisca () is a hill in the eastern part of the Sava Hills in southeastern Slovenia, northwest of Sevnica, north of the Sava, and south of Gračnica Creek. It is the most frequently visited hiking destination in the Sava Hills. Etymology The na ...

's assistant at Luverdense. In August 2011, Freitas moved abroad for the first time in his career, joining Paraguayan side

Club Guaraní Club Guaraní is a Paraguayan football team, based in the neighbourhood of Pinozá in outer Asunción. Founded on 12 October 1903, it is one of the oldest and one of the most successful in the country, with eleven Primera División titles, and ...

as Beto Almeida's assistant; in late November, as Almeida was sacked, he took over the side in an interim manner. He then returned to Juventude the following February, being again named in charge of the under-20s while also taking over the B-team. Freitas then returned to Grêmio in 2013, being manager of the under-20s; in May 2015, he was named interim manager of the first team, as

Luiz Felipe Scolari Luiz Felipe Scolari (; born 9 November 1948), also known as Felipão ("Big Phil"), is a Brazilian football manager and former player. He is the current manager of Athletico Paranaense. Scolari was a defender during his playing days, and notab ...

was sacked. He was in charge for two matches before the appointment of Roger Machado, and was later promoted to the role of permanent assistant manager of the first team. In 2016, as Roger was dismissed, he was again interim for a further three matches. On 21 December 2016, Freitas was announced as

Mano Menezes Luiz Antônio Venker de Menezes (born 11 June 1962), known as Mano Menezes, is a Brazilian professional football coach and former player. He is the current head coach of Sport Club Internacional, Internacional. He managed the Brazil national f ...

' assistant at Cruzeiro. The following November, he moved to

Palmeiras Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes. Palmeiras is one of the most popular clubs in South America, with around ...

under the same role, but returned to Cruzeiro on 15 February 2019. In September 2019, Freitas moved to Cruzeiro's rivals

Atlético Mineiro Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico *Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy *Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic Cl ...

as an assistant manager and coordinator of a "transition team". The following 27 February, he was named interim manager of the first team, after the dismissal of

Rafael Dudamel Rafael Édgar Dudamel Ochoa (born January 7, 1973 ), is a Venezuelan football manager and former player who played as a goalkeeper. As a player, Dudamel made 56 appearances for the Venezuela national team. Playing career Club During his car ...

. Returning to his previous role after the appointment of

Jorge Sampaoli Jorge Luis Sampaoli Moya (; born 13 March 1960) is an Argentine football coach who is currently manager for Sevilla of La Liga. Sampaoli started out as a youth player and eventually switched to management after a severe injury. Sampaoli starte ...

, Freitas was dismissed by ''Galo'' in March 2020. He was subsequently an assistant of Roger Machado at

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (sta ...

and

Fluminense Fluminense Football Club (), known as Fluminense, is a Brazilian sports club best known for its professional football team that competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the first tier of Brazilian football and the Campeonato Carioca, ...

before being named manager of

Athletico Paranaense Club Athletico Paranaense (commonly known as Athletico and formerly known as Atlético Paranaense) is a Brazilian football team from the city of Curitiba, capital city of the Brazilian state of Paraná, founded on March 26, 1924. The team ...

's under-23 team on 27 November 2021. On 8 February 2022, Freitas was dismissed after a poor start of the

Campeonato Paranaense Campeonato Paranaense, which has been contested since 1915, is the top-flight football league of the state of Paraná, Brazil. Format The format has changed in 2014. 12 teams are together in a single group. They play against each other once, ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Freitas, James 1968 births Living people Brazilian football managers Campeonato Brasileiro Série A managers Campeonato Brasileiro Série B managers Esporte Clube Juventude managers Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense managers Clube Atlético Mineiro managers Club Guaraní managers Brazilian expatriate football managers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Paraguay Expatriate football managers in Paraguay