Leandro Calixto Zago (born 27 May 1981) 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 ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

, currently in charge of Portuguesa.

Career

Born in

Campinas Campinas (, ''Plains'' or ''Meadows'') is a Brazilian municipality in São Paulo State, part of the country's Southeast Region. According to the 2020 estimate, the city's population is 1,213,792, making it the fourteenth most populous Brazilian ...

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

, Zago began his career as a fitness coach at hometown side Campinas FC in 2008, before moving to

Desportivo Brasil Desportivo Brasil Participações Ltda., commonly referred to as Desportivo Brasil, is a Brazilian professional association football club based in Porto Feliz, São Paulo. The team competes in the Campeonato Paulista Série A3, the third tier of t ...

in 2010 as an assistant coach. In March of the following year, he moved to Pão de Açúcar EC, also as an assistant. Zago joined

Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians ( grc, Α΄ ᾽Επιστολὴ πρὸς Κορινθίους) is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-aut ...

in October 2011, after being named manager of the under-15 squad. He left in May 2013 to join Guarani, as an assistant of the main squad. In July 2014, Zago was appointed manager of Ferroviária's under-20 team. 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 ...

in September of the following year, in the same category but as an assistant of João Burse, and left in February 2016 to take over Ponte Preta, also in the under-20s. On 27 February 2018, Zago was named manager of

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 ...

's under-17 squad, and was appointed in charge of the club's under-20s on 28 June of the following year. During the 2020 season, he was in charge of the first team for three Série A matches as

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 ...

and his staff were on quarantine after a

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

outbreak in the squad. Zago left ''Galo'' on 18 March 2021, and was named manager of Série D side

Joinville Joinville () is the largest city in Santa Catarina, in the Southern Region of Brazil. It is the third largest municipality in the southern region of Brazil, after the much larger state capitals of Curitiba and Porto Alegre. Joinville is also a ...

on 26 April. He left the club on 25 October with only two losses, and was named at the helm of

Botafogo-SP Botafogo Futebol Clube, commonly referred to as Botafogo-SP, Botafogo de Ribeirão Preto or simply Botafogo, is a Brazilian association football club in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo. They currently play in the Série B, the second tier of Braz ...

on 19 November. On 23 May 2022, Zago was sacked by Botafogo, after three defeats his last four matches. On 1 December, he was announced by

Fortaleza Fortaleza (, locally , Portuguese for ''Fortress'') is the state capital of Ceará, located in Northeastern Brazil. It belongs to the Metropolitan mesoregion of Fortaleza and microregion of Fortaleza. It is Brazil's 5th largest city and the t ...

as the head coach of their under-20 team, before returning to first team duties the following 26 April, after being named at the helm of Portuguesa.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zago, Leandro 1981 births Living people Sportspeople from Campinas Brazilian football managers Campeonato Brasileiro Série A managers Campeonato Brasileiro Série C managers Campeonato Brasileiro Série D managers Clube Atlético Mineiro managers Joinville Esporte Clube managers Botafogo Futebol Clube (SP) managers Associação Portuguesa de Desportos managers