Abel Braga


Abel Carlos da Silva Braga, known as Abel Braga, is a Brazilian retired footballer who played as a central defender, and is a current football manager.
He played as a central defender during a professional career that started with Fluminense in 1968. Since his retirement in 1985, he has managed a number of clubs in Brazil and Portugal, including three spells at Fluminense. He has also managed French club Marseille, as well as Abu Dhabi club Al Jazira over two spells.

Career

Known as Abel during his playing days, he started his career as a player in Fluminense in 1968, staying at the club until 1976, when he moved to Vasco da Gama.
He also played for Paris Saint-Germain, of France, from 1979 to 1981, for Botafogo, from 1982 to 1984, and Goytacaz, in 1984, and 1985, where ended his career.
He earned just one cap for the Brazilian national football team, on April 19, 1978, versus England, but he took part in the team that represented Brazil in the 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina.
After his retirement as a player, he became a head coach, and worked at clubs such as Vasco da Gama, Internacional, Olympique de Marseille, Atlético Paranaense, Coritiba, Atlético Mineiro and Ponte Preta.
In 1988, at Internacional, he was runner-up of the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A after losing to Esporte Clube Bahia in the final match. In 1989, he came close to winning the Copa Libertadores, but the club ended up losing to Paraguay's Olimpia on penalties after conceding three goals in the return match at home. The two defeats left a stain on his career and would haunt him for many years to come.
In 2004, Abel Braga became Flamengo head coach, winning Taça Guanabara and Campeonato Carioca. He became most remembered, however, because Flamengo lost the Copa do Brasil to underdogs Esporte Clube Santo André, even though the final match was held in Rio de Janeiro, home of Flamengo.
In 2005, as Fluminense head coach, he won the Campeonato Carioca of that year.
Abel finished the year, however, carrying the burden of two successive last-minute failures. Against all odds, Fluminense lost to underdogs Paulista of Jundiaí in the Copa do Brasil final match, under circumstances similar to the ones he faced the year before with Flamengo. Paulista, currently in the second division of the Campeonato Brasileiro, eventually qualified for the Copa Libertadores. Fluminense had another chance to qualify for the Libertadores, the most prestigious club football tournament in South America, by finishing the Série A among the top four. Even though Fluminense managed to lead the table for a few rounds, it failed again in the last match. A draw against Palmeiras would have been enough for the team to finish fourth, but they lost.
In the beginning of 2006, Abel transferred to Internacional of Porto Alegre to lead the team in the football tournament of Rio Grande do Sul. Grêmio emerged champions and Abel was criticized as an eternal runner-up. However, he may claim to have changed that image by winning the Copa Libertadores, one of the greatest achievements in the history of Internacional. The IFFHS ranked him as the sixth best club coach in 2006. He also led Internacional to win the 2006 FIFA Club World Cup.
After a spell managing Al Jazira, where he won the league during his last year, he came back to Fluminense. The club was struggling after Muricy Ramalho was fired. Despite having little time to fix the team, which was in the lower positions of the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A when he took over, he managed to finish the year in third place and qualify for the Copa Libertadores. In 2012, he led Fluminense to win the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A and was awarded as the best coach of the league.
On May 30, 2013, after the elimination of Fluminense against Paraguayan Club Olimpia from 2013 Copa Libertadores, competition that Flu were one of favorites, Braga was humiliated by rival fans in the arrival of club. At same time, fans of the Tricolor wrote on the walls of Laranjeiras, headquarters of club, "Fora Abel" and "Time Sem Vergonha".
On July 29, 2013, after five consecutive loses in 2013 Brazilian League, that keep the club in relegation zone, Braga was dismissed from Fluminense.
In January 2014, Braga returned to Internacional as manager, seven years after winning the Copa Libertadores and the 2006 FIFA Club World Cup.
On December 15, 2014, Braga announced that he will not continue as manager of Internacional.
Braga returned to Al Jazira for a second spell in the summer of 2015, but parted company with the club in December after a string of poor results.

2017 Season

Fluminense hired Braga on December 1st, 2016, to be the head coach for the 2017 season. Fluminense had a decent performance in the first semester of 2017, when Fluminense became champions of Primeira Liga, runner-ups to 2017 Campeonato Carioca, but failed to advance through the round of 16 in 2017 Copa do Brasil.
There was speculation of his retirement after his son João Pedro died in midseason. Still, Abel Braga didn't leave his position as Fluminense's head coach and finished 2017 with Fluminense. After losing key players because of Fluminense's dire financial state, Fluminense ended 2017 Campeonato Brasileiro in 14th position and reached round of 8 in 2017 Copa Sudamericana.

2018 Season

Abel Braga continued as Fluminense head coach for 2018, even after a disappointing 2017 season. With a negative roster turnover and no budget to reinforce the team, Abel had to work even more with youth in 2018. Fluminense had early exits in every tournament played in 2018. Before the Brazilian midseason break for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Abel resigned after a 18 month stint. Abel is currently the record holder for the 2nd most matches as a Fluminense head coach.

2019 Season

On January 2nd, 2019, Flamengo hired Abel Braga as head coach. They confirmed their favoritism and won 2019 Campeonato Carioca. He resigned on May 29th, after being contested by fans. Altogether, he was the head coach for 30 matches and won 19 games, and a total 71,1% win rate.
Cruzeiro announced Braga as head coach on September 27th but sacked him in November 29th, after winning three games out of 14.

2020 Season

Abel Braga was announced as Vasco da Gama's head coach for the 2020 season in December 16, 2019.

Personal life

On July 29, 2017, Braga's 18-year-old son, João Pedro, died after falling from the balcony of the family's apartment in the Leblon region of Rio de Janeiro. Braga was informed of his son's death whilst undergoing the final preparations for Fluminense's fixture against Ponte Preta the following day. Ponte Preta agreed to Fluminense's request to postpone the match, which was rescheduled by the CBF.

Honours

Player

;Fluminense
;Vasco
;Atlético Paranaense
;Coritiba
;Vasco
;Flamengo
;Fluminense
;Internacional
;Al Jazira