Rubens Minelli passed away this Thursday (23) at the age of 94, in São Paulo. Four-time national champion and Copa do Brasil champion, the São Paulo native has coached some of the biggest clubs in Brazil.
After a timid career as a professional player, Rubens began his career as coach of América-SP in 1963, which was the start of the trajectory of a great champion of Brazilian football.
He rose over the years, being ahead of Botafogo-SP, Sport and Guarani until arriving at Palmeiras in 1969, the year in which he would win the Silver Cup/Roberto Gomes Pedrosa Tournament, recognized by the CBF as the Brazilian Championship.
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The national title would become the first of four national victories. For Internacional, the coach became two-time champion of the Brazilian Championship in 1975 and 1976, with the team of Manga, Figueroa, Paulo César Carpegiani, Falcão and Valdomiro.
In 1977, Rubens was hired by São Paulo and lifted the national tournament cup, becoming the first coach to win three consecutive Brazilian titles.
After the period at São Paulo, he transferred in 1979 to Al-Hilal, from Saudi Arabia, where he stayed until 1980 and won a Saudi Championship. He returned to football in 1982 to manage Palmeiras.
Afterwards, he worked at Atlético Mineiro, Corinthians and Grêmio, the club with which he won the first edition of the Copa do Brasil in 1989. In the rest of his career, Rubens worked for Paraná, Santos, XV de Piracicaba, Ferroviária, Coritiba and, finally, Ponte Preta, where he retired.
In addition to the four national titles and winning the Copa do Brasil, Rubens is 11 times state champion: Portuguesa (1973), Internacional (1974, 1975 and 1976), Grêmio (1985, 1988 and 1989) and Paraná (1994, 1995, 1996 and 1997).
