Interview of Júlio César Leal (1)
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Samba Foot
What did you do before becoming trainer of Vasco in 1983?
J.C Leal
I began my football career in 1972 in Olaria after having done courses in physical education to become physical preparer then trainer.
I worked between 1972 and 1975 in the professional team of Olaria as a sporting preparer then I became trainer assistant.
My first experience as trainer was in 1976 in Flamengo where I directed the youth team between 1976 and 1978.
In 1979, I was promoted trainer of the juniors until 1982.
Thereafter, I coached the U 20 team of Vasco de Gama until 1983.
In the second six-month period of the same year, I made manager of the first team at Vasco.
Samba Foot
Analyzing your first experiences as coach, Did you have a formative and enriching experiment…?
J.C Leal
During my journey to Flamengo, I considered that the most interesting was to work in a competitive and victorious team. 1977 were a year key for "Fla": During this period, the club gained several Carioca’s championships, 5 Brazilian championships, Copa Libertadores and Intercontinental Cup in 1981.
I was trainer of the youth team of the club and many of players who worked with me became professional and have even advanced in national team as it was the case with Carlos Mozer for example.
Even if the titles are significant, these are not the only objectives that a coach responsible for the young players must have. For a coach (in the first team), only the titles count. In the youth teams, the greatest pleasure for a coach is to see his players progressing and reaching the first team
Samba Foot
What do you like in your job?
J.C Leal
What I like the most is the opportunity which is given to us to know new people, new places and different cultures.
Football offers these possibilities to us because we progressively become years after years true “nomads".
The fact of meeting people in various countries of the world represents a true richness, in spite of the barrier of the language. The knowledge of different cultures brings a more complete view to us which can always help us when we are in the search of new and modern ideas, different from that which we can have in our own country.
The magic of our job, is the possibility of dividing with the players moments of relaxation, conversation and in certain cases circumstances winning, when the victories are coming.
In these moments, people can easily forgets the difficult moments of the life to live great moments of joy.
Samba Foot
That must be very gratifying for you…
J.C Leal
It is really very gratifying indeed… Here in Brazil, our people suffer much and constantly encounter difficulties in the life.
But when we support a nation, like the Flamengo one, formed by more than 30 million of people, we forget during 90 minutes the daily difficulties of life. That enables us to exceed our own limits and problems because we have this to perpetuate the victories, even if in football it is very difficult to develop them.
Samba Foot
Your career is rather typical: you trained the USA national team, Trinidad and Tobago and the Brazil U20 with which you became champion of the world in 1993. Your last club was Kazma Club in Kuwait. How do you explain this exoticism? Is this a personal choice?
J.C Leal
Since my childhood, I knew that I wanted to become a football coach. What impassioned me, was the fact of being able to travel, constantly to move.
At the beginning of my career, I worked 5 years in Olaria, 6 years and half in Flamengo and 2 years and half in Vasco.
To the United Arab Emirates, I trained during 3 years a local club before joining the Seleção as coach of the juniors and as an assistant to Parreira then of Zagallo in the principal role between 1991 and 1993.
It is as from this moment that the diversity and the originality of my course started.
I did not succeed in remaining more than one year in the same club, but I was always conscious that that belonged to the culture and the practices of the Brazilian football.
The job of trainer is very complicated in Brazil. I recall of my passage to the Sport Recife. I had a one year contract and we had been unbeaten during 5 months without losing games
A small problem with the direction caused the cancellation of my contract.
With Coritiba, in the state of Parana, I carried out my mission in good manners. After more than 4 months of competition and a poor start, we went up the slope, to win many matches of which the “classico" against Atlético and we regain the first places.
Suddenly, without never knowing the true reason, The club announced to me that they did not need me any more.
Thereafter, after one period of stability, I started to travel what enabled me to be what I am today, to know to communicate with people, to have a different vision from professional football and my country in particular.
I think that it was my mission after having worked so much years at the same places.
However, to change clubs one, two or three times per year was never a personal decision.
Samba Foot
However it is what happened?
J.C Leal
Yes. In my opinion, it is preferable to remain in the same club during several years.
I see there are much more advantages for the club and me too.
However, it is the reality of the modern football.
What we must do, it is to respect it and plant the seeds which will germinate later. Sometimes, the future will be between the hands of other people, but it is not a problem. Us orderlies with humility seeds that someone else will collect.
If nobody had sown anything before me in Fla, I will not be able today with the club to collect the fruits planted by other people.
Interview of Júlio César Leal (2)
Samba Foot
What are your objectives with Flamengo this season? Are you anxious after the departures of players like Felipe, Athirson or Julio César? especially that Fla has not have found replacements of their levels…
J.C Leal
Frankly, just like a coach, I think that the player must remain a long time in a club because they can improve gradually in contact with a framework which they know perfectly.
The tendency is that he will be more productive on the ground.
At the end of the national championship in 2004, certain players decided to move elsewhere.
Afterwards, it was necessary to reformulate the team and this process is not finished for the moment.
Progressively, we will progress together, players and leaders inside a reality named Flamengo.
We are confronted to a restrictive economic situation which complicates the arrival of great players.
We gradually reinforce the team with the objective to give to the Flamengo’s fans the joy and the titles which are a practice here.
But we count obviously much on the support of our fans.
Samba Foot
What is your personal objective with Flamengo this year?
J.C Leal
It is also my objective, indeed. To win matches and titles so that the supporters can live intense moments of joys.
It is clear that we must remain intelligent and we know that we begin our work after a difficult national championship 2004 where Fla played very badly and had to fight not to go down.
We have changed 50% of our team, we will thus encounter some difficulties at the beginning. But we are here to make efforts to improve on last year.
Samba Foot
In fact, “the adaptation" is a very significant concept in football…
J.C Leal
It is true. Athletes of different horizons will integrate our team this year: players coming from cities, areas or different countries.
We will have doubtless difficulties in finding the way and to increase the victories at the beginning of the competition.
Other clubs of Rio will not encounter these difficulties because they did not change half of their team in the space of a few months.
But like good professionals, we must have with each match the victory like single objective.
Samba Foot
While speaking about other teams, what are your favourites for the next carioca championship?
J.C Leal
😉 I prefer to talking about my team…
The athletes were selected while basing themselves on a specific profile which is identified with the supporters of Fla, so much more in the technical aspect than their psychological roles.
Players who will be able to reproduce famous “raça l rubro-negra", to beat the adversaries and to gain titles. I personally think that Flamengo has the capacities to win trophies this year..
Samba Foot
What do you think about the organization of the carioca championship? Can you quickly explain to our Net surfers the course of the competition?
J.C Leal
The championship this year is better organized than the preceding editions.
The ideal would be that all the teams play in two games, with a home match and another way.
At the end of the games, the team with the greatest number of points would be considered champion. It is the most correct system which exists.
For the moment, let us not be there we yet with regard to the carioca championship, but the system is in force for the national championship.
However, the championship of the state of Rio version 2005 has this formula.
The competition is made up of two groups of 6 teams: at the time of the first turn, each team of the same group plays each other, with 5 matches to be played for each one. And at the time of the second turn, the teams at the top play against the teams of the opposite table. After that, the champion of the first turn meets the winner of the second turn to decide the carioca champion 2005.
If a team wins the two turns, it would be automatically declared champion of the state. This organization is not yet perfect but it has at least the merit to designate a champion who faced all the teams of his group and the opposite group.
However the teams meet only in away match. The changes by the carioca federation should allow to set up as of the next year a formula which obtained a great success at the time of the two last editions of the national championship.
Samba Foot
How did you prepare your team before the beginning of the championship? How will you organize the team tactically?
J.C Leal
To start, we analyzed our team made up of 34 players. We released 16 players and we preserved 18 of them.
Then, we studied the necessary positions.
We decided to count on 3 players for each position. The recruiters Anderson Barros and Gerson Biscotto then did their work in collaboration with the technical staff.
The professional team prepared in Volta Redonda. We began the preparation on last 12 January with an international tournament to finalize the physical preparation.
Tactically, we retained the players being able to be integrated best into a tactical diagram of the 4-4-2 type.
We also prepare alternative systems like the 3-5-2 or 3-4-3. But the basic system is the 4-4-2, with a certain freedom given to left back and right back to attack, the offensive mediums take part of the recovery, and two attackers, one moving like pivot and the other more mobile, more considered as a winger.
It is the principal idea.
Samba Foot
Flamengo recruited the offensive midfielder Adrianinho to replace Felipe as well as the defender Fabiano. What can you tell us of these two players?
J.C Leal
I know Fabiano very well because he played in Flamengo during several years.
He worked with my brother Jairo Leal in the U 20 Seleção.
He was last year the captain of Atletico Paranaense’s and played several years in Japan. He has the international experience.
Adrianinho appeared in Ponte Preta where he was quickly regarded as a very promising player. he integrated into the first team very quickly. Then Corinthians signed him but he could not get into the first team in São Paulo and was loaned the next year to Paysandu of Belem.
As we tracked his talent, we thought that he could make it here in Flamengo, with an ideal framework to open out and find his best ability.
Samba Foot
All the team of Foot Samba thanks you, Julio César, for this exclusive interview. Good luck for this season 2005.
Julio César Leal"s card
Flamengo"s card
All About the carioca championship
