Telê Santana da Silva, also known as Telê Santana (July 26, 1931 – April 21, 2006) was 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 ...

and former player (

right winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

). He was born in

Itabirito Itabirito is a municipality in the Minas Gerais state of Brazil. Its population is estimated to have 52,446 people in 2020. The city belongs to the mesoregion Metropolitan of Belo Horizonte and to the microregion of Ouro Preto. The municipality co ...

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...

. Telê was the manager responsible for putting together the

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

and

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

Brazil national squads. The 1982 squad in particular is remembered as one of the greatest teams in football history not to win the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

. It included players such as Zico,

Sócrates Sócrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira (19 February 1954 – 4 December 2011), simply known as Sócrates, was a Brazilian footballer who played as a midfielder. His medical degree and his political awareness, combined with styl ...

, Falcão, Júnior and

Toninho Cerezo Antônio Carlos Cerezo (born 21 April 1955), known as Toninho Cerezo (), is a Brazilian former footballer. Cerezo is commonly regarded as one of the finest Brazilian defensive midfielders of all time, most notably having played for his hometo ...

. He was also a highly successful manager of various club teams, including the legendary 1992 and 1993

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 ...

, and was also very influential with

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 ...

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, th ...

. Telê is often mentioned by the Brazilian sports press as being one of the most relevant football managers to ever work in the country. His preferred style of play was very offensive-minded, and he believed in training athletes by using relentless repetition of elementary fundamentals of the game, such as passing the ball and

set piece In film production, a set piece is a scene or sequence of scenes whose execution requires complex logistical planning and considerable expenditure of money. The term is often also used more broadly to describe a sequence in which the film-maker's ...

training.

Career

Playing career

Telê played for clubs such as

, Madureira and

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (; ; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India by way of Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to link E ...

. He was also a reserve player of the

Brazil national football team The Brazil national football team ( pt, Seleção Brasileira de Futebol), nicknamed ''Seleção Canarinho'' (‘Canary Squad’, after their bright yellow jersey), represents Brazil in men's international football and is administered by the B ...

. As a player, his preferred position was

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. However, he started his career as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

Managerial career

His career as a manager started in 1967, coaching the Fluminense youth squad. Four years later, Telê led

to win its first Brazilian championship title. Regarded to have coached two of the best Brazil national squads ever in the

and

1986 World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...

s, he failed, however, to win the tournament in both occasions. Besides the coaching of the Brazil national team, Santana returned to club management in 1988 at

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; English: ''Flamengo Rowing Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea, best known for their professional football t ...

, but enjoyed his palmiest days with São Paulo between 1990 and 1996. With an outstanding team featuring

Zetti Armelino Donizetti Quagliato, best known as ''Zetti'' (born 10 January 1965 in Porto Feliz), is a Brazilian football pundit and retired manager and footballer, who played as a goalkeeper. Playing career Club Zetti played with São Paulo from 1 ...

Cafu Marcos Evangelista de Morais (born 7 June 1970), known as Cafu (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a right-back. Known for his pace and energetic attacking runs along the right flank, he is regarded as one of the gr ...

Raí Raí Souza Vieira de Oliveira (born 15 May 1965), known as Raí (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He spent the better part of his 15-year career with São Paulo and Paris Saint-Germain, wi ...

, and

Leonardo Leonardo is a masculine given name, the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese equivalent of the English, German, and Dutch name, Leonard Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English masculine given name and a surname. The given name and surname originate ...

(all of the aforementioned players eventually made it to the national squad in 1994), the side won the Brazilian championship title in 1991, and then the

Libertadores Cup The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club association football, football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level ...

in 1992 and 1993, the first time that a Brazilian club had won it in 10 years. In those same two seasons, São Paulo also claimed the world club title in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, beating first

Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (, internationally known as Johan Cruyff; 25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016) was a Dutch professional football player and manager. As a player, he won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974. Cruyff was a ...

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

and then

Fabio Capello Fabio Capello (; born 18 June 1946) is an Italian former professional football manager and player. As a player, Capello represented SPAL 1907, Roma, Milan and Juventus. He played as a midfielder and won several trophies during his career which ...

A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 ...

. The memory of this squad is still very much regarded by the fans as one of the most spectacular in São Paulo's history.

Legacy

Santana is widely credited for the re-invention of the ''jogo bonito'' ("beautiful game" in Portuguese) by the vast majority of the Brazilian press. His full-attack mentality of play was best displayed with the 1982 Brazil national squad who fell 3–2 to Italy in the Second Round of the Cup. Santana was criticized by many for refusing to switch Brazil's forward style of play versus Italy, since Brazil only needed to tie the game to reach the Semifinals due to the original World Cup setup at the time. Some pundits felt that Santana should have placed more emphasis on defence and a counterattack strategy due to circumstances of the match. Regardless of the fact that Santana never led the Brazilian squad to glory, he is still regarded as one of greatest managers and innovators in the history of Brazilian football. With regards to role models, Santana has mentioned in one interview that he had no idols, though: "my greatest satisfaction would be to manage a team such as 1974 Holland. It was a team where you could pick

ohan Ohan is a common masculine Armenian name and can be used as a nickname for Hovhannes or Ohannes. Ohan may refer to: People * Ohan Durian (1922–2011), Armenian conductor *Mikho-Ohan, pen name of Armenian writer Nar-Dos Films * ''Ohan'' (film ...

Cruyff and place him on the right wing. If I had to put him in the left-wing, he would still play

he same He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

I could choose Neeskens, who played both to the right and to the left of the midfield. Thus, everyone played in any position." He said he tried to use a similar tactic strategy in 1992's São Paulo, by using versatile players in different positions according to what was required in a match. He was once considered by the media the "last romantic of the Brazilian football", and had always been a strong campaigner for the fair play and against violence in the game.

Death

In 1996, he had to retire, after suffering a stroke. He had part of his left leg amputated in 2003 because of

ischemia Ischemia or ischaemia is a restriction in blood supply to any tissue, muscle group, or organ of the body, causing a shortage of oxygen that is needed for cellular metabolism (to keep tissue alive). Ischemia is generally caused by problems wi ...

in his left foot. He was operated at Hospital Felício Roxo, in

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte (, ; ) is the sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population around 2.7 million and with a metropolitan area of 6 million people. It is the 13th-largest city in South America and the 18th-largest in the Americas. The metropol ...

. Santana died on April 21, 2006, due to an abdominal infection. His body was buried at Cemitério Parque da Colina, in Belo Horizonte. His wife Ivonete and their son and daughter survive him.

Honours

As a Player

;Club *1951 -

Campeonato Carioca The Campeonato Carioca (Carioca Championship), officially known as Campeonato Estadual do Rio de Janeiro (Port., Rio de Janeiro State Championship), was started in 1906 and is the annual football championship in the state of Rio de Janeiro, B ...

(

) *1952 - Copa Rio (Fluminense) *1957 - Torneio Rio-São Paulo (Fluminense) *1959 -

(Fluminense) *1960 - Torneio Rio-São Paulo (Fluminense)

As a Manager

;Club *1969 -

Taça Guanabara The Taça Guanabara, or Guanabara Cup, is a football tournament organized annually since 1965 by the Rio de Janeiro State Football Federation. In its first four editions (1965, 1966, 1967 and 1968), the Taça Guanabara was a tournament in its o ...

and

(

) *1970 -

Campeonato Mineiro Campeonato Mineiro is the state football league of the state of Minas Gerais and is controlled by the Minas Gerais Football Federation FMF (Federação Mineira de Futebol). The history of Campeonato Mineiro can be divided into two parts: befor ...

(

) *1971 -

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian"), and also known as Brasileirão Assaí due to sponsorship with Assaí Atacadista, is a Br ...

(Atlético Mineiro) *1977 -

Campeonato Gaúcho The Campeonato Gaúcho Série A1 (Gaúcho Championship A1 Series or Série A1), officially named as Campeonato da Primeira Divisão de Futebol Profissional da FGF - Divisão Especial - Série A1 and commonly known as Campeonato Gaúcho or Gauchã ...

( Grêmio) *1983 -

King's Cup __NOTOC__ King's Cup (incl. translations), may refer to: Sports Football * Copa del Rey, Spanish for "King's Cup," the main national knockout tournament in men's football * King Cup (sometimes named King's Cup), Saudi Arabian men's football nati ...

( Al-Ahli) *1984 - Saudi League (Al-Ahli) *1985 -

Gulf Club Champions Cup The GCC Champions League ( ar, دوري أبطال الخليج للأندية), formerly known as the Gulf Cup for Clubs ( ar, كأس الخليج للأندية), was an annually organized football league tournament for clubs of the Arabian penin ...

(Al-Ahli) *1988 - Campeonato Mineiro (Atlético Mineiro) *1989 - Taça Guanabara (

) *1991 - Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (

) *1991, 1992 -

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional association football, football league in the Brazilian States of Brazil, state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo. Run b ...

(São Paulo) *1992, 1993 -

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

and Intercontinental Cup (São Paulo) *1993 -

Supercopa Sudamericana The Supercopa Libertadores (English: ''Libertadores Supercup''), also known as the Supercopa Libertadores João Havelange, Supercopa João Havelange or simply Supercopa, was a football club competition contested annually between 1988 and 1997 by t ...

(São Paulo) *1993, 1994 -

Recopa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Recopa Sudamericana ( pt, CONMEBOL Recopa Sul-Americana), known also as the Recopa Sudamericana or CONMEBOL Recopa, and simply as the Recopa (, ; "Winners' Cup"), is an annual international club association football, football compe ...

(São Paulo) *1994 -

Copa CONMEBOL The Copa CONMEBOL ( en, CONMEBOL Cup) was an annual football cup competition organized by CONMEBOL between 1992 and 1999 for South American football clubs. During its time of existence, it was a very prestigious South American club football cont ...

(São Paulo) ;Individual *1992 -

South American Coach of the Year The South American Coach of the Year ( es, Entrenador del año en Sudamérica) is an annual association football award presented to the best coach of a club or national team in South America over the previous calendar year. The award has been prese ...

Notes

References

*''Enciclopédia do Futebol Brasileiro'', Volume 2 – Lance, Rio de Janeiro: Aretê Editorial S/A, 2001. {{DEFAULTSORT:Santana, Tele 1931 births 2006 deaths Sportspeople from Minas Gerais Association football wingers Brazilian footballers Brazilian football managers Campeonato Brasileiro Série A managers Expatriate football managers in Saudi Arabia 1982 FIFA World Cup managers 1986 FIFA World Cup managers Fluminense FC players Guarani FC players CR Vasco da Gama players Fluminense FC managers Clube Atlético Mineiro managers São Paulo FC managers Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas managers Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense managers Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras managers Brazil national football team managers Al-Ahli Saudi FC managers CR Flamengo managers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia